Titan Group Headquarters - Owen Cooper's Office - 2:14 AMBane Cooper gestured to his two operatives with casual efficiency. "Package him up. Standard transport protocol."The Supervision Department agents moved with practiced precision, producing a large hemp sack from somewhere in their tactical gear. Trevor Mitchell—now "Black Dog" in their operational terminology—groaned weakly as they stuffed his bullet-wounded body inside with all the care one might give to garbage disposal."Wait—" Owen Cooper started to speak, his face still pale from witnessing the entire brutal interrogation."No," Bane interrupted flatly, not even looking at the chairman. "You don't get explanations, Owen. You don't get justifications. Everything that happened here tonight was orchestrated by the boss. I'm just the instrument executing his will."He lit another cigarette, deliberately dropping ash on Owen's expensive carpet. "Your role is to maintain Titan Group's public face while we handle the shadows unde

Karen Ridge's hand was already in motion, arcing toward Quinn Hartford's face with vicious intent. The slap would have connected—would have struck a Sacred Saintess in her own home—if not for the fact that Quinn Hartford was married to something far more dangerous than her mother could comprehend.Marcus Steel moved.Dragon-enhanced speed turned the world into slow motion. He pivoted, his leg shooting out in a devastating kick that caught Emeric Ridge's arm mid-strike—because it wasn't Karen preparing to hit Quinn, but her older sister Emeric, whose fury at seeing her precious son disciplined had overridden all sense.The impact of Marcus's kick carried dragon power barely restrained to human-survivable levels. Emeric's arm bent at an unnatural angle with an audible crack, and her scream tore through the mansion as she flew backward, crashing into the doorframe before collapsing in a heap."YOU BROKE MY ARM!" Emeric shrieked, clutching her twisted limb. "YOU MONSTER! YOU ATTACKED ME!

Federico Yarrow charged with the wooden stick raised high above his head, his face twisted with vindictive fury. Behind him, eight Westside Warriors gang members shouted encouragement, their voices overlapping in aggressive chorus."Beat him!""Show him what real street justice looks like!""Crack his skull!"Marcus Steel stood perfectly still, his dragon senses tracking Federico's clumsy attack with the same attention one might give to a toddler throwing a tantrum. Quinn's hand tightened on his arm, her Saintess aura flaring with concern, but Marcus remained utterly calm.A coin appeared between his fingers—a simple quarter, unremarkable currency that millions of people handled daily without thought.Marcus flicked it.The gesture looked casual, almost lazy. But dragon power infused that tiny piece of metal, turning it into something far deadlier than Federico's wooden stick. The quarter flew through the air with a high-pitched whistle, spinning so fast it became a blur.It struck th

Zedekiah Wharf - 11:47 PMMarcus Steel stood at the edge of the unfinished dock, hands in his pockets, staring out at the black expanse of ocean that stretched beyond Grayson City's industrial coastline. The wharf was a skeleton of its future self—half-completed structures, piles of construction materials, cranes frozen mid-gesture against the night sky. During daylight hours, the place buzzed with workers and heavy machinery. After dark, it became a ghost town.Perfect for what was coming.The wind carried salt and industrial chemicals, mixing with the distant smell of fish and diesel. Waves lapped against concrete pylons with rhythmic inevitability, the only sound besides Marcus's steady breathing.His dragon aura rippled subtly in the darkness, invisible to normal eyes but creating pressure that made the air itself feel heavy. He'd deliberately chosen this isolated location—acting within the city would draw attention, create complications, potentially endanger Quinn. Out here, surr

Cosmo's hand tightened on her scimitar's hilt, her knuckles going white with suppressed tension. The casual way Marcus Steel had exposed her greatest secret—the flaw in her Nine-Turn Heavenly Spirit Needles that she'd hidden from the entire Shadow Warrior world—sent ice through her veins."How do you know that?" Her voice carried barely controlled fury mixed with something else she refused to name: unease. "The poison coating is a secret known only to me. No one—NO ONE—outside my training should understand the Nine-Turn technique well enough to—""To recognize when a practitioner is compensating for incomplete mastery?" Marcus interrupted, his dragon eyes still glowing faintly in the darkness. "Please. The technique leaves specific energy signatures. You're good, Cosmo. Very good. But not perfect."He turned his back to her—actually turned his back—and began walking toward Fujita Tooi's corpse as if the legendary Empress standing behind him with a blade posed no threat whatsoever."Yo