Light swallowed everything.Not just brightness—A roaring surge of gold and ember, twisting through the air like living fire.Collins Lutherchris felt his body lift from the ground as if the world itself had lost its weight. He held tight to Rena’s hand, the warmth of her mark pulsing directly into his failing flame.For a moment… he felt no pain.No weakness.Only power.Then the light snapped apart.Collins landed hard on stone. Dust billowed around him. His lungs seized, but he forced himself up on one elbow, scanning the dimly lit space.They were no longer inside the cottage.The hunters were gone.The room around them was made of arching stone pillars, flickering blue torches, and a circular floor inscribed with ancient runes.A teleportation chamber.Rena groaned beside him, dazed but alive.Collins reached for her immediately.“Rena? Can you hear me?”She blinked fast, sitting up slowly.“I… I think so. Collins, what happened?”“You activated the mark,” he murmured, brushing

The night pressed heavily on the city, a velvet darkness broken only by the distant glow of streetlights. Inside the secluded safe house, silence clung to the air like mist, except for the faint hum of electricity and the nervous tapping of fingers on a wooden table.Collins Lutherchris stood by the window, his tall frame outlined by the dim light slipping through the curtains. His eyes—usually sharp, calculating, and impossromising—were softer tonight, burdened by the weight of truths he hadn’t expected to face.Mirabel sat across from him, her hands clasped tightly together, struggling to still the trembling she fought to hide. She watched him from behind lowered lashes, unsure of how to begin, unsure if she even had the right.“Collins…” her voice finally broke the silence, thin and uncertain. “Are you angry with me?”He didn’t turn immediately. Instead, he drew a slow breath, his shoulders rising and falling.“Angry?” he repeated, as if testing the word on his tongue. “No. But I’m

The aftermath of the video left the room suffocatingly silent. Mirabel sat slowly, her legs trembling beneath her. Jayden paced back and forth like a trapped animal, gripping his hair with both hands.But Collins Lutherchris stood immobile.Emotionless.Focused.The flash drive lay on the table before him, a small object with the weight of a bomb. The masked figure’s voice still echoed in the air:“The betrayal you fear… has already begun.”Jayden finally spoke, voice cracking.“Collins… we have to assume the traitor is someone close. Someone with access to everything we do. Someone who knows our movement. Someone who knows Mirabel.”Mirabel swallowed hard.“But who? We’re already a small team. Who else is close enough to betray us?”“Anyone,” Jayden muttered. “Anyone desperate. Anyone threatened. Anyone bribed.”Collins raised a hand, silencing them both.“There’s only one way to find a traitor,” he said quietly. “Flush them out.”Mirabel looked at him. “How?”Before Collins could an

For a long moment, no one spoke.The two blinking dots on the holographic map glowed like tiny, sinister stars—one steady and familiar, the other pulsing with a strange, commanding rhythm. The entire underground room felt colder, as if the very walls were listening.Jayden finally broke the silence.“Collins… how long have you known that someone was reporting to—whoever that is?”Collins didn’t look at him. His eyes stayed locked on the pulsing dot.“Since the day the first ambush failed,” he said quietly. “That night wasn’t random. Someone leaked our route. Someone knew Mirabel would be with us. Someone wanted something more than just an attack.”Mirabel hugged her arms tightly.“And that person… is working for this second signal?”“Not just working,” Collins replied.“Obeying.”Jayden swallowed hard. “But that means… this mastermind has been close all along.”Collins nodded.“Very close.”Mirabel felt a tremor run through her chest.“Collins… what do we do now?”Instead of answering

Night fell like a curtain pulled over the world—thick, heavy, and filled with secrets.Zara stood on the rooftop of the intelligence complex, the city lights glowing beneath her like restless fireflies. The cold wind whipped against her coat, but her mind was far from the chill.All she could see in her thoughts—again and again—was the bruised face of Collins Lutherchris from the video.The warning in his voice.The desperation in his eyes.The message he couldn’t finish.“Not even who…?” Zara murmured into the wind.Behind her, footsteps approached.It was General Sani, a man whose presence always carried weight. “You were needed in the strategy hall,” he said. “The team is waiting.”Zara didn’t turn. “General… do you believe Collins Lutherchris is still alive?”He paused. “A man like Collins Lutherchris doesn’t die easily. But he’s running out of time.”She finally faced him. “Then we move tonight.”General Sani’s expression hardened. “I agree—but there’s a complication.”Zara’s h