2025-03-25 05:51:05Monte Carlo – 2:05 A.M.
Ethan stared at the dead phone in his hand, his pulse a steady drumbeat of adrenaline.
Adrian Locke wasn’t just watching him.
He was waiting.
A knock at the door snapped Ethan’s attention back to the room. Instinct kicked in—he drew his gun, stepping to the side before opening it.
Leo stood in the doorway, breathing hard, sweat on his brow. “We need to go. Now.”
Ethan’s grip on the gun tightened. “Talk.”
Leo pushed past him, locking the door behind him. “Locke isn’t alone. He’s got a kill team in Monaco.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched. So that’s why he called.
It wasn’t just a threat.
It was a warning.
Mirage Casino – Underground Parking Lot – 2:30 A.M.
Ethan and Leo moved fast and silent, their weapons tucked beneath their jackets.
Sebastian had arranged an extraction, but it wasn’t foolproof. Nothing was when Adrian Locke was involved.
Leo tapped his earpiece. “Evelyn, we’re in position.”
Static. Then—her voice, sharp with tension.
“You’ve got company.”
Ethan’s gut tightened.
Footsteps echoed from behind the parked cars. Shadows moved.
Leo pulled his gun, eyes scanning. “How many?”
Evelyn’s voice came low and urgent. “Four… no, five.”
Ethan exhaled sharply. Five against two. Not great, but not impossible.
Then—a click.
Ethan’s instincts screamed. He spun, tackling Leo to the ground just as—
BOOM.
A silenced shot tore through the air, missing his head by inches.
Leo swore. “We’re made.”
The fight was on.
The Shootout
The garage erupted in gunfire.
Ethan rolled behind a car, his back hitting the metal with force. A second shot shattered a side mirror above his head.
Leo returned fire, clipping one of the operatives in the leg. The man collapsed, cursing in Russian.
Another rushed Ethan’s position.
Ethan waited—counted the steps.
Then, he moved.
A sharp elbow to the attacker’s ribs. A twist. The man’s gun hit the ground.
Ethan didn’t hesitate—he fired, point-blank.
The body crumpled.
Leo shouted, “Two more coming in!”
Ethan ducked as another shot whizzed past his ear. He turned, fired twice—one bullet to the chest, the other to the head.
The last man standing hesitated. Fear flickered in his eyes.
Ethan stepped forward, gun raised. “Tell Locke I’m not running.”
The man swallowed, then bolted.
Silence settled over the garage.
Leo exhaled. “That was close.”
Ethan reloaded. “Not close enough.”
He looked down at one of the dead men.
Their gear was high-grade military. Locke hadn’t sent assassins.
He’d sent hunters.
And Ethan had just declared war.
At Mirage Casino 's Underground Parking Lot – 2:45 A.M.
The air stank of gunpowder and blood. The bodies of Locke’s men were scattered across the garage floor, their weapons cooling beside them.
Ethan wiped a streak of blood from his jaw, his pulse still hammering.
Leo let out a breath. “This was a message.”
Ethan nodded. “Locke wants me dead. But not yet.”
Because Locke could’ve sent ten men. Twenty. A full kill squad.
But he didn’t.
He wanted Ethan to know he was being hunted.
A warning. A game.
And Ethan had no choice but to play.
Leo pulled out his phone. “We need to move. Monaco’s not safe.”
Ethan glanced at the security cameras—the red lights were blinking.
Someone was watching.
He gritted his teeth. “We’re already compromised.”
Then, a sharp ring from Leo’s phone. Evelyn.
Leo answered. “Tell me you have good news.”
Silence.
Then—Evelyn’s voice, tight with urgency.
“You need to get out. Now.”
Ethan’s stomach dropped. “What’s happening?”
Evelyn’s breath was unsteady. “Interpol is on the way.”
Leo cursed under his breath.
Ethan’s eyes darkened.
Locke was always ten steps ahead.
And he had just made Ethan a wanted man.
The Escape – 2:50 A.M.
The garage was a death trap.
Leo pointed to the far side. “Service exit. We take it, we’re ghosts.”
Ethan didn’t argue. He moved.
They reached the door just as the wail of sirens filled the streets above.
Ethan shoved the exit open, stepping into the cold night air.
Then—floodlights exploded to life.
A dozen black SUVs blocked the alleyway.
Ethan’s gut twisted. Not Interpol. Not Monaco PD.
Locke’s men.
Leo swore. “This was a setup.”
Ethan’s eyes scanned the exits. Too many guns. No cover. No way out.
The car doors opened.
A man stepped out, dressed in a tailored black suit, cigarette hanging from his lips.
His voice was smooth. Refined. Deadly.
“Mr. Cross.”
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
Because he knew that voice.
Viktor Ivanov.
A ghost from his past.
And one of the most dangerous men in the world.
A Devil’s Bargain – 2:55 A.M.
Viktor smirked. “I hear you’ve been making enemies, Ethan.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched. “You’re working for Locke now?”
Viktor chuckled. “No. But I do owe him a favor.”
Ethan’s mind raced. Viktor was ex-KGB, now a high-level arms dealer. He didn’t work for free.
So what did he want?
Viktor took a long drag from his cigarette. “Locke wants you dead. I, however, have an offer.”
Ethan’s fingers twitched near his gun. “I’m listening.”
Viktor smiled. A predator’s grin.
“You work for me. One job. One target.”
Ethan didn’t flinch. “And if I refuse?”
Viktor shrugged. “Then I hand you over to Locke.”
Leo muttered, “Great options.”
Ethan’s mind spun. Viktor didn’t bluff.
He could fight—but not against an army.
And Locke was closing in.
Ethan exhaled. He had no choice.
Finally, he nodded.
Viktor smiled wider. “Good.”
He flicked his cigarette aside.
“Welcome to hell.”
Previous Chapter
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Chapter 246 – The Reckoning Begins
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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
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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
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