2025-03-25 05:48:51Queens Safehouse – 10:45 A.M.
Ethan stood by the window, staring at the burned-out skyline in the distance. His hands were clenched into fists.
Sebastian Vance.
The name alone left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Evelyn sat on the couch, arms crossed. “You sure about this?”
“No,” Ethan admitted. “But we don’t have a choice.”
Sebastian was more than just an insider—he was a former Dominion strategist, someone who had walked away but never really left. If anyone knew what Solstice truly meant, it was him.
Leo, still looking rattled from the chase, sighed. “If we’re doing this, I’ll set up a secure line.”
“No.” Ethan turned, grabbing his coat. “I’ll talk to him in person.”
Evelyn’s brow furrowed. “Where?”
Ethan exhaled sharply.
“Monte Carlo.”
Monte Carlo, Monaco – The Mirage Casino – 11:58 P.M.
The Mirage was Sebastian Vance’s empire—a high-stakes casino, built on secrets, power, and money.
Ethan walked in through the main entrance, past crystal chandeliers and high rollers in tuxedos. Every step felt heavier.
Memories hit him like a sucker punch.
He and Sebastian had once fought side by side, saving each other’s lives more times than he could count.
But now?
They were just two men on opposite sides of the same war.
A hostess approached. “Mr. Vance is expecting you.”
Of course he was.
The Private Suite – 12:07 A.M.
Sebastian Vance lounged in a plush leather chair, whiskey in hand.
He hadn’t changed much—dark hair slicked back, sharp blue eyes, a jawline cut from glass. But there was something colder about him now.
“You look good, Cross,” Sebastian said, swirling his drink. “Considering you’re a dead man walking.”
Ethan sat across from him. “Cut the crap. You know why I’m here.”
Sebastian smirked. “Solstice.”
Ethan leaned forward. “Tell me what you know.”
Sebastian chuckled. “You come into my casino, sit in my chair, and demand answers?”
Ethan’s jaw clenched. “People are going to die, Vance. Millions.”
Sebastian exhaled, then set down his glass. “And what makes you think I care?”
Ethan stared at him. “Because once upon a time, you did.”
Silence.
Sebastian tapped a finger against the table, considering.
Then—he slid a USB drive across to Ethan.
“This has everything I know.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Just like that?”
Sebastian’s smirk returned. “Not quite.”
He leaned in. “I want something in return.”
Ethan’s stomach twisted. He knew this wouldn’t be free.
Sebastian’s voice dropped lower.
“I want you to kill Adrian Locke.”
Ethan’s pulse spiked. “You want me to take out The Dominion’s top enforcer?”
Sebastian’s smirk faded.
“No, Cross. I want you to burn The Dominion to the ground.”
Ethan exhaled.
A devil’s bargain.
And he had no choice but to take it.
The Mirage Casino – Monte Carlo – 12:15 A.M.The air in the private suite thickened with tension. Ethan’s fingers hovered over the USB drive. He knew what it meant—the weight of Sebastian’s demand.
Burn The Dominion.
Not just take down Adrian Locke. Destroy the entire network.
Ethan’s voice was tight. “This isn’t just about Locke, is it?”
Sebastian smirked, but there was no amusement in his eyes. “No.” He leaned back, rolling his glass between his fingers. “This is about revenge.”
Ethan stayed silent. He knew better than to push.
Sebastian had always been controlled, calculating. But something had shifted in him. His vendetta against The Dominion was personal.
Finally, Ethan spoke. “I need more than names.”
Sebastian exhaled, then slid a second USB drive across the table.
“This has operational blueprints, financial records, safehouse locations. Everything.”
Ethan picked it up, feeling the weight of his next move settle in his chest.
Sebastian stood. “Now that I’ve given you the keys to the kingdom, tell me—do we have a deal?”
Ethan’s jaw clenched. He didn’t trust Sebastian, but he needed him.
Finally, he extended a hand.
Sebastian took it, his grip firm.
A blood oath was made.
Monte Carlo Streets – 1:30 A.M.
Ethan walked out of The Mirage, stepping into the cool Monaco night air. He pulled out his phone.
Evelyn picked up on the first ring.
“You’re alive. I’m shocked.”
Ethan ignored the jab. “We have a problem.”
Evelyn sighed. “Of course we do. What now?”
He stared at the USB drive in his hand.
“Sebastian gave me everything. But there’s a catch.”
Evelyn groaned. “There’s always a catch.”
“He wants Adrian Locke dead.”
Silence.
Then, “That’s suicide, Ethan.”
Ethan’s grip tightened around the USB. “Then we better make sure we do it right.”
The Hitlist – 2:00 A.M.
Back in his hotel room, Ethan plugged in the USB. The screen lit up with classified intelligence.
The Dominion was bigger than he thought.
• International arms deals
• Cyberwarfare units
• Political assassinations
• Bribery reaching the highest levels
And at the center of it all? Adrian Locke.
Ethan’s stomach twisted as he scanned the files. Locke wasn’t just an enforcer—he was the architect of Solstice.
Killing him wasn’t an option anymore.
It was a necessity.
Then—
A new notification appeared on the screen.
UNKNOWN CALLER.
Ethan’s gut screamed trap—but he answered anyway.
A familiar voice crackled through the line.
“Ethan Cross,” Adrian Locke drawled. “I hear you’ve been making deals with ghosts.”
