2026-02-12 22:34:41Death was a funny thing.
Arashi had expected fire and brimstone, but it began with a bunch of nothing. No sounds, no sensation. He just drifted as if he was in an endless void.
Then…
White light. The smell of chemicals. Something beeping. Beep. Beep. Beep.
His eyes snapped open.
Arashi tried to move and he couldn't.
Panic hit immediately, gripping his ribcage like chains. His arms were restrained. Legs too. He was lying flat on something cold and firm, tilted slightly upward.
His vision blurred, head pounding like someone was hammering nails through his skull. What the fuck? He wasn't dead?
He jerked against the restraints. They didn't budge.
"He's awake."
The voice came from his left. Male.
"Vitals are stable. Neural integration at seventy-two percent. Better than projected."
Arashi's vision cleared enough to see ceiling panels. White coating. The single lamp glared like the eye of an angry god.
"Where…" His throat was raw. "Where am I?"
"Secure location." Different voice. Also male, but warmer. The voice belonged to one of those people that liked talking. "You're safe, Arashi."
Safe? He almost laughed. He hadn't been safe since he turned 5.
"Let me go."
"Not yet."
Footsteps. Two figures moved into view. One was younger, maybe thirty, wearing a white lab coat. The other was older, fifty-something, dressed in a dark suit that probably cost more than Arashi had made in his entire life. Bro had to be swimming in money. Buttloads of it. What did the geezer want?
The older man smiled. "My name is Rue Giodanzo. We need to talk."
"I don't need to do anything." Arashi pulled at the restraints again. "Let me go or I'll—"
"You'll what?" Rue's expression didn't change. "You were shot in the back seventeen hours ago. Three inches from your spine. You should be dead or paralyzed. You're neither. Curious about why?"
Arashi stopped struggling.
He remembered the alley. The gunshot. Going down. His mouth fell open.
"You're saying I was shot."
"Yes." The man's eyes didn't leave his.
"And I'm alive."
"Obviously." The geezer didn't elaborate.
"Then take me to a hospital."
Rue shook his head. "Hospitals keep records. Records create problems.” He sounded like he was reciting a mantra. “You don't exist anymore, Arashi. Officially, you died in that alley. Gunshot victim, no ID, body processed through the county system. Cremated three hours ago."
Arashi's stomach twisted. "You're lying,” he hissed, snarling with his lips pulled back.
"I'm not." Rue nodded to the medical bloke. "Show him."
The doctor tapped something on a tablet and turned it toward Arashi. News article. The headline blazed like a fire brand. Unidentified Male Found Dead in South Loop Alley. Police Investigating.
The photo showed a body bag on a stretcher.
Arashi went cold.
"That's not me," Arashi said.
"No. But it was reported as you. Your DNA, your dental records, everything matches. We're very thorough."
Who the fuck were these people?
"Why?"
"Because you needed to disappear." Rue pulled up a chair and sat. He let out a sigh. "And because your father is dead."
Arashi stared at him like he'd just heard the most stupid thing in his life. "I don't have a father."
"Everyone has a father,” Rue said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, mine was a deadbeat git who didn't stick around. Bloke didn't want a single thing to do with me.” The thought hurt, but sit eighteen years with the same pain, and it became second nature.
"On the contrary." Rue leaned forward. "Cassian Giodanzo knew exactly where you were. Every day of your life. Every group home, every school, every fight. He watched you."
Arashi blinked. "I don't know any Cassian. What the hell are you on?”
"You wouldn't.” Rue leaned back. “He made sure of that." Rue's expression shifted, and steel entered his eyes. "Cassian was one of the wealthiest men in the world, boyo. Controlled banks, infrastructure, entire governments. And he had no legitimate heirs. That is, until you."
Arashi laughed. It hurt. It hurt so much. "You're insane. Is this some rich geezer prank? You can let me go. I won't tell anyone.”
"Your mother was named Keiko Tanaka.” Arashi froze. “She met Cassian in Tokyo in 2007. You were born nine months later. She died when you were six months old. Cassian placed you in the foster system under a false name to keep you hidden."
"Hidden from what?”
Rue smiled. There was no mirth in it, but he knew he'd hooked Arashi. "From everyone who would kill you to prevent this conversation."
The beeping from the monitor accelerated.
Rue noticed. "You don't have to believe me yet. But you do need to listen. Cassian died four weeks ago. Heart attack. And his will names you as his sole beneficiary."
"That's impossible."
"It's verified. DNA samples were collected from you three years ago during a hospital visit for a broken arm. We've been preparing for this moment." Rue sounded bored. “Don't insult us, if you can manage that.”
Arashi's head was spinning. "I don't want his money. I don't know who the bloke you're talking about is, and I. Don't. Want. His. Money. Let me go.”
"It's not about what you want." Rue stood. He had a frame that screamed danger despite his age. "There are people who believe Cassian's empire should be divided among his business partners. There are others who think it should go to the state. And there are a few who simply want it burned to the ground. All of them have one thing in common."
"What?"
Rue met his eyes.
"They need you dead."
The doctor was checking something on the machines. He didn't look concerned.
Arashi forced himself to focus. He swallowed the painfully hard lump forming in his throat. "So you faked my death."
"Yes."
"And now what? I hide forever?"
"No." Rue straightened his jacket. "Now we find out if you're actually his son. Or just a very expensive mistake."
"You just said you verified—"
Rue cut him off. "DNA tells us biology. It doesn't tell us capability." Rue moved toward the door. "Cassian didn't leave his empire to you because you share his genetics, boyo. He left it to you because he believed you could protect it. We're going to test whether he was right."
