The air in the safe house felt different, heavier, as if burdened by the weight of memories Gabriel could no longer keep at bay. The past had a way of resurfacing when least expected, and tonight, it came in the form of a name he had not spoken aloud in years: Isabella.Gabriel stood in the small, dimly lit kitchen, staring at a photograph in his hand. It wasn’t much just an old snapshot of her laughing at some forgotten joke. The edges were frayed, the colors slightly faded, but her expression was vibrant, her joy unmissable. The memory of her voice, her touch, her fiery determination, it all came rushing back like a flood he had tried to dam for too long.Lila walked in and paused, her keen eyes noting the picture in Gabriel’s hand and the faraway look in his eyes. “You’ve been quiet today,” she said softly, sitting down at the kitchen table. “What’s going on?”Gabriel hesitated, then placed the photograph on the table between them. “Her name was Isabella. We met in law school. She…

The morning light filtered through the cracks in the blinds, casting long shadows across the room. Gabriel sat at the table, poring over the dossier they had retrieved from the warehouse. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but his mind was racing too fast to rest. Lila joined him, setting a cup of coffee down at his side.“We need to prioritize,” she said, her tone brisk but not unkind. “There’s too much here to act on at once.”Gabriel nodded, his fingers tapping absently on the table. “The blueprints are the most urgent. Whatever this operation is, it’s big. We need to figure out the location and stop it before it happens.”“What about the names on the list?” Lila asked, flipping through the profiles. “Some of these people are high ranking. If we take them out, we could cripple the entire network.” Isn't that okay? “It’s too risky,” Gabriel replied. “If we start taking out their leadership, they’ll go underground. We’ll lose any chance of stopping the larger plan.”Lila si

The air in the safe house was thick with tension. Gabriel paced back and forth, the weight of the new revelations pressing heavily on his shoulders. The photograph of Allegra and Volkov together sat on the table like a taunt, daring him to piece together its implications.Lila, sitting nearby, tapped her pen against her notebook as she reviewed their next steps. Kane leaned against the wall, his arm still in a sling but his eyes sharp and alert. Isabella, uncharacteristically quiet, sat cross-legged in a corner, her laptop balanced on her knees.“We need to approach this strategically,” Lila said, breaking the silence. “Volkov’s network is massive. If Allegra was involved with him before her death, then this operation has been in the works for years. It’s not just about stopping him now, it’s about dismantling an empire.”Gabriel stopped pacing and turned to face them. “We start with Elena. She’s the key. Whatever she’s doing with Volkov, it’s personal. She knows me too well for this

The air inside the safe house was charged with an unease that not even Isabella’s calm, analytical voice could dispel. Gabriel leaned against the kitchen counter, his broad shoulders hunched forward, as if carrying the weight of the decrypted files alone. He stared at the name glowing on Isabella’s laptop screen, Anastasia Laurent. It felt like the universe had pulled a cruel trick, dredging up someone he had buried in the darkest recesses of his memory.Once, Anastasia had been his everything. A brilliant legal mind with a passion for justice, she had been his partner in every sense of the word. Together, they had imagined a future full of possibility. But that dream had shattered. She had disappeared one night without explanation, leaving only whispers of betrayal and a heart Gabriel had never fully repaired.And now, her name appeared at the epicenter of Erebus, listed as one of its most influential architects. Gabriel clenched his jaw, his knuckles whitening as his grip tightened

The flickering image on the monitor was enough to silence even Kane’s usual sarcasm. Eleanor’s face filled the screen, bruised but unbroken, her piercing eyes staring straight ahead as though she could see Gabriel watching. The Architect’s voice cut through the silence, low and taunting, his words as sharp as the blades of the traps he was infamous for.“Welcome to the last leg of your journey, Gabriel,” the Architect purred. “You’ve done well, outmaneuvering my pawns and uncovering truths that were never meant to see the light of day. But now the question is, what will you sacrifice to hold on to those truths?”Gabriel clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms. His throat tightened as he fought to suppress the surge of emotions. The Architect’s games had always been cruel, but this was personal. Eleanor wasn’t supposed to be part of this world, not the shadows, not the blood, not the danger. Yet here she was, a pawn in his twisted game.“I can give you her life, Gabr