Dante sat in the mountain cabin, staring at the wall. Naomi was asleep in the next room. Viktor was recovering from his wounds. Lara was outside, keeping watch.The weight of the past twenty-four hours pressed down on him. The attack on the safehouse. The decoy. The meeting with Evelyn. The realization that the shadow council was everywhere.He pulled out his phone. No messages. No threats. Nothing.The silence was worse than the violence.Naomi appeared in the doorway. "You haven't slept.""I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see them coming.""Then we fight." She sat beside him. "We've done it before. We'll do it again."Dante looked at her. The woman who'd betrayed him. The woman who'd come back. The woman who'd risked everything to save him."I don't know if I can do this anymore," he said. "I don't know if I have anything left."Naomi took his hand. "You have me. You have Viktor. You have Lara. You have a reason to fight."Dante squeezed her hand. "I know. That's what sc

The cemetery was quiet.Dante stood before the headstone, his hands at his sides. The grass was green. The sky was blue. The world was peaceful.He'd never visited his parents' grave. Not once. He'd been too young when they died, too broken to face the truth.But now he was here. Finally.Naomi stood a few feet behind him, giving him space. Viktor and Lara waited in the car at the edge of the cemetery.Dante knelt. Touched the stone."I'm sorry," he said. "I should have come sooner. I should have been better. But I'm here now."The silence was heavy. The weight of the past pressed down on him.He spoke again. "I stopped them. The people who killed you. The people who destroyed our family. I stopped all of them."He paused. "I don't know if that makes up for anything. I don't know if I'll ever be whole. But I wanted you to know that I tried. I tried to make things right."Naomi approached. She knelt beside him. "They would be proud of you."Dante looked at her. "You think so?""I know