Ethan’s pulse spiked. “Locke.”
Adrian chuckled. “I warned you, Cross. You should’ve stayed dead.”
Ethan’s eyes darkened. “And you should’ve shot me when you had the chance.”
A low hum. Then—
“See you soon.”
The line went dead.
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Chapter 247 – Echoes Beneath the Ashes
The rain fell harder now, slashing across the fractured windows of the Sanctuary like knives. Ethan Cross stood in silence, the flickering emergency lights casting long, distorted shadows behind him. The air was thick with smoke and the acrid scent of burning synthetics—a brutal reminder of what had been lost in the siege of the Hollow Archive.Beside him, Iris kept one hand pressed against her side, where her jacket was dark with blood. Still, she didn’t waver. Her eyes stayed on the burnt remains of the central relay—a tangled wreck of scorched cables and shattered interface glass. The map of the Dominion that once hovered in light above the console was gone now, reduced to static and silence.“We’re too late,” Iris said, her voice a low rasp. “They burned the data hub. Everything—every name, every algorithm, every node—wiped.”Ethan shook his head. “No. Not everything.” He turned back to
Chapter 246 – The Reckoning Begins
The rain lashed harder against the broken glass of the Citadel as the last echoes of Selene’s voice died down. Her final confession hung thick in the air like the smoke rising from the detonated vaults beneath the Archive Tower.Ethan stood in the wreckage, eyes blazing with betrayal and resolve. The memory crystal in his hand—now glowing dimly—contained everything. The truth about the Lazarus Protocol. The truth about the Citadel’s founding. And above all, the truth about who had betrayed them from within.Behind him, Darya limped forward, blood streaking her temple, her pulse fast but focused.“You saw it, didn’t you?” she asked, voice hoarse. “You saw what she did.”He nodded grimly. “I saw all of it. She sold us out to the Consortium. Every move we made, they knew in advance because of her. The ambushes. The disappearances. The damn Omega File leak—it was all her.”They did
Chapter 245 – The Earth Vessel
Ethan Cross stood against the reinforced viewport of the Citadel’s upper observation deck, watching the horizon writhe with tremors. From here, he could see the aurora-like glow ascending along the polar shelf where the Dominion’s network had originated. It pulsed in rhythms that matched Nadia’s altered heartbeat—an unholy resonance between vessel and host.Behind him, Selene, Aria, Donovan, and Malik gathered—faces drawn, every one of them braced for an impossible reckoning.“Seismic readings are off the charts,” Donovan reported, voice tight. “The conduit under the ice is expanding. It’s reshaping the crust.”Ethan didn’t flinch. “Nadia—the Seed—she said Earth is the vessel. Not the Citadel. Not just us. The whole planet.”Aria’s hand flew to her mouth. “Then this isn’t a battle we win with bullets. It’s a reclamation of the wo
Chapter 244 – The Prime Ascension
The transmission crackled to life just as the last node in the Triarch Array surged with light. A pulse rolled through the Citadel’s network like a tidal wave—data streams flared in frantic motion, scattering red and blue across every screen in the Command Atrium. Ethan Cross stood frozen, his eyes locked on the main display where the final encryption layer collapsed. The Dominion Core was no longer dormant.“Talk to me, Amara,” Ethan said, his voice steady despite the tremor beneath his skin.Across the console, Amara’s fingers flew, her face a study in both awe and anxiety. “The Dominion’s prime code is awake. The last firewalls are gone—we have full access to the system. All of it.”Keller stepped forward, gun still drawn though the immediate danger had subsided. “Define full.”Amara looked up. “Control over the Sentinel grid. The blacksite armories. Project Lazarus… Every c
Chapter 243: Echoes of an Unwritten Future
The fallout was immediate.Within hours of the Dominion’s core being obliterated, global data streams destabilized. The carefully veiled surveillance grids—the “Sentinets”—began crashing in synchronized failure. News stations flickered with partial truths, governments issued hasty denials, and in underground networks across Berlin, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, and Lagos, whispers spread fast: The Dominion has fallen.But with collapse came vacuum—and in that vacuum, chaos.Ethan, Aria, Malik, Selene, and Donovan regrouped in an abandoned listening post in Lucerne, Switzerland—a former Consortium relay site now dark, its satellite dishes snapped like brittle bones against the snow-covered mountainside. Inside, they stood around a central terminal broadcasting intercepted frequencies.“Sixteen sovereign military units have gone dark,” Donovan said, scrolling through encrypted feeds. “Looks like they were
Chapter 242: The Pact Beyond Shadows
The moment Ethan stepped through the obsidian archway, the air turned static, charged with a pressure that wrapped around his lungs like chains. The chamber was not part of any known architecture—angular shadows twisted at unnatural angles, and the ceiling, if it existed at all, bled into a sky of swirling gray oblivion. This was the Dominion’s spine—the true nerve center of the Consortium’s ancient machine.Behind him, Selene, Aria, Malik, and Donovan followed, eyes narrowed, weapons drawn, but hands trembling with the raw truth they were standing inside. There was no map here, no beacon. Only silence and the low, pulsing thrum of something alive.Ethan advanced slowly, the skin at the back of his neck prickling. “We’re not alone.”From the far end of the hall, something moved—fluid, like oil given form. It solidified into a figure cloaked in jagged smoke, faceless, but undeniably watching. The Shadow Archivist. I
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