"And if I fail?"
Rue paused at the door. "Then we find someone else. And you go back to being dead."
He left.
The doctor checked one more reading and followed.
Arashi was alone with the beeping machines and the restraints and the impossible story echoing in his head.
He tested the straps again.
Still locked.
Holy bloody fuck.
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Chapter 20
Selene stepped closer. She bent to examine the mark, and Arashi watched her as the skin tightened around her eyes. Then she met his gaze and gave a small shake of her head.“Tie him up,” she said, her voice flat. “Rue will want to question him.”Arashi finished securing the zip ties and straightened, pressing a palm against his temple. The pressure was a hot spike now, driving in from both sides, and he fought to keep his breathing even.Selene watched him. “You’re hurt.”“I’m fine.” He wasn’t. The tattoo seemed to burn at the corner of his eye, even when he looked away. “The mark. You recognized it.”She said nothing.“Selene.” He turned to face her fully, the prisoner forgotten between them. The basement felt suddenly too small, the concrete walls pressing in. “What aren’t you telling me?”For a long moment, she didn’t answer. The silence stretched, heavy as the lake fog. Then she spoke.“That tattoo is a pack mark. It means he belongs to someone. Something.” She paused. “It’s not h
Chapter 19
They dragged him to the basement and tied him to a chair. Selene’s knots were tight. Arashi could see the cord biting into the man’s wrists, the way his fingers were already beginning to pale. She stepped back and crossed her arms, her gaze never leaving the man's face.“What's your name?”The man spat. Selene’s punch crashed into his jaw, snapping his head. “Fuck!” he cursed, blood staining his teeth. “Your name?” Selene asked. “Bitch! You're going to die, bitch! I'm going to fucking gut you.”Arashi walked out just as she punched him again. He checked the perimeter first. A low throb had settled at the base of his skull, a dull pressure that pulsed in time with his heartbeat. He found the other two attackers still unconscious in the hallway; he zip-tied their wrists and ankles, hauled them into the parlor’s storage closet, and locked the door. The handle rattled twice under his hand before the latch caught. The metal was cold, and a smear of his own blood came away on his pal
Chapter 18
The foreign rage still had his limbs when the air changed.One moment he was swinging the bat through a red haze, blood sliding in slow lines down his ribs, the three attackers recoiling from his feral rush.The next, Selene was simply there in the ruined doorway. The wrath that had seized him shrank back into the pit of his stomach, leaving his muscles shaking and hollow.Awe hit him like a physical force.She covered the distance between her and the knife-man. A fluid half-turn, her forearm deflecting the blade, a snake-strike to the wrist that sent the knife spinning across the linoleum. Her other hand was already at his throat, a short, ugly blow that folded him with a choked, wet sound. He hit the floor and didn’t move.“Fuck,” someone cursed. The big one lunged, arms wide to crush. Selene flowed sideways, a step no wider than a breath, caught his momentum, and redirected his skull into the lip of the counter. The crack of bone on granite was almost disrespectful. He slid down
Chapter 17
Arashi was shirtless, sitting cross-legged on the kitchen island with Valdis’s notes spread around him, when the prickling started at the base of his spine.The paper was slick under his fingers, still carrying the faint chemical bite of the toner from the old printer. He’d been trying to memorize the seating hierarchy for a twelve-person formal dinner when the hairs on his neck lifted, and a cold ripple spread down his back like a drop of ice water tracing his vertebrae.He didn’t think. He ducked.A metal bat whistled through the space his skull had been and cratered the cabinet behind him with a flat, ugly crack that jarred his teeth.Arashi threw himself sideways off the island, hit the linoleum on his shoulder, and rolled into a crouch. His hand found the drawer beside the stove, yanked it open, and closed around the first object it met … a spatula? Holy fuck. He cursed under his breath, but it was better than nothing. He rose to his feet and swept the kitchen with his eyes.Ther
Chapter 16
That evening, Rue visited the safehouse and brought a photograph.He set it on the kitchen table without comment, and Arashi picked it up. The glossy paper was smooth under his thumb, still holding a faint chemical tang of developing fluid.It showed Cassian younger than in the recording, in his late twenties, maybe. He was standing on a balcony somewhere warm, the ocean behind him, his shirt half‑unbuttoned and his hair windswept. He was laughing at something off‑camera, a big smile stretched across his face. Arashi's heart ached. This man looked nothing like the cold monster who’d cut Lucas’s throat.“That was taken in Santorini,” Rue said. He paused, his jaw working for a moment before he went on. “Twelve years before you were born, boyo. He was there to negotiate a shipping contract. Instead, Cassian… he fell in love with a local fisherman’s daughter and almost didn’t come back.” A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.”Arashi stared at the photograph. “What happened
CHAPTER 15
The funeral parlor had a basement. Arashi discovered it on his eighth day of training, chasing a dropped water bottle down a narrow stairwell behind the kitchen.The space was not large. Arashi straightened, holding the water bottle in his right. His eyes scanned the basement. It had a concrete floor, and exposed pipes ran over the walls like veins. A single bulb glowed from where it hung from the ceiling, a pull chain dangling underneath. The walls were lined with empty shelving, and in the corner, someone had left a wooden crate sealed with iron bands.Selene found him there a while later, her boots echoing on the stairs and sending small vibrations through the soles of his shoes.She crossed her arms over her chest. “This is off‑limits, Arashi.”He snorted. “You didn’t tell me that.” He was crouched over a crate, trying to pry it open and see inside. He considered going back up for a crowbar. “You didn’t ask.” She descended the rest of the way and stopped a few feet from him, stud
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