The thunder cracked like a warning. Derick’s mother leaned down, kissed his forehead, and whispered, “Dream good dreams, baby.” He smiled sleepily, eyes half-closed. “’Night, Mom.”She lingered at the door, silhouette framed by the dim hall light. Then the door closed with a soft click. Silence settled. A minute passed. Then—Bang.Derick’s eyes snapped open. Another gunshot followed, then a scream, his mother’s. He sat up fast, heart pounding, every nerve screaming at him to move. “Mom?” His voice was barely a whisper.Through the thin walls came heavy footsteps, breaking glass, men shouting. Then, pleading. His father’s voice.“Please, whatever you want, we can”Bang.The sound was so loud it tore the breath out of Derick’s chest. He froze, trembling. Then he heard his mother’s voice again, soft, broken, closer. “Derick…”He scrambled from the bed just as the door creaked open. She was crawling across the floor, blood trailing behind her like spilled ink. “Mom!” He dropped to his kn

The night had teeth. Wind howled through the docks as Derrick and Maya crouched behind rusted cargo crates, their breath forming ghosts in the air. “Tell me you’ve got a plan,” Maya whispered.Derrick scanned the shadows. “Survive.”“Solid plan,” she muttered. “Anything more specific?”“Find whoever sent those men.”“Right. Because hunting armed killers barefoot in the rain is definitely smart.”Derrick didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on the black book. The serpent mark that had flared moments earlier was fading again, like it was alive.He flipped it open. The ink shimmered faintly, forming a symbol, two interlocked rings and a line through the middle. Beneath it, coordinates appeared for only a heartbeat before vanishing.Maya saw it too. “Did that just… update itself?”“Looks like it.”“You realize this book just sent us somewhere?”He nodded. “Then that’s where we’re going.”She groaned. “Do you ever stop to think maybe this is a trap?”“It probably is,” Derrick said calmly. “T

The storm hit Raventon hard that night. Lightning scraped the skyline while rain hammered the motel’s tin roof. Derrick sat by the window, eyes on the map that now shimmered faintly with moving light.Maya checked the blinds. “Those dots are pulsing faster.”“They’re not just locations,” Derrick said. “They’re countdowns.”“Countdowns to what?”He pointed at one that flashed red. “That one’s about to hit zero.”A metallic hum filled the room. Then the motel lights flickered and died. “Derrick?”He didn’t answer. He grabbed the black book, which now glowed faintly in the dark. Letters crawled across its pages like living code. PHASE TWO INITIATED. SURVIVE THE CLEANSE.Maya cursed under her breath. “That doesn’t sound good.”Outside, a black SUV pulled into the parking lot. Three men stepped out, all wearing identical suits, earpieces glinting. “Company,” Derrick said.“Yours or mine?”“Neither. Veil’s.”They moved fast. Derrick flipped the mattress, crouched behind it, gun steady. Maya

The storm had passed, but Raventon still felt bruised. Streets gleamed wet under neon lights. Derrick and Maya drove in silence, the hum of the engine the only thing between them and the ghosts of the night before.Maya finally said, “You realize Aurora just sent you to kill Marcus Veil again.”Derrick’s eyes stayed fixed on the road. “Not kill. Confront.”“She literally said target.”“I decide what that means.”She studied him. “And if it means facing your mother’s ghost again?”He didn’t answer. The blue light from the book flickered across his knuckles as he tightened his grip on the wheel.The coordinates glowed on the dashboard: VEIL INDUSTRIES – CENTRAL CORE FACILITY. ACCESS 03:00.Maya exhaled. “You sure you’re ready for this?”“No,” he said quietly. “But if she’s alive, I have to know.”Veil Industries’ Core Facility stood on the river’s edge, a fortress of glass and steel rising from its own reflection. Security drones hovered in slow, mechanical arcs around the rooftop.They