2025-09-09 12:55:34
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The Enemy Within
The sun had barely begun to rise when Ethan’s system interface flared alive. The countdown timer ticked relentlessly: 15 hours, 12 minutes left. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, but his mind was sharp—wired with adrenaline and the gnawing awareness that every passing second was a threat.Last night’s intel drop from Damian played on loop in his head: Councilman Grayson wasn’t just dabbling in corruption. He was directly funding the very syndicate Ethan had been tasked with dismantling. Worse—there was evidence he had a mole planted inside Ethan’s own crew.A traitor.The word rattled through Ethan’s skull like a gunshot. He had built his crew carefully, pulling in people he thought he could trust—mercenaries, hackers, drivers, fighters. Each of them owed him something, each of them had proven themselves in blood. But if Damian was right, one of them was feeding Grayson information.And that meant every move Ethan made could already be compromised.Ethan entered the safehouse’s main
The Phantom’s Price
The sunlight that cut through the hatch above was blinding after the tunnel’s gloom. Maya hauled herself out, lungs burning, her heart hammering against her ribs as if it wanted out of her chest.The air outside was sharp and cold, filled with the acrid stench of smoke. Behind her, the underground passage shook faintly, the sound of steel against steel still ringing in her ears. Ethan’s voice echoed in her memory, commanding her to leave.Go.But she couldn’t—not really.Maya crouched low, scanning the abandoned field they’d surfaced in. The land stretched wide, charred patches of earth still smoldering from the earlier explosions. A broken fence sagged nearby, and beyond it, an old farmhouse leaned like it had been forgotten for decades.She wanted to run. She wanted to keep moving like Ethan told her. But her body refused. Every instinct screamed to turn back, to dive into that dark tunnel and drag him out.Instead, she pressed her ear to the hatch, listening.Clashing steel. A grun
Shadows in Pursuit
The tunnel was damp, narrow, and endless. Drops of water echoed against stone as Ethan and Maya pressed forward, their shadows stretching long in the dim glow of a single emergency light Ethan had flicked on. The faint hum of fire dying above them was replaced by something worse—silence.“They’ll send hunters,” Maya muttered, her voice low but alert. “Ones who don’t care about casualties. Ones who won’t stop.”Ethan’s boots crunched against gravel. His jaw was rigid, eyes scanning every angle. “Good. That means they’re desperate.”But even he could feel it—the air in the tunnel shifting, tightening, as though unseen eyes were already watching them.They weren’t alone.A soft scrape echoed behind them. Maya froze instantly, rifle rising. Ethan lifted a hand, signaling silence, his ears straining. Then came another sound—footsteps. Heavy, deliberate, and too controlled to be a rookie mercenary.“Council’s elite,” Ethan murmured.The shadows moved. A figure emerged at the far end of the
Fire in the Safehouse
Another shadow vaulted through the window. Ethan spun, fired twice, and the intruder dropped before his boots hit the ground. Maya darted forward, her blade flashing across another man’s throat as he stumbled in. Blood sprayed against the wall as his body crumpled silently.But more were coming. The roof groaned under the weight of boots. The walls shook as they pounded forward like wolves closing in on prey.“Roof breach,” Ethan muttered, firing upward. Two thuds followed as bodies slammed onto the floorboards from above. He grabbed one of their rifles, tossing it to Maya. She caught it smoothly, her grin wicked.“Finally. Something with a little bite.”Explosives rattled the back door. The hinges trembled, then blasted inward in a burst of smoke and fire. Council mercenaries stormed through in formation. Ethan dropped behind the couch, firing bursts that cut through their line. Maya spun the rifle with deadly precision, each shot finding a throat or a chest, never wasting a bullet.
The Council’s Shadow
The safehouse was too quiet. Ethan sat in the dim light, a pistol laid out on the table before him, its steel glinting under the low lamp. The silence was heavy, broken only by the faint tick of the clock on the wall. Every second reminded him of how much closer the Council was getting.“Still no word?” Maya asked, stepping out of the back room. She had changed into tactical black, her hair tied back, eyes sharp with focus. She carried herself like someone expecting war at the door.Ethan shook his head. “Damian’s gone dark. Either he’s laying low or…” He didn’t finish. Both of them knew the other possibility: betrayal.Maya walked closer, crossing her arms. “You trust him too much. He’s playing his own game. He always has.”Ethan allowed himself a faint smirk. “That’s what makes him useful.” His eyes shifted to the screen on the wall, where encrypted data scrolled in green code. “The Council is moving faster than expected. If Grayson’s dead, someone else is already stepping into his
The Weight of Vengeance
The night sky hung heavy over the city, veiled by smoke that lingered like a bruise across the skyline. Ethan stood on the rooftop, his coat whipping in the wind as he stared at the crimson glow of sirens in the distance. Another Council facility had gone up in flames. Another piece of their empire reduced to rubble.But it wasn’t enough. Not yet.Every victory felt hollow, a temporary salve against the deeper wound carved into him by betrayal, by blood, by loss. The missions Damian fed him were like stepping stones—each one bringing him closer to the Council’s core. Yet the closer Ethan came, the heavier the weight of vengeance pressed on his chest.“You’re burning yourself out,” Mia’s voice broke through the comms, soft but firm.Ethan’s jaw tightened. He didn’t answer immediately. He didn’t have to. She knew the silence well enough.“Three missions in four days,” Mia continued. “You’re not invincible, Ethan. You can’t keep throwing yourself into this fire without getting burned.”“
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