CHAPTER SIXTYEdgar’s fingers loosened. The blood-slick ashtray slipped from his grip and clattered loudly onto the floor. He staggered back two steps, eyes wide with horror as he stared at his mother’s crumpled body.“Oh God… what did I do?” he whispered, voice breaking. “Mom… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…”Tristan had scrambled to the far side of the bed, pressing himself against the wall, chest heaving. Edgar wasn’t his son. The words slammed through his skull again and again. Madelyn cheated on me for twenty-one years. The stranger I raised just killed his own mother—my wife.“You’re not… you’re not even mine,” Tristan muttered, voice trembling. “All this time… the parties, the money, the girls… I missed everything. And this… this is what was happening behind my back?”Edgar shook his head violently, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. He dropped to his knees beside Madelyn’s body, hands hovering uselessly over her bleeding head.“Mom… please… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t k

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO Zane froze mid-step, his heavy yellow light cutting through the swirling snow like a lone beacon in the endless white. Twelve guys suddenly stepped out into the light. Their suits were shining with blinding yellow light that made their presence obvious in the whiteout, glowing like predatory ghosts emerging from the storm. Without wasting any time, they charged at once and attacked Zane. Time seemed to slow as the ambush exploded around him. Zane’s heart slammed against his ribs, adrenaline flooding his veins. The glowing figures rushed forward through the deep snow, their boots pounding, yellow lights flashing wildly and turning the blizzard into a chaotic nightmare of strobing brightness and shadow. He swung his rifle up, finger already squeezing the trigger. The weapon kicked hard against his shoulder, the sharp cracks of gunfire cutting through the howling wind. One attacker stumbled, but the rest kept coming like machines. A heavy body slammed into him

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE Cold. That was the first thing Zane felt. A brutal, suffocating cold that seemed to seep through his torn thermal suit and sink directly into his bones. His fingers twitched weakly beneath the snow. Then pain came. A violent wave of it. His ribs screamed. His head pounded. His vision pulsed black and white behind his shattered visor. Zane gasped sharply and jerked awake. The freezing snow beneath him had begun to harden around parts of his body. Frost clung to his lashes. His breath came out in weak, uneven clouds. [BITS Core emergency stabilization active. Minimal body heat remaining. Host survival probability: thirty-seven percent. Immediate retreat required.] Zane groaned and pushed himself up slowly onto one elbow. Blood stained the snow beneath him. The twelve glowing attackers lay scattered around him like discarded dolls. Dead. His hand tightened weakly around his rifle. “…Edgar.” He forced one knee beneath himself. Then he froze. A brilli

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVEZane’s fingers twitched again in the snow, stronger this time. The golden light beneath his skin no longer flickered wildly.“Zane?” Alina whispered, clutching his hand. “Can you hear me? Please… squeeze my hand if you can. Don’t leave me here.”His breath hitched—shallow at first, then deeper. Snow continued to fall around them.“Stay with me,” she said, voice trembling. “I’m right here. I’ve got you. Just fight it.”*****Inside the white expanse, Zane stood in a newly formed corridor of structured light. Fragments no longer drifted chaotically. They were locked into sterile walls and observation panels.A child’s voice echoed faintly. “Where is he? I want to see him…”Zane turned sharply. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”He stepped forward. A floating note materialized.{VAUGHN SYSTEM: OBSERVATION NODE ACTIVE}“What the hell is this place?” Zane demanded. “Why does it feel like I’ve walked these halls before?”The corridor responded with another flicker. Cold lights

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVENThe heavy iron door to the dungeon clanged shut behind Trigger as she stepped out into the dimly lit corridor of the Black Vulture Gang’s stronghold. Frost still clung to the edges of her jacket. She didn’t look back.Inside the cell, Razz remained chained to the stone wall, wrists raw and bloodied. Jinx lounged on a rickety stool just outside the bars, blowing slow pink bubbles that popped with soft, mocking sounds.Razz lifted his head, eyes burning with hate. “You betrayed us,” he rasped, voice hoarse from screaming. “We could’ve worked perfectly with the Master. All of us. Power. A new world. And you chose her.”Jinx rolled her eyes and popped another bubble. “Spare me the cult speech, Razz. I don’t care.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.“You chose the wrong master. If you’d gone with Trigger from the start, we could’ve built something real. Something that didn’t rely on a psychopath who thinks he can bend the entire frozen world to his wil