The fall felt endless. Ethan plunged through darkness, air slicing past his ears like knives. Vivian’s hand clamped around his wrist, her grip iron-strong despite the drop. “Ethan rotate your body!” she shouted.“I’m TRYING!”Metal flashed below fast, too fast. Vivian yelled, “NOW brace!”They slammed into something hard and angled an emergency chute. Their bodies ricocheted down the slick metal, spiraling through heat, dust, and mechanical noise until they shot out into an open chamber and tumbled across a grated floor.Ethan rolled to a stop, groaning. “Vivian… you okay?”She pushed herself upright, wincing. “More or less. You?”“I’m… alive.”Barely. Overhead, the hatch slammed shut with a deafening clang. Vivian staggered to the wall, checking an ancient control panel. “We’re in Sublevel Nineteen.”Ethan blinked. “Is that good?”“No. It’s off-grid.”She inhaled sharply. “And abandoned for a reason.”A loud metallic echo vibrated through the chamber, like something massive scraping

The floor snapped like brittle bone. Concrete shattered under Ethan, Vivian, and Isabelle, sending all three plummeting into roaring darkness. Vivian shouted, “GRAB SOMETHING!”Ethan’s fingers scraped uselessly against wet metal. The world tilted. Water thundered somewhere below. Isabelle screamed as they tumbled through a shower of debris. Then SPLASH.The freezing river swallowed them whole. Ethan’s lungs seized. The current slammed him sideways, dragging him under. He tried to swim upward but the force yanked him deeper, spinning him into total black.A hand seized his jacket. Vivian’s voice burst through the water, muffled but fierce. “Ethan UP!”He kicked hard. They broke the surface for an instant gasping, coughing before the current ripped them forward again like ragdolls caught in a storm drain. Isabelle surfaced to his left. “THIS WAY THE WALL!”Ethan could barely hear her over the roar. The current tossed them toward a concrete pillar. They slammed against it. Vivian caught

Rain pounded against the cracked warehouse windows as Elias paced between the glowing computer screens Ava had hacked into. His breath fogged in the cold air.His heartbeat hadn’t slowed since they left Sterling Tower. Ava watched him carefully. “You’re thinking too loud,” she said.“I’m thinking about why someone sent me proof Lila is alive,” Elias muttered, “but not a warning.”Ava folded her arms. “Maybe it is the warning.”He stopped pacing. “Her signature,” he said. “The encrypted marker she used. Only she and I ever knew it.”Ava hesitated. “You don’t think she sent it?”“No,” Elias said. “Lila would never leave breadcrumbs. If she wanted to reach me, she’d walk right into my lab.”Ava smirked. “Arrogant.”“No consistent.”Before Ava could reply, the warehouse’s security monitor beeped softly. Movement. A single figure walking toward the entrance. Ava stiffened. “If that’s Sterling’s men”“It’s not,” Elias said, staring at the screen. “This one’s alone.”“And that makes you feel

Gunfire erupted again, ricocheting off metal, cutting through rain and smoke. Elias kept the Syndicate operative pinned in front of him, dragging the man backward as bullets tore through the air.Ava shouted over the chaos, “Elias! KEEP MOVING!”Lila screamed, crouching behind a rusted dumpster. Shattered glass rained from the warehouse windows as silhouettes clashed in the storm. The operative in Elias’s grip struggled. “Release me!”Elias tightened his arm around the man’s throat. “You first.”He twisted sharply. A muffled crack. The operative collapsed. Ava stared at Elias like she’d never seen him before. “Holy Elias, what the hell?!”“No time!” he shouted back.Three Syndicate agents surged toward him. Elias fired the stolen rifle, forcing them behind a van. He moved differently now no hesitation, no fear.Adrenaline sharpened his instincts, but something else fueled him too: Rage. Humiliation. Years of being the docile genius everyone thought they could control. Not anymore.A m

The night wind pushed against the broken windows of Avery’s loft, carrying the faint hum of distant sirens. Liam barely noticed.He was pacing, jaw clenched, replaying the scene with Cole, the stolen data, the threat, Avery’s pained silence everything.Avery sat on the couch, elbows on her knees, hair falling over her face. “Liam,” she said quietly, “you need to stop pacing.”“I can’t.” He swung around. “Your sister’s husband just tried to kill me. You expect me to sit still?”“He wasn’t trying to kill you,” Avery muttered.“Are you joking?” Liam snapped. “He pushed me in front of a moving SUV.”Avery’s gaze flicked up. “He warned you first.”“That doesn’t make it better!”Silence stretched. Then Avery said something he didn’t expect: “Liam… I think Cole was trying to scare you off. Not because of the invention because of Ivy.”Liam froze. “What?”Avery exhaled shakily. “Ivy called Cole from London two hours ago. She asked him to ‘keep you away’ from Voltis Labs until she can return.”