The warehouse fell into an uneasy silence after the captured agent stopped struggling. His breaths were ragged, his eyes glassy with pain and defiance. Luther kept one knee on the man’s back while Elara double-checked the restraints, making sure he wouldn’t slip free if he tried something reckless.“You’re wasting time,” the prisoner muttered. “Your window’s closing.”Luther forced his head down against the concrete. “You’re done talking.”Elara stepped back, drawing a slow breath, trying to steady herself. The warehouse smelled of rust and oil, the kind of place where deals went wrong and bodies disappeared. It wasn’t safe, but it was hidden-and they needed it hidden right now.Luther finally stood, muscles tight, eyes locked on the prisoner. “He knows more than he’s telling.”“He’s stalling,” Elara said. “Trying to buy time.”Luther frowned. “Time for who?”The answer came before the prisoner could speak.A tremor rippled through the warehouse floor—light at first, then stronger. To

The night air was thick and electric, and every shadow looked like it was alive.Luther’s heart pounded in his chest, each beat synchronized with Elara’s steady breathing beside him. The black envelope had fallen between them, still open, the card’s ominous message seared into his mind. The kings move next.“They’re not playing small anymore,” Luther muttered, voice low, almost drowned by the hum of distant sirens. “This… this is bigger than we imagined.”Elara’s gaze swept the alley. Her hand remained tight in his, every muscle coiled, ready. “Then we match their scale. Whatever they’ve planned, we’re stopping it.”A shadow detached itself from the deeper darkness of the street. Luther instinctively stepped in front of Elara, weapon drawn, pulse rising. Two figures emerged, moving with deliberate precision. Black armor that looks sleek and face masks that shine in the dim streetlights.But it wasn’t just armor—it was something more, something designed to intimidate: markings of an e

The underground safehouse sat beneath an abandoned laundromat on the outskirts of the city, the kind of place no one with sense would voluntarily enter. The walls were cement and sweat-stained from years of makeshift use. A single bulb flickered overhead, dim enough to make any living person question whether they were still awake. But Luther preferred it that way, a dark corner made it easier to detect movement.He locked the steel door behind him with three manual bolts and an electronic seal before turning his full attention back to the man tied to the reinforced chair at the center of the room. The captive’s head hung low, his breathing shallow. Dried blood crusted along his jaw, but there was a stubborn spark still burning in his eyes.Elara leaned against the wall near the room’s only table, arms crossed. She watched everything-Luther, the captive, the light, even the dust sliding across the floor. Tension lined her posture, but her eyes stayed sharp.Luther dragged a metal chai

The city's skyline cut through the night like jagged steel. Cold neon lights lit up endless towers, and the energy below them made them hum. The city was a maze of shadows for Luther and Elara, but tonight it felt like a place to hunt, with them as the hunters.They ran across the rooftops with practiced accuracy, making every jump smooth and every landing silent. The explosions from earlier made the air smell like smoke, and the rain that was still on the buildings made it smell like metal. Helios agents were all over the streets below them.Their tactical lights cut through the alleys as they searched, hungry for a trace of the two fugitives who had just humiliated them.“They’re desperate,” Luther muttered as he crouched on the ledge of a rooftop, scanning the grid of streetlights and moving patrols. “They want those drives more than they want to kill us.”Elara adjusted the twin pistols strapped to her thighs, tightening the holster so it hugged her body securely. “Desperation ma

Helios didn’t wait. Within hours, red warning lights lit up the city's skyline, and drones flew around like angry wasps. Luther and Elara crouched behind a broken wall in Sector 12 and looked down at the chaos below.“They’re retaliating faster than we anticipated,” Luther muttered, scanning the advancing drones and armored units. “This is bigger than we thought.”Elara checked her weapon, eyes sharp. “We’ve got two options: fight and risk getting trapped, or retreat and regroup. We can’t get cornered now.”“Neither is ideal,” Luther said, lips tight. “But we’re not the type to run. We hit them hard, fast, and vanish before they can respond.”A massive drone swooped in from the east, sensors glowing bright. Luther fired a pulse from his wrist device, sending the drone spiraling into sparks. Elara rolled, taking down a patrol with surgical precision.“Nice shot,” Luther said, and for a brief moment, their eyes met, charged with the adrenaline and unspoken connection that had been build