2024-09-26 09:01:49
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CHAPTER 715
Tedmond rubbed his face with his hands, his shoulders dropping as he recognized Lottie, Hugo, and the others. He let out a long, weary breath that seemed to carry the weight of an entire decade."I sleep so little these days, Mother," Tedmond rasped, his voice thick with fatigue. "The world doesn't stop turning just because I’m tired. And tonight... tonight the world finally moved in the direction I wanted."He looked up at Lottie, his gaze softening as he took in the mud and blood staining her clothes. "You're back. You're actually back.""Hello to you, too," Lottie said softly, her voice echoing in the sterile quiet.Tedmond’s gaze swept over the battered group. Despite the dark circles under his eyes, a flicker of genuine warmth passed over his features. "I’m glad you’re all okay. I wasn't sure the extraction would hold."Lottie took a breath, trying to summon her old spark of defiance. She straightened her spine, pulling away from Hugo’s support just an inch. "I told you, Ted
CHAPTER 714
Hearing that, a slight frown creased Lottie’s face.She wiped a stray drop of mud from her forehead, her mind spinning.“Where is Tedmond?” she demanded, her voice rising. “Is he okay? Is he even inside the perimeter?”Marek’s grin softened into something more conspiratorial. He hopped onto the decaying log Caleb had used for cover, balancing perfectly on the slick bark. “Oh, Tedmond is perfectly fine. Better than fine, actually. He’s exactly where he needs to be to ensure the Syndicate burns from the inside out.”“Then where is he?” Hugo barked, stepping up beside Lottie and placing a defensive hand on her shoulder. “If he’s not here, where the hell is he?”Marek leaned forward, whispering as if sharing a state secret. “He’s at the manor. He’s currently having tea… with his mother.”The silence that followed was absolute.Lottie’s heart skipped. Her breath hitched, and she felt the blood drain from her face for the hundredth time that night. Beside her, Hugo froze, his grip tigh
CHAPTER 713
Lottie’s boot struck Caleb’s chest one final time, a breathless exhale of a decade’s worth of fear.Caleb lay broken, a pathetic heap of white hair and ruined pride, wheezing in the dirt. He looked up at Lottie, eyes pleading for a mercy she no longer possessed.Ivy stepped forward, the silver wire humming between her hands like a funeral dirge.She didn’t look at Caleb. She looked at Lottie.“You’ve reclaimed your soul, Little Hawk. Now let me finish the housekeeping.”With a flick of her wrist, the monofilament wire lashed out.It didn’t miss.It didn’t hesitate.It wrapped around Caleb’s throat with the finality of a closing door.Ivy pulled once, a sharp, surgical jerk, and the Gatekeeper of the Syndicate went still, his eyes forever fixed on the forest canopy he had failed to conquer.She retracted the wire, the silver strand sliding back into her sleeves. For a moment, she stood over the body, blood drying on her cheek into a dark, jagged mask.Lottie trembled, chest heaving a
CHAPTER 712
The Commander’s jaw dropped.His hands began to shake violently in the mud.Memories he had buried under a decade of Syndicate cleanups came screaming back, the cries in the Eastern Sector, the stench of burning chemical vats, and the girl he had personally carved a message into before leaving her for dead in a collapsing basement.“The… the survivor,” Caleb breathed, his voice a ghost of itself. “The girl with the red ribbons. You… you were supposed to be ash.”“Ash rises, Caleb,” Ivy said, finally bending to retrieve one of her wire handles. “And sometimes it learns how to cut.”The forest seemed to hold its breath as moonlight struck the jagged silver of Ivy’s scar.Caleb stared at the ruined skin, his mind racing through the archives of his own cruelty until he found the file he thought he had burned.“The girl with the red ribbons,” he whispered, his voice cracking like dry glass. “You were in the Eastern Sector basement. The incendiary charge… nothing survives a thermite collaps
CHAPTER 711
She gestured with the silver wire handle toward the man holding the rifle to Lottie’s head.“Here’s a bit of free advice,” Ivy continued, her tone shifting to something cold and authoritative. “It would be much better for your health, and the health of your families back in the city, if you dropped those guns right now.”Her eyes darkened further.“Step back, turn around, and let Caleb take his beating in peace. If you do that, I might let you keep your hands.”The guards exchanged a fleeting, uncertain glance.They weren’t used to victims giving orders.“You’re delusional,” the lead guard spat, though his finger wavered slightly on the trigger.From her hiding spot, Molly watched with wide, terrified eyes.She knew these men were the Syndicate’s finest killers, but the way Ivy spoke to them… it was as if she were addressing children.Molly realized that if these men didn’t run now, the forest floor was about to become much more crowded.Caleb, still groaning on the ground, managed to
CHAPTER 710
Caleb was in his element. A whirlwind of white hair and blood-stained silk, he drove Ivy back with the sheer force of a man who had rediscovered his own ego. He felt like the Commander again, the high-ranking predator who didn't just win fights, but dismantled souls."Look at you!" Caleb laughed, his voice cracking with a manic edge as he landed a heavy punch against Ivy's defensive guard. "The great 'Black Vine' is nothing but a withered weed! You spent ten years sharpening your wires and forgot that a boot to the face solves everything!"Ivy staggered, her hand pressed against a bleeding cheek, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She looked cornered, her back hitting the rough bark of a pine. Caleb stepped in for the killing blow, eyes gleaming with the triumph of a man about to reclaim his legend. He coiled his weight into a straight right that would have ended the chapter."Say hi to the women in hell for me!" Caleb roared.But Ivy didn't duck. She didn't weave. She didn't e
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