Preston nodded approvingly. Skye had a reputation for being sharp-tongued and short-fused, especially in Shiverstone’s political circles. If he decided to dig his heels in, the Brighthelms would have one hell of a headache.

Once Preston left, satisfied, Skye lit a cigarette and crouched beside the bloodstained snow. His earlier levity faded, replaced by a cool, distant expression.

“Mr. Skye, we’re done here,” one of his subordinates called out. “How about we grab some barbecue after this?”

Skye exhaled twin streams of smoke through her nose. “You bastards think about food more than the dead.”

The team instantly shut up. Then, after a moment, he smirked. “Fine. Pick a place. I’m starving too.”

The men brightened immediately.

But as they were packing up, he stopped one of them. “Van—collect the blood from that corner. I’ll take care of it later.”

Van blinked. “Uh, Mr. Skye, we already collected Fletcher’s and Vernon’s blood samples.”

Skye sighed, shaking his head. Freya would’ve understood what he meant right away—but Freya was pregnant now, and Skye couldn’t rely on her anymore.

“There,” he said, pointing toward the cabin, where dark stains still marred the wood. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Just get it done.”

Van nodded quickly, still confused. Skye didn’t bother explaining. He took out another cigarette, only to find the pack empty.

“Goddammit,” he muttered, crushing the pack into a tight ball and tossing it into the snow.

The white flakes swallowed it whole.

..........

“Captain, what were you going to tell me?” Axel asked as Vince pulled him aside. Rosaline and Charles stood a few paces away, chatting under the dim streetlights.

Vince’s tone was casual, but his eyes were serious. “Mr. Nolan's been discussing your next move. I wanted to hear your thoughts first.”

“My next move?” Axel frowned.

Vince nodded. “You’re being transferred to the elite squad.”

For a moment, Axel just blinked. “Transferred? Me?”

“You’ve earned it,” Vince said with a half-smile. “Your performance during the last campaign was outstanding. You’ve advanced faster than anyone expected—less than a year since you joined, and you’re already here. Joining the elite squad makes sense.”

Axel nodded slowly, trying to process it.

Vince sighed. “Still, after all the trouble Rosaline and I went through to recruit you, it feels wrong to just hand you over now.” He smiled ruefully. “We fought tooth and nail to get you on Obsidian. And now that you’re finally hitting your stride—they want to take you.”

“Captain… can I refuse?” Axel asked honestly.

He already knew what came with the transfer: elite resources, priority access to the Dragon Pond, exclusive Original Instruments equipment, and a permanent residence in Krythos’s core city. He’d have a chance to rub shoulders with nobles, officials, and military brass.

Vince chuckled. “That’s not like you, Axel—getting sentimental?”

“Captain,” Axel said, dead serious. “You doubt my sincerity?”

Vince laughed outright this time, then fell silent, watching the snow swirl through the streetlights.

Axel didn’t say more. He’d already made up his mind. The core city’s comfort wasn’t for him. His strength came from the hunt—from collecting crystals, from struggle. The elite squad’s A-level missions might yield stronger enemies and rarer spoils, but they were rare, infrequent, and buried under bureaucracy. Worse, he doubted he’d fit in. He didn’t play by the rules, and the elite squad lived by them.

Vince seemed to read his thoughts. “I’m glad you feel that way,” he said softly. Then his voice hardened with quiet conviction. “But this came from the general himself. We don’t get to say no.”

He turned slightly, his hands clasped behind his back, his breath fogging in the cold air. “Still, there’s one chance—before your transfer’s official. If Obsidian qualifies as an elite team before then, you won’t have to leave.”

Axel’s heartbeat quickened. “You mean…?”

“Exactly,” Vince said. “We’re close. Rosaline and I are both mid-grade Level Fives, and Charles has already hit upper-grade. Millers just broke through, too. If we push a little harder—if you push a little harder—we might just make it.”

His tone was calm, persuasive… but Axel caught something else beneath it.

“Captain…” he said slowly, studying Vince’s face.

After spending so much time together, Axel had come to understand his captain’s nature. Vince was humble and composed—never arrogant, never impulsive, and certainly not the ambitious type.

But right now, the captain was acting like he desperately wanted to push Obsidian into the elite ranks.

Axel studied him quietly.

As expected…

Vince wasn’t much of an actor. Beneath all that determination was something else: worry.

“Captain,” Axel thought, caught between surprise and amusement, “are you worried about me?”

Vince froze for half a heartbeat, his expression unreadable.

“Alright,” Axel said after a pause, his voice bright with false enthusiasm. “We’ll make it into the elite squad for sure.”

Vince exhaled in relief, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Good. Then let’s keep pushing forward—get stronger, reach higher, and make something out of all this.”

“Got it,” Axel said simply. “You should probably go over the details with Mr. Charles.”

Vince nodded, turning away. The moment his back was to Axel, his shoulders dropped and he muttered under his breath, “Damn it… how does he make acting look so easy?”

.......

At the Shiverstone City Law Enforcement Bureau’s Evidence Identification Center, the air smelled faintly of disinfectant and static from the analysis machines.

When Skye walked in without