The armored glass of the VIP elevator shattered inward in a cascade of lethal, glittering hail.Before the first glass shard touched the plush carpet, Jaxith tackled Elena to the floor, twisting his body mid-air to take the brunt of the impact. Automatic gunfire ripped through the shaft, turning the gold-trimmed metal frame of the elevator into a shredding machine. Tracers burned bright red lines across the dim space, smelling of ozone and burnt copper."Down!" Jaxith barked, his voice tight against her ear.Elena didn't scream. She didn't hesitate. The moment her back hit the floor beneath Jaxith’s solid weight, her hands were already moving. She unclipped a matte-black suppressed pistol from the hidden holster strapped to her inner thigh, racked the slide with a sharp metallic clack, and aimed straight through the broken window.*Pfft. Pfft.*Two precise shots echoed through the chaos. Outside the elevator, a masked gunman clad in heavy tactical armor dropped from the steel cables,

The massive mahogany double doors of the Vance Estate dining hall slammed inward, splitting straight down the middle under a wave of dark kinetic energy.Splinters showered over the long, candlelit table where Arthur Vance sat with his eldest son, Julian, flanked by eight board members of Vance Corp. Fine crystal wine glasses shattered on the polished floor, spilled vintage Pinot Noir resembling freshly shed blood across the white marble."What in God's name—" Arthur Vance gasped, his fork clattering against his gold-rimmed china plate. The patriarch’s hair was silvered and sleek, his face etched with decades of cold authority, but his hands trembled as the heavy smoke cleared from the doorway.Jaxith stepped through the threshold, his obsidian-black suit tailored to perfection, his shoes clicking against the shattered mahogany with absolute dominance. Beside him stood Elena Rostova, stunning in a dark silk dress, her gaze sharp enough to freeze the blood of every executive in the roo

A microscopic crimson laser dot danced across the center of Elena Rostova’s forehead.In the blinding flash of three dozen media cameras on the steps of Vance Tower, Jaxith saw the subtle red light a split second before the optic sensor registered the distance.Without a word, Jaxith grabbed Elena by the waist, spun her behind his body, and slammed her against the heavy granite pillar of the grand entrance.*THWACK!*A high-caliber sniper round tore through the ambient noise of shouting reporters, shattering the armored glass revolving door behind them. Concrete dust and razor-sharp glass sprayed over the screaming crowd of journalists. Microphones dropped to the ground, high-heeled shoes clattered against the stone, and total pandemonium erupted across the plaza as people scrambled for cover."Sniper! North building, six hundred yards!" Elena barked, instantly crouching low behind the granite pillar, her hand sliding beneath her tailored blazer toward her hidden firearm. She didn't p

A thick stack of leather-bound financial ledgers slammed onto the glass conference table, shattering the forty-foot glass top clean down the middle with a deafening crack.The thirty board members of Vance Maritime dropped their gold fountain pens in unison, several elderly executives leaping out of their ergonomic leather chairs in absolute terror. Splinters of safety glass showered over the polished oak floorboards of the grand executive suite on the 88th floor of Vance Tower."That's forty-two million dollars in illegal shell transactions traced directly to Viktor Rostova's private accounts in the Cayman Islands," Jaxith Vance announced softly, his voice cutting through the high-altitude boardroom like a newly sharpened blade.Jaxith stood at the head of the ruined table, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his tailored obsidian trousers. His white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, exposing the pale skin of his wrist where the fa

Fifty stories above the rain-slicked asphalt of Aethelgard, Jaxith Vance held a man by his windpipe over the jagged edge of the shattered penthouse window.Wind screamed through the high-rise gap, driving icy torrents of rain into the ruined suite. Below them, the flashing red lights of four downed tactical helicopters illuminated the smoking wreckage in the street, where Viper’s undercity enforcers had just been systematically dismantled."Give me a name, Marcus," Jaxith growled, his voice a low, terrifying rumble that vibrated through the traitor’s choking throat.Marcus—Elena Rostova’s former chief of security—clawed wildly at Jaxith’s iron fingers. His legs dangled uselessly over the five-hundred-foot drop, his dark tactical vest torn to shreds by shadow blades. Blood mixed with rainwater dripped from his swollen jaw onto Jaxith’s polished shoe."I... I was just following orders!" Marcus choked out, his eyes bulging with frantic, unadulterated terror as his boots kicked at empty a