The safe house loomed ahead, lights blazing through every window. Kai checked his watch as Nadia pulled the van to a stop three blocks out. Ninety seconds."Last chance to run," Nadia said.Kai grabbed his weapon, checked the magazine, and stepped out. "Get to the adjacent building. Second floor. Clear sightline through the west window."Nadia nodded and disappeared into the darkness, moving like smoke. Kai walked toward the safe house alone, hands raised above his head. His knife was strapped to his ankle, hidden beneath his jeans. One weapon. That's all he had.The street was lined with guards. Kai counted twelve visible, but he knew there were more. Snipers on rooftops. Teams in shadows. Marcus never did anything halfway.A guard stepped forward, weapon raised. "Stop."Kai stopped. "I'm here to trade. Me for Julie Cross."The guard spoke into a radio. A moment later, the front door opened. "Inside. Slowly."Kai walked forward, hands still raised. The guards parted. He climbed the p

The cabin smelled like pine and old wood and blood.Nadia's safe house was forty miles from the city, buried deep in forest where the roads turned to gravel and then to dirt and then to nothing at all. Off-grid. No neighbors. No surveillance. The kind of place that didn't exist on any map that mattered.Julie sat on the worn couch while Nadia cleaned the cut on her forehead with steady hands. The gash wasn't deep, but it had bled heavily, and dried blood still matted Julie's hair. Nadia worked in silence, applying butterfly stitches with the efficiency of someone who'd done this too many times."Concussion," Nadia said finally. "Mild. You'll be fine in a few days. No sleeping for the next six hours, though."Julie nodded numbly. She hadn't spoken since they'd arrived. Her hands were still trembling.Kai stood by the window, staring out at nothing. His knuckles were swollen and raw from where he'd gripped the pistol too hard, his jaw clenched so tight it ached. He could still see Helen

Dawn broke pale and cold over the cabin, light filtering through the trees in thin gray streaks.Kai stood in the main room, methodically loading magazines and checking weapons with the quiet efficiency of someone who'd done this a thousand times before. Two pistols. Spare ammo. Combat knife strapped to his ankle. Body armor borrowed from Nadia's stash. He moved like a machine, each motion precise and automatic, his face empty of everything except cold determination.Six hours until noon.Six hours until he walked into Marcus Blackwell's tower and either saved Reece or died trying."I'm coming with you."Kai didn't look up from the magazine he was loading. "No."Julie stood in the doorway, already dressed in tactical gear that Nadia had provided—black cargo pants, boots, a fitted jacket. Her jaw was set, her eyes hard. She looked older than eighteen. Looked like someone who'd seen too much and survived it anyway."Reece stayed behind so you could rescue me," Julie said evenly. "I owe

The scream came through the laptop speakers like a knife.Julie's voice, raw and desperate, echoing through the open comms line before cutting off abruptly. Then Viktor's flat monotone: *"Next time I won't stop."*Lila was moving before she realized it.She crossed the cabin in three strides, yanking open the weapons locker Nadia had shown them earlier. Pistol. Spare magazines. Combat knife. Her hands were shaking as she loaded the gun, checking the chamber with fumbling fingers."What are you doing?" Nadia asked from the laptop."What does it look like?" Lila shoved magazines into her jacket pockets. "I'm going.""It's suicide." Nadia stood up, her voice sharp. "Two of us against twenty-four trained guards, minimum. In a building Marcus controls completely. We can't win.""I'm going anyway." Lila turned to face her, the pistol heavy in her hand. "You can stay here or you can help. Choose."Nadia stared at her. The bruises on her throat from where Kai had choked her were dark purple i

The elevator doors opened onto chaos.Lila was already moving, pulling a knife from her belt and sawing through the zip ties binding Kai's wrists. The plastic snapped free. Kai grabbed the knife and did the same for Julie, who gasped in relief as the pressure released from her broken arm."Reece," Kai said, dropping beside the chair.Reece's head lolled forward, barely conscious. Blood ran from a cut above his eye, and his breathing was shallow and ragged. When Kai cut him free, he slumped forward into Kai's arms."Can you walk?" Kai asked.Reece's eyes flickered open briefly, unfocused. "Don't... think so..."Kai didn't hesitate. He pulled Reece up and over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, grunting at the weight but locking his legs beneath him. Broken ribs screamed in protest. He ignored them.Behind them, through the elevator shaft, came the sound of pounding boots. Guards flooding the penthouse level. Viktor's voice shouting orders, even wounded.A bullet sparked off the elevat