Ethan spent the first day of his "sabbatical" in the public library. Not his office, where Wei's team might monitor him. Not his apartment, where Noah might see what he was researching. The library—anonymous, public, with computers that didn't track back to him. He needed to understand Victor Chen. Really understand him. Not just his current moves, but his history. His pattern. The fifteen years of rebirths that had turned him into what he was. Wei had given him a file, but Ethan suspected it only contained what Wei wanted him to know. He needed to dig deeper. He started with public records. Victor Chen, age 38 (allegedly). Born in San Francisco to immigrant parents. Stanford undergrad, MIT graduate school. First job at Goldman Sachs. Left after three years to start his own fund. Standard Silicon Valley success story. Nothing remarkable. Except for the gaps. Victor's LinkedIn showed employment at Goldman from 2009-2012. But Ethan found a news article from 2011 mentioning "Vict

The boardroom on the forty-seventh floor had floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the city like a conquest already won. Ethan arrived early—not out of nervousness, but because he'd learned long ago that controlling the space meant controlling the narrative. He adjusted his cufflinks, a nervous habit from another lifetime that he'd never quite shed, and took his seat at the head of the mahogany table. Victor Reeves entered exactly three minutes late. Intentionally late, Ethan knew. Everything Victor did was intentional. "Ethan." Victor's smile didn't reach his eyes as he claimed the seat directly across from him, the power position for a challenger. "Thank you for accommodating this emergency session." "Emergency." Ethan let the word hang in the air between them. "Interesting choice of terminology for a scheduled quarterly review." The other board members filtered in—eight faces Ethan had worked with for years, built relationships with, earned trust from. He watched Victor's gaze s

Ethan sat in his car outside Vanessa's building for twenty minutes before going up. He'd rehearsed the conversation a dozen different ways, each one sounding more insane than the last. There's a man with supernatural abilities who wants to hurt our son. Yeah, that would go over well. But the message from Alexis had been clear: Victor wasn't just pressuring Vanessa to cooperate. He was watching Noah. Studying him. Looking for something. Ethan had to warn her. Even if she thought he'd lost his mind. He took the elevator up, knocked on the door. Vanessa answered, still in her work clothes, hair pulled back, exhausted. "Ethan. I thought we agreed I'd call you when I made a decision—" "This isn't about the custody thing. Can I come in?" She studied his face, and whatever she saw there made her step aside. Noah was in his room, door closed, the sound of video game explosions muffled through the walls. Vanessa gestured to the couch, poured herself the wine she'd been avoiding ea

The call came at 2:47 AM. Ethan jerked awake, phone already in his hand before he was fully conscious. Unknown number. He answered anyway. "Get Noah out. Now." Wei's voice, clipped and urgent. "Victor's moving tonight. He's not waiting for contracts or meetings or negotiations." "What? He agreed—" "He lied. Or changed his mind. Doesn't matter. I'm seeing movement. Multiple teams converged on Vanessa's building. You have maybe twenty minutes before they breach." Ethan was already out of bed, pulling on clothes. "What kind of teams?" "Professional. Armed. They're not there to talk." Wei's voice was grim. "Victor's decided that cooperation is too slow. He's taking what he needs." "Jesus Christ—" "Move. Now. I'm sending coordinates to a safe house. Get Noah there. I'll meet you with additional security." The line went dead. Ethan called Vanessa while pulling on his shoes, grabbing keys, checking his gun—the one Webb had insisted he keep after the first threats started. She answ

The alarm went off at 11:47 PM. Not the loud, obvious kind. Just a soft chime on Wei's tablet, indicating a breach in the perimeter security. Ethan was still awake, sitting in the living room, preparing for his meeting with Victor. He looked up as Wei came out of his room, already dressed, already moving. "They're here," Wei said quietly. "Four entry points. Professional formation. At least twelve people, maybe more." "How much time do we have?" "Three minutes. Maybe less." Wei was already waking his security team—the two men stationed inside the brownstone. "Get Vanessa and Noah. Back exit. Now." Ethan moved fast, throwing open the bedroom door. Vanessa was already awake—she'd developed the same hypervigilance they all had now. Noah sat up in bed, clutching his stuffed animal, eyes wide but calm. "They found us," Noah said. It wasn't a question. "Yes. We need to move." Ethan grabbed the go-bag they'd prepared. "Can you run?" "Yeah." Noah slipped on his shoes, still in