2026-05-29 00:20:35
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 41: THE GHOST FILE
Kael's POVThe room smelled like old paper and expensive whiskey. Neither belonged in a bunker buried beneath an abandoned church, yet here we were.The Council's emergency safehouse sat beneath Blackthorn City's oldest district, hidden behind three reinforced doors and enough armed guards to start a small war. Nobody trusted anyone anymore, not after Elena disappeared, not after the archive, and not after Alessandro's final message.I stood near a narrow window, watching rain slide down the glass. Three days. Three days since the council chamber exploded into chaos, Three days have passed since Elena Luca vanished, and nobody has found a single trace. Behind me, Marcus closed another folder and rubbed his eyes. "Nothing."His voice sounded rough. He hadn't slept much; neither had I.Across the room, Adrian sat with his feet on a table. His posture looked relaxed. The dark circles beneath his eyes told a different story. "You know what bothers me?" Adrian said. "Everything?" I asked.
Chapter 40: THE LIE
Kael's POVNobody moved; nobody even blinked. The room felt frozen. Like time itself had stopped working.Victor stood calmly among armed men and dead bodies, holding the black folder in one hand, waiting, watching, and enjoying this. Because he knew exactly what he'd just done. My eyes slowly shifted toward Elena.Then Marcus.Then Raven.Then Lucien. Every single person avoided looking at me, and suddenly that felt worse than Victor's claim. My pulse slowed, dangerously slow. "What did you just say?"Victor didn't answer immediately. He studied me carefully. Like he was measuring the damage.Then he repeated it. "Alessandro Varez wasn't your biological father." Silence. My chest felt hollow. Not because I believed him, not yet. Because nobody immediately called him a liar, nobody. I looked at Marcus. "Tell me he's full of shit." Marcus stayed silent. My stomach dropped. I turned toward Elena. "You too?"Pain flashed across her face. That wasn't the reaction I wanted. That wasn't eve
Chapter 39: THE TRUTH HE LEFT BEHIND
Kael's POVNobody moved, nobody spoke. The man outside the door had somehow done the impossible. He'd made an entire room full of dangerous people go silent. My eyes locked onto Lucien. Because his reaction told me everything.He knew exactly what the man was talking about. And he didn't want me hearing it. Interesting. Very interesting.The voice outside waited patiently, not nervous, not rushed. Like he already knew how this ended. "You should leave," Lucien said coldly.A soft laugh answered him. "No." The footsteps shifted slightly. Then the man continued. "I've spent twenty years cleaning up Alessandro's mistakes." My pulse slowed. Twenty years. That was longer than I'd even been alive. The realization sat heavily in my chest. Because suddenly this wasn't about me, or Lucien, or the city.This war had started long before either of us entered it. The voice continued calmly. "Open the door."Lucien raised his rifle. "Not happening." The man sighed, disappointed, almost bored. Then
Chapter 38: ENEMIES FIRST
Kael's POVThe explosion shook the entire building. Dust rained from the ceiling. Somewhere below us, glass shattered. Then came gunfire. Lots of it: automatic weapons. Short controlled bursts, professional. The Syndicate wasn't here to negotiate. They were here to eliminate problems, and apparently I was at the top of their list.Adrian checked the security feeds again. His expression immediately darkened. "That's bad."Marcus grabbed the tablet. "What now?" "They brought breach teams."Raven swore.Lucien looked annoyed. Not worried; annoyed. Like someone had interrupted his evening. Honestly, that was somehow more unsettling. Another explosion thundered through the building, closer this time.The lights flickered, then stabilized, for now. "We need to move," Raven said. "Agreed," Marcus answered, but Elena was staring at one of the monitors, frozen. I followed her gaze. The camera showed a man walking through the lobby, tall, in a dark suit. No tactical armor, no visible weapon. Ye
Chapter 37: THE OPENING
Kael’s POVNobody spoke.The archive had been opened. The words hung in the air like a gunshot that hadn't finished echoing. Lucien was the first to move. "Who?"Adrian shook his head. "I don't know." "That's not an answer." "It's the only one I've got." The tension inside the room sharpened instantly.Marcus grabbed the tablet from Adrian and started scanning through the incoming reports. His expression got worse with every second, which wasn't encouraging. I stepped closer. "What are you seeing?"Marcus looked up. "Multiple access confirmations." My stomach tightened. "What does that mean?" "It means whoever opened the archive didn't just access it." A pause. "They downloaded everything." Silence, heavy silence. The kind that made your chest feel tight.Raven swore quietly.Lucien's jaw locked. Even Elena looked shaken now. That scared me more than anything. Because Elena already knew things the rest of us didn't, And if she looked worried? We were in trouble, real trouble. "How mu
Chapter 36: THE MESSAGE
Kael’s POVThe room stayed silent after Elena finished speaking. Nobody rushed to answer. Nobody tried to deny it. Which told me everything.The recording was real, the threat was real, and whatever Alessandro had hidden all those years ago was finally coming back to destroy everyone connected to it.Lucien stood near the far window, staring out across the city. For once, he looked distracted. Not scared, not nervous, distracted. Like he was trying to solve a puzzle that suddenly had too many pieces.Elena noticed it too. "You're worried."Lucien glanced toward her. "I don't worry.""That's a lie." His jaw tightened. Interesting. Nobody spoke to Lucien like that, nobody except Elena.Marcus stepped forward. "We need to know exactly what Alessandro was hiding." "We already know enough," Raven said. "No," Marcus replied. "We know people are dying over it. That's not the same thing." Fair point. I looked toward Elena. "You said Alessandro created something before he died." Her eyes found
