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Rise Of The Phoenix: Dylan’s Rebirth 189
189The rain hadn’t let up as they made their way through the back alleys, the city’s dim glow flickering against the wet pavement. Dylan kept his senses sharp, eyes scanning every corner, every shadow. They couldn’t afford to relax—not yet. The ambush had been too close, and the mention of the Black Mantle made things even more complicated.Lilith stayed close, her footsteps light despite the wet ground. She was quiet, her usual sarcasm absent for the moment. They didn’t stop until they reached a rusted metal door, tucked away behind a decaying warehouse. Dylan knocked twice, the sound sharp against the silence, and the door creaked open.“Mr. Nelson’s place,” he muttered, pulling Lilith inside.The inside of the building was dim, lit only by the faint hum of old fluorescents. It smelled like oil and dust. Dylan wasted no time, heading straight for a back room. Lilith followed, her curiosity piqued despite herself.Once inside, Dylan locked the door and leaned against the cracked wal
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190Lilith shifted uneasily by the door, her fingers tapping against the cracked frame. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. She watched Dylan move to the old desk, rifling through a drawer until he pulled out a battered phone.“So, uh…” Lilith began, her voice tentative, “have you thought about calling the police? I mean, they’re supposed to deal with kidnappings, right?”Dylan froze for a moment before slowly straightening up. His eyes locked onto hers, hard and cold. “No.”Lilith blinked. “No?”He shook his head once, firm. “Bringing the police into this would be the worst move I could make. If they even catch a whiff of Molly, whoever took her will know we’re onto them. She’ll disappear into a deeper hole—or worse.”“But—” Lilith started to argue, then stopped when she saw the raw fear in his expression, the kind that didn’t come from distrust of law enforcement, but from experience. Dylan wasn’t guessing. He knew.“You have to trust me,” Dylan said quietly. “This
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191They moved quickly, Dylan checking the old safe hidden beneath the desk. He pulled out two pistols, tossing one to Lilith without hesitation. She caught it easily, checking the magazine like a pro.“Not your first gunfight?” Dylan asked, raising an eyebrow.Lilith shrugged. “You pick up a few things living in the gutter.”Dylan loaded his weapon, tucking it under his jacket. His mind was cold and sharp now, all hesitation burned away. If Molly was in that warehouse, he was bringing her home. No matter the cost.They slipped out into the night, the rain still pounding the city in relentless sheets. Dylan led the way through the maze of alleys, sticking to the shadows. Lilith stayed close, matching his movements with surprising fluidity.When they reached Dylan’s car—a battered black Charger parked in a shadowed corner—he slid behind the wheel, and Lilith jumped into the passenger seat.As they drove, Lilith broke the silence. “You think it’s a trap?”“Of course it’s a trap,” Dylan
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192A man barked orders from the catwalk above, his voice crackling through a cheap loudspeaker.“Give it up, Dylan!” the voice jeered. “You’re too late! You’ll never find her!”Dylan stiffened, muscles tensing. He knew that voice—Roth. One of Dragonia’s former enforcers. Brutal, loyal to the highest bidder. It figured he would be working for whoever had taken Molly.He swept his eyes over the warehouse—metal crates, old machinery, dark pools of oil soaking the concrete. It was too open. Too exposed.“Figures it’d be Roth,” Lilith muttered from her cover behind a stack of barrels, exchanging fire with a guard perched behind a forklift. She caught Dylan’s eye and gave a grim nod. “You got a plan?”“Yeah.” Dylan ducked as a bullet whined past. “Smoke.”Lilith didn’t hesitate. She ripped a small canister from inside her jacket, yanked the pin with her teeth, and lobbed it toward the center of the warehouse.The canister exploded with a loud pop, flooding the air with a choking cloud of w
