"I'm going. That's final."Jayce grabbed a backpack and started loading it with the research files—the real ones, hidden in a vault only he could access."Boss, please." Leonard had been moved to a chair, his wound temporarily stabilized. "Think about what you're doing. Agent Santos died trying to protect that research. Don't make her death meaningless.""Santos died protecting us. Protecting Ella. And I'm going to honor that by getting Ella back alive." Jayce continued packing. "Victoria will kill her if I don't show up.""Victoria will kill you both even if you do!" Daniel slammed his fist on the table. "Can't you see? This is exactly what she wants! You, the research, everything in one place!""Then what's your plan? Let Ella die while we come up with something clever?""My plan is we track Victoria. Find where she's holding Ella. Storm the place with everything we have." Daniel pulled up a laptop. "Give me one hour. Just one hour to locate her.""We don't have an hour!" Jayce chec

"This is the place."Frost pulled the car up to a mansion on the outskirts of Metro City. Gated. Guarded. Cameras everywhere. The kind of place that screamed "extremely wealthy and slightly paranoid.""Looks expensive," Leonard observed from the back seat. He was medicated and bandaged but insisted on coming. "And defensible. Good security positioning. Multiple exits. If this is a trap, they've planned it well.""Everything's a trap until proven otherwise," Jayce checked his concealed weapon. "Everyone remember the plan?""Stay alert. Trust nothing. First sign of trouble, we shoot our way out." Daniel was in the driver's seat of the second car they'd brought. "Though I still think this is suicide.""Noted. But we're going anyway." Jayce looked at Master Chen in the back. The old master had refused to stay behind despite his critical condition. "Master Chen, if things go bad, you get out first. Don't argue. Just go.""I've fought in worse conditions than this, young man. Stop treating

"You have the right to remain silent."The detective read Jayce his rights in a small interrogation room at Metro City Police Department. Jayce had been separated from his team. He didn't know where they were or if they were okay."I didn't kill that woman," Jayce said calmly. "I was set up.""Save it for your lawyer." The detective tossed photos onto the table. Crime scene photos. Jessica Chen's body. The motel room. And one photo that made Jayce's heart stop.A picture of Jayce standing over Jessica's body. Holding a gun."That's fake. Photoshopped.""Our forensics team says otherwise. That photo was taken by motel security camera thirty minutes before we arrived. Shows you entering the room. Gun in hand. Then leaving three minutes later." The detective—a hard-faced woman in her forties—leaned forward. "You're looking at murder one. Life in prison without parole.""Check the timestamp. Check the metadata. That photo is manufactured.""Already did. Everything checks out. You were the

Lily finished her sentence, watching Jayce's face carefully. "My father—our father—made three serums. Version One healed. Version Two created flawed immortals like Daniel. This?" She held up the syringe. "This is Version Three. Perfect immortality. No side effects. No personality changes. Just eternal life.""If that's real, why haven't you used it? Why haven't the Walkers?" Jayce stared at the glowing blue liquid."Because there's only one dose. And once it's used, the formula dies with the person who takes it. It's encoded in their DNA in a way that can't be extracted or replicated. Richard made sure of that." Lily put the syringe away carefully. "Margaret wants this more than anything. Give it to her, she'll call off Victoria. Everyone lives.""Except whoever takes that serum becomes immortal. Unkillable. Untouchable. You want me to make Margaret Walker a god?""I want you to save the people you love. Sometimes the only way to win is to lose on your own terms." Lily stood. "You hav

"We need to split up. Again."They were back in the van, driving through streets that were starting to show signs of panic. News vans racing toward the subway station. Police cars everywhere. Sirens creating a constant wail."Split up how?" Daniel asked. "We barely have six people left! Sarah, Jason, April, Leonard, you, and me! That's not an army!""Then we fight like a scalpel, not a hammer. Precise strikes." Jayce was already planning. "Leonard, April—you go to Walker Global headquarters. Start moving the servers. Get them off-site before Victoria blows the building. Daniel, Jason—you go to the subway station. Help evacuate. Try to contain the spread. I go to the nursing home. Face Victoria. End this.""Alone?" Sarah shook her head. "That's suicide.""Then come with me. You know the layout. You know where they'd keep the prisoners." Jayce looked at her. "Prove you're really on our side. Help me rescue the real Ella and Master Chen.""And what about the bioweapon?" April demanded. "