The clock on the main console counted down from sixty seconds.Logan Carter sat back in his chair in the warm command center.He manipulated the joystick on his console. He zoomed his high definition cameras onto his front gate. The mercenary kill squad was clamping dense blocks of thermite to the hinges.Logan tapped the intercom button. He ignored Warren Lockwood. Logan directed his voice at the traitor standing in the snow."You stole my blueprints, Harper," Logan said smoothly through the exterior speakers. The sound echoed over the howling wind.He paused to let the words sink into her freezing mind. He wanted her to feel the specific dread of a failed trap."But you did not read the materials list," Logan mocked her. "Did you tell your new boss what the outer shell is made of?"Harper stood in her premium mink furs. Her smug, victorious smile faltered. A flicker of genuine doubt crept into her dark eyes.Lockwood narrowed his eyes at the steel doors. He checked the watch on his

"Get on the ground!" A combat boot slammed into the back of Ashton's knees.He collapsed forward into the deep snow."Do not move a muscle," the mercenary snarled. Cold steel pressed hard against the back of Ashton's skull."I am unarmed," Ashton gasped. He raised his gloves high into the air. "I am just looking for shelter.""Shut your mouth," the second guard ordered.Rough hands grabbed the collar of his winter coat. The soldiers hoisted him off the black ice. They dragged him up the steps of the building."Open the doors!" the guard shouted.The doors groaned open. The mercenaries threw Ashton forward into the building.He hit the floor of the main lobby. He slid across the stone, scraping his chin."We caught a stray dog wandering the perimeter, boss," the guard announced loudly.Ashton groaned. He pushed himself up onto his bruised hands and knees.The civic hall was massive. Four roaring industrial gas heaters pumped blistering warmth into the room.The surviving Silver Lake el

"Look at the camera, Harper," Warren Lockwood ordered.His voice echoed from the bunker speakers with visual clarity."Let the boy see what he cannot have," Lockwood demanded. A wet slap echoed through the audio feed."Yes, Warren," Harper moaned loudly. She tossed her hair back for the lens. "I am looking right at him."Logan Carter sat in his command center. The blue light of the monitors washed over his face. The sterile silence of the bunker amplified the breathing on the feed."Tell him who the real boss is," Lockwood grunted.The desk groaned loudly under their weight."You are the boss," Harper gasped for breath. She stared directly into the glowing tablet lens. "You are a real man, Warren. Not a frightened little boy hiding in a basement."A broken, trembling whimper slipped through the audio feed.Sienna Bennett knelt near the edge of the desk. She forced out a sob choked sound of submission."Please, Warren," Sienna whimpered, her face flushed not with humiliation anymore bu

"Do not move a muscle."Mack Hudson slammed his combat boot directly into Ashton's chest.Ashton fell backward through the side window. His spine collided hard with the freezing tile floor of the civic building. The glass vial slipped down the sleeve of his winter coat."You thought the dark would hide you," Mack sneered.The mercenary commander stood over his victim. He pressed the barrel of his assault rifle against Ashton's nose."I was just getting some fresh air," Ashton gasped. He raised his hands to shield his face. "The lobby smells like a sewer.""Thermal scopes do not sleep, rat," Mack stated cold and flat.Mack reached down and grabbed Ashton by the collar. He hauled the smaller man off the floor with raw physical power. He slammed Ashton face first into the plaster wall."Search him," Mack ordered a nearby guard.Heavy hands patted down Ashton's coat. The guard reached into the wide sleeve and pulled out the small insulated vial. The clear liquid splashed against the glass

The military transport smashed through the barricades. Concrete shattered into dust."Fire at the windshield!" Warren Lockwood screamed.The oligarch stood in the center of the City Hall lobby. He shielded his eyes from the blinding high lumen floodlights mounted to the roof of Logan's vehicle."The glass is armored!" Mack Hudson shouted over the deafening engine roar.Mack raised his assault rifle. He fired a rapid burst at the driver side window. Bright yellow sparks bounced harmlessly off the thick, tungsten reinforced glass."Carter!" Lockwood roars, his face red with fury. "You are a dead man!""Turn off the power, Eric," Logan commanded over the external public address system. "Let the dark take them."Eric knelt on the floor near the rigged generator panel. He looked at the electrical breaker. He looked at the steel wrench in his hand."Stop the engineer!" Lockwood ordered his mercenaries.Eric did not run. He raised his arm and dropped the steel wrench directly across the expo