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Chapter One hundred and two
Eli didn’t move for three seconds after he folded the note.Three seconds of calibration. Three seconds of trying to be certain his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.Then he turned, stepped out of the cell, and the illusion of control ended.His thumb pressed the recessed panel by the door, hard enough that the skin blanched. The sound that followed wasn’t loud—not at first. A low, subsonic hum rolled through the corridor, more felt than heard, like the facility exhaling after holding its breath for too long.Then the lights changed.White to amber. Amber to red.The prison woke up.“Facility-wide security breach,” Eli said clearly, voice carrying without effort. “Initiate full lockdown. All wings. All levels. Override passive protocols.”The system responded instantly, synthetic and calm.“Lockdown initiated. Security check rotation escalating. Please state authorization.”“Aurelius Prime,” Eli said. “Override Alpha-Seven. This is not a drill.”A pause—fractional, but there.Then:
Chapter One hundred and one
Leonhart’s house didn’t creak the way old places were supposed to.It also didn't look or smell the way old houses did.Eli stood just inside the threshold for a moment longer than necessary, coat still on, keys cooling in his palm. The lights came on automatically, low and warm, illuminating stone floors that had seen decades of careful footsteps and deliberate restraint. The house still recognized him. That, more than anything, unsettled him tonight.He set his phone down on the narrow console table, stared at it, then picked it up again.Carlos answered on the second ring.“Rome?” Carlos asked, already adjusting.“Yes,” Eli said, moving deeper into the house. He loosened his coat but didn’t take it off. “I need you to look into something. Quietly.”Carlos didn’t joke. Didn’t fill the silence. “Go on.”“There’s a report out of the southern port,” Eli said. “A sighting. Victor.”The pause on the other end was brief, but it existed.“That’s not supposed to be possible,” Carlos said.“
Chapter One hundred
Carlos called just as Eli reached his car.The hospital parking lot was quiet in that late-night December way—cold air thinning the sounds, breath fogging faintly when he exhaled. The city felt paused, suspended between urgency and sleep. Eli unlocked the door but didn’t get in. He leaned against the frame instead, coat pulled tighter, phone pressed to his ear as he watched frost creep along the edge of a windshield nearby.“She’s getting antsy,” Carlos said without preamble.Eli closed his eyes, the chill seeping through the thin leather of his gloves. “Of course she is.”“I’ve stalled as much as I can,” Carlos continued. “But Clara doesn’t like delays she didn’t design herself. If you don’t meet her soon, she’ll start rewriting the narrative.”Eli exhaled slowly, breath visible this time. The warmth he’d carried out of the hospital—the fragile, grounding sense of being tethered—shifted, tightened. Not gone. Just… contained.“Set it up,” he said. “Tomorrow morning.”Carlos hummed. “S
Chapter Ninety - nine
Eli woke to the sound of a house breathing.It took him a second to place it—the faint creak of wood settling, the low hum of a refrigerator somewhere nearby, the distant clink of a spoon against ceramic. Morning sounds. Domestic ones. The kind that didn’t belong to glass-walled bedrooms or quiet penthouses or places that existed mostly to be passed through.He stared at the ceiling, unfamiliar and faintly cracked at one corner, and let the confusion pass.Right.Evelyn and Franklin’s house.He hadn’t slept like this in years.Not the kind of sleep that pulled him under without resistance, without the half-conscious vigilance that usually lingered at the edge of his mind. He hadn’t dreamed—at least, not anything he remembered. No fragments. No unfinished conversations looping endlessly.Just darkness. And rest.That realization alone made his chest tighten.He sat up slowly, as if sudden movement might break whatever fragile thing had allowed him peace. The blanket slid down to his wa
Chapter Ninety - eight
Morning arrived gently.Not with alarms or urgent calls or the sharp intrusion of responsibility—but with light filtering through the tall windows, pale and unassuming, as though the day itself was testing the ground before making demands.Eli woke slowly.For a moment, he didn’t move. Just lay there, staring at the ceiling, listening to the quiet hum of the house. The night before had been long—roads without destinations, thoughts that had needed space more than answers. He’d returned late, parked in the driveway long after the city had surrendered to sleep, and collapsed into bed with a tiredness that felt earned rather than heavy.He reached for his phone out of habit.No missed emergency calls.No red alerts.No messages marked *urgent*.Instead—A notification banner slid across the screen.Voice note received.Sender: Aurelius Group — Executive ChannelEli frowned slightly.He sat up, back resting against the headboard, and tapped play.For a split second, there was silence.The
Chapter Ninety - seven
Eli didn’t return to the bedside, immediately.He stood just outside the glass partition, one hand resting against the cool surface, eyes fixed on Elara’s still form. Her breathing remained even. Untroubled. For now, that was enough.Karim waited beside him, patient in the way only someone who had learned to coexist with dangerous silences could be.“Karim,” Eli said without looking away. “You’ll stay here.”Karim inclined his head slightly. “Of course.”“If she wakes up and asks for me—”“I’ll tell her you stepped out,” Karim said. “If she asks who I am, I’ll say I’m your friend and colleague.”Eli’s gaze shifted to him then. “No embellishments.”A faint, knowing look crossed Karim’s face. “I wouldn't dream of it.”“Good.” Eli exhaled slowly. “Don’t leave her alone. Not for a second.”“You don’t need to say it.”Eli nodded once, a silent acknowledgment of trust earned the hard way. He straightened, already compartmentalizing, already moving on to the next necessary thing.“Call me if
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