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193The rain hammered the cracked asphalt as Dylan and Lilith sped toward the stolen sedan they’d stashed earlier.Lilith yanked the door open and slid into the passenger seat, dripping rainwater everywhere. “Remind me why you’re driving?”“Because you drive like a lunatic,” Dylan shot back, slamming the door and jamming the key into the ignition.“I get results.”“You get speeding tickets.”The engine coughed, sputtered—and died.Lilith gaped at him. “You have got to be kidding.”Dylan cursed and popped the hood, rain pouring into the engine bay. Wires. Cut clean.“They found it,” he muttered. “Sabotaged.”“Of course they did,” Lilith said, throwing up her hands. “Because why wouldn’t they?”A screech of tires spun both their heads around.Headlights flared down the street—two black SUVs barreling toward them.“Move!” Dylan barked.They abandoned the car and sprinted down the alley, boots splashing through filthy puddles.“Where’s Plan C, genius?!” Lilith panted, ducking low as bulle
Rise Of The Phoenix: Dylan’s Rebirth 194
194Dylan stumbled beside her, bloody lip and all. “You good?” he gasped out.“I’m great,” Lilith panted, eyes flashing with adrenaline. “Just peachy. Where’s our damn exit?!”He pointed down the half-collapsed hallway—but then they both saw her.A tall woman in a sleek black combat suit, twin knives gleaming wickedly in her hands, stepping silently into their path like a shadow peeled off the wall.Lilith’s boots skidded on the wet concrete. “Oh, fantastic,” she groaned. “Who’s this reject from a Marvel audition?”The woman’s lips curled into a faint, humorless smile. She tilted her head slightly, her knives catching the dim light. “Call me Vesper,” she said coolly.Lilith squinted. “Vesper? What, like the martini? Are we supposed to be impressed or tipsy?”Vesper’s smirk widened. She didn’t answer—instead, she lunged.Blades flashed.Lilith barely swung up her pistol to block the first vicious slash, the impact rattling her bones. She staggered back a step, hissing under her breath.
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195Lisa, sensing the shift in mood, perked up. “Anyway! What are you wearing to meet Bobby? You need to slay. Like, absolutely devastate.”Helen smirked. “Already planned. I’m thinking the red Valentino dress—the one with the slit up to here.” She gestured mid-thigh.Lisa gave a wolf-whistle. “Girl. He won’t know what hit him.”Helen grinned. “Good. Let him sweat. Business is business, but a little leverage never hurt anybody.”Lisa laughed. “Remind me never to play poker with you.”“Smart move.” Helen sipped her mimosa again, savoring the taste of victory on her tongue.For once, things were lining up.Last night’s phone call hadn’t just been a lifeline—it had been a doorway. A doorway back to power, respect, luxury.She refused to look backward. Dylan could rot for all she cared. She was done with being anyone’s stepping stone.She was Helen freaking Eastwood, and this city was about to learn her name.Her phone buzzed on the table, cutting into her thoughts.Bobby’s name flashed a
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196“How soon do they want to move?” Helen asked, swirling the spoon idly around her coffee.“Fast,” Bobby said, leaning forward, lowering his voice like it was some great secret. “Two weeks, tops. They want to announce before the next fiscal quarter.”Helen tapped her manicured nails against the mug, deep in thought, her sunglasses slipping slightly down her nose. She pushed them back up with one finger. Her mind was already working angles, risks, escape routes.“And what’s your cut in all this?” she asked, her tone sharp, suspicious.Bobby chuckled, an easy, practiced sound. “Straight to business. I like that about you.”Helen didn’t crack a smile. “Answer the question.”He took a slow sip of his coffee, deliberately dragging out the moment. Helen’s foot started tapping under the table, a tell she couldn’t help.Finally, he said, “Finder’s fee. Minor stake. I’ll be consulting behind the scenes. You’ll be the face.”Helen narrowed her eyes. “Consulting,” she repeated. “Meaning you ge
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221: The Future in Flame “I wouldn’t have told you if I wasn’t.” Dylan nodded. “Then let’s burn the world down.” He typed the command. A loading bar began to climb. Lilith stepped up beside him and pulled a drive from her coat—sleek, unlabeled, humming softly. “My code’s on here,” she said. “It’ll mimic the framework of Ignis Core perfectly. I’ve even embedded some of your old code from before you joined Ash. They’ll think it’s legit. Familiar. But once it activates… recursive detonation.” She handed it to him. He plugged it in. The system blinked. Code spilled across the screen—lines upon lines of luminous, perfect deception. Lilith crossed her arms as she watched. “We’ve got one shot at this.” Dylan didn’t look away from the screen. “Then we make it count.” The lights dimmed for a moment as the system initiated a shadow crawl—spreading the false Ignis Core like a virus in slow motion. Unseen. Waiting. When it was done, Dylan stood back, eyes cold. “Now we wait for them
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220 Another pause. Then the faint sound of typing. “You want a paper trail?” “I want everything. Timeline?” “Standard turnaround is three days—” “Yesterday,” she cut in coldly. “I want to know everything.” The line stayed quiet for another beat, then the voice softened just a little. “Got it. I’ll be in touch.” Jane hung up before he could say anything else. She stood still for a moment, the city buzzing around her, oblivious. The ache in her cheek was fading now. But something else was forming beneath it. A plan. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. She might not have been the mother Molly needed—but she was still the sharpest weapon in the room. And it was time to cut through the lies. **** “God, that hurt,” Jane muttered under her breath, wincing as she touched her cheek again. Jane exhaled slowly, tucking the phone into her coat. Her fingers were trembling slightly, but not from fear. Anticipation. She turned to herself, muttering quietly, “Let them play the her
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219 Jane was a good actress.Always had been.The tears never came when they were supposed to, and yet she could conjure them on command. A trembling voice, a haunted look, a furious, grieving mother storming into the middle of someone else’s crisis like she owned it—she wore the mask well. She always had.She could remember the first time she learned how useful a lie could be. She was ten, maybe eleven. Her father had forgotten to pick her up from piano class. Again. When she walked home alone, cold and soaked from the rain, her mother demanded to know why she hadn’t called.“I dropped the phone,” Jane had said. “It broke.”Not true. Not even close.But her mother had sighed, pulled her into a towel, and mumbled something about how her father never remembered the important things. That day, Jane realized that people didn’t want the truth. They wanted a version of it they could live with.Molly’s disappearance? Tragic, yes. Maddening, of course. But gut-wrenching?Not exactly.She fe
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218Her cheek was on fire.The skin throbbed beneath her fingertips, every heartbeat pumping more heat into the wound Lilith had left. Jane could feel the swelling already—tight and raw, as if a thousand needles were pricking her at once. Her ears rang from the sound of the slap, but louder still was the pounding of her own pride, screaming at her that she couldn’t—wouldn’t—let this end with her standing there, humiliated.No.Not like this.Not with Dylan between them, not with Lilith standing there looking like some righteous, self-important goddess. Not when her cheek was burning like it was trying to peel off her damn face.Jane’s eyes locked on Lilith—and without a second thought, without hesitation or grace, she struck.Her hand shot out fast and furious, an explosion of motion that cracked across Lilith’s face with a sickening sound. Her palm connected hard, and the impact shuddered down her arm like a jolt.Lilith’s head snapped to the side. Her hair, half-loose from the earli
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217Jane’s chest heaved, her breath coming fast and shallow. Her eyes burned—wild, furious, and unrelenting. She pointed a shaking finger at Dylan, voice trembling but loud enough to draw the attention of a passing couple across the street.“I left you, Dylan. You. Not Molly.”Her voice dropped, turning venomous and precise, like she was lashing each syllable across his face. “Both of you were the chains wrapped around my neck. You—some pathetic, broke, useless excuse of a man. A man with no future, no plan, no spine. Every day I spent in that house was like dying slowly. I did the right thing leaving. And guess what? I’m better for it. Stronger. Smarter. And soon, I’ll be a very rich woman. Not just locally. Not just nationally. Internationally. Bobby’s making it happen.”Dylan blinked, once, then twice. For a second he said nothing, just looked at her—really looked at her. At the expensive earrings, the glossy lipstick, the clothes tailored to perfection. All the glitter piled on to
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216 “I left Molly,” she whispered. “I left her behind. I thought she’d be better off without the mess I was making. I thought Dylan—God—he was supposed to protect her.” “I think he’s been trying,” Lisa said softly. “But he’s hiding something. Maybe a lot of things.” “And he brought Lilith into this,” Jane muttered. “Of course he did. Of course.” There was venom in her voice when she said Lilith’s name. Jane had met the woman twice—both times by accident, and both times left her with the distinct impression that Lilith was a wolf smiling in a fur coat. Jane’s breathing became shallow. She looked around her kitchen like she was searching for something to punch. The cabinets were too sturdy. The walls were too silent. “She’s just a little girl,” Jane said, her voice cracking. “She still calls bees ‘buzzies’ and thinks thunder means God’s bowling. How the hell could he keep this from me?” Lisa didn’t speak. “I’m going to find him,” Jane said suddenly, moving. Her voice was low and
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215Her hand slowly dropped from her cheek. “You’re talking about her like she’s a monster.”“She’s not,” Dylan said. “She’s human. But that doesn’t make her a mother.”A long silence stretched between them.Lilith said nothing, letting the space breathe, letting the weight of truth settle.Lisa looked at her, and for once, there was no bite in her voice. Just a raw kind of confusion. “Why didn’t you tell me?”Lilith looked back evenly. “Because you were too busy setting the stage.”Lisa’s lip trembled. “I didn’t know…”“No,” Dylan said, softer now. “You didn’t want to know.”He stepped past her then, toward the street, toward whatever came next. He was done with the confrontation. Done with the theater. There were more important things to do.Molly needed him.Lilith followed without a word, falling into step beside him.Lisa stood in the middle of the sidewalk, surrounded by the remnants of her own performance—watchers gone, the spotlight faded.She was alone now.And the weight of
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214 Infact it was her shady car buyers and Dylan mistook them as people there to try to kill him. “Who are they?” Lilith asked. Lisa didn’t answer. She turned back to Dylan instead. “Don’t play dumb. Don’t pretend you’re in danger. You’re not the victim here. You never have been.” “Then what’s the show for?” Lilith asked. “I told you,” Lisa snapped. “People deserve to know what kind of man he is.” “People already think they know,” Lilith said. “You’re just hammering it in. Why now? Why here? What’s happening that you don’t want anyone to see?” Lisa’s jaw clenched. She took another step back. But Dylan had already started mentally mapping the exit points. The alley to their right. The cafe entrance. The fire escape four buildings down. He wasn’t just seeing Lisa anymore—he was reading the whole board. This wasn’t random. And the moment he’d seen her, standing there with her coat too perfect, voice too loud, eyes too bright, he’d known. It was all wrong. It wasn’t grief or
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213“She finally divorced you,” Lisa said, the words slicing the air like glass. Her voice was calmer now, but only because she knew she’d drawn blood. “Finally. And thank God she did. Jane is building a life now—a future. Something you would have ruined if she’d stayed. You dragged her down long enough.”The words settled over the sidewalk like ash. A few onlookers had stopped, heads turning, phones subtly raised. The city had its own rhythm—cars hissing by on wet asphalt, neon lights flickering in windows—but all of it dimmed under Lisa’s voice.Dylan stood frozen for a beat too long. His hands curled into fists, not out of anger, but restraint. His heart pounded like a war drum behind his ribs. He wanted to yell, to peel back her lies in front of everyone, to lay out the complexities of what had really happened—what Jane had chosen to ignore, what she had run from long before any betrayal.But he knew how this would look.Lisa always knew how to hold a stage. How to paint herself i
