King of the Underground

Betrayal Burns

Chapter 7: Betrayal Burns

The warehouse smelled like old oil and smoke. Shadows danced across cracked concrete floors as a single bulb flickered overhead, casting light on Jaxon Creed’s makeshift war table.

Blueprints. Photos. Wire maps of Cape Heights. Circles marked in red.

Jaxon stood at the center, flanked by Miko and Dom “Fangs” Delano, his top enforcer, a scar running from cheek to chin. The room buzzed with tension.

“We hit the south docks in two days,” Jaxon said, tapping a point on the map. “That’s where Kade’s moving the private shipments—guns, crypto, hard cash. We take it, we cut his supply lines in half.”

Dom grunted. “And what if he’s ready for us?”

“Then we hit harder,” Jaxon said coldly. “We’re not playing defense.”

Miko cleared her throat. “You sure the intel’s solid? It came from a leak.”

Jaxon’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

She hesitated. “Lyra.”

The name felt like a blade against his ribs.

“She gave us the port manifest,” Miko added quickly. “Said she intercepted it from one of Kade’s private servers. It checks out, but…”

“But what?”

“She’s been quiet. Too quiet. And Kade’s security isn’t easy to breach. Not without raising alarms.”

Jaxon looked away.

He remembered Lyra’s voice the night they met in secret. The way she’d trembled when she told him she didn’t choose Kade. That she’d done what she had to do to survive.

But now… silence.

And silence was dangerous in war.

That night, rain returned—Cape Heights’ favorite omen.

Jaxon sat alone in a darkened corner of an old boxing club he once called home. The ring was torn. The punching bags half-filled. A graveyard of past glories.

Dom entered, wiping blood from his knuckles.

“We found something,” he said.

Jaxon stood. “What?”

Dom tossed a small burner phone onto the table.

“One of our runners got picked up by Kade’s men,” Dom said. “They let him go… too easy. Told him to deliver a package straight to you.”

Jaxon picked up the phone. Only one message appeared on the cracked screen:

"She’s not yours anymore."

Attached was a photo.

Lyra.

Tied to a chair. Blood on her lip. A black bag over her head. Behind her stood Kade’s right hand, Viktor Toma.

Jaxon’s grip on the phone tightened until it cracked.

Dom waited for orders, but Jaxon’s voice was calm.

“Get Miko. Tell her we need eyes on Zenith Tower. Now.”

Two hours later, they were parked in a van two blocks from Zenith.

Miko was at the laptop, fingers flying across keys.

“They moved her to sub-level 3,” she said. “Security’s heavier than normal. Looks like Kade’s expecting company.”

Jaxon watched the live feed—a grainy image of Lyra’s cell. She wasn’t moving.

“What’s the layout?”

“Three entrances. One’s a choke point. The others are locked with biometric security tied to Kade and Viktor only. We can’t hack it from the outside.”

Jaxon stood. “Then we go through the front.”

Miko grabbed his arm. “Jax—wait. There’s something else.”

He looked at her.

She hesitated, then turned her screen. “We intercepted a private call. Between Viktor… and someone else. One of ours.”

A recording played. A voice—familiar. Calm. Gruff.

“Tell Kade I’ve fed him everything. The docks. The trap. He’ll walk right into it. Just let me walk away when it’s done.”

Jaxon froze.

Dom walked in behind him. “What’s going on?”

Jaxon didn’t speak. He just turned and looked at Dom.

Dom stared back, confused.

Until Jaxon’s voice broke the silence.

“That voice. That’s you, Dom.”

Dom’s smile vanished.

“Jax, listen—”

“You sold me out.”

Dom raised his hands. “I didn’t have a choice. He threatened my kid. Said she’d disappear if I didn’t help.”

Jaxon stepped forward, eyes burning. “So you gave him everything?”

“Not everything,” Dom said. “Just the port. I made sure he didn’t get your safehouses or your new network. I tried to protect what I could—”

Jaxon punched him.

Dom hit the floor, groaning, blood running from his nose.

“You had a choice,” Jaxon said, voice low. “You just didn’t choose me.”

Dom didn’t fight back. “I was trying to survive, man.”

“So was I,” Jaxon snapped. “Except I did it in a frozen cage, chained to walls, listening to rats chew through corpses. And I never gave anyone up.”

Silence.

Miko looked away.

Jaxon breathed hard, chest heaving.

Then he turned away.

“Get him out of here,” he said.

Dom struggled to his feet. “You’re going to need me—”

“You made your choice,” Jaxon said without looking back. “Now live with it.”

Later that night, Jaxon stood alone on a rooftop overlooking Zenith Tower.

Lightning crackled in the sky.

His city was burning. And now, so was his trust.

He gripped the railing, knuckles white.

One by one, the people he once loved were slipping through his fingers.

The war had started. But now it wasn’t just about empire. Or power.

Now it was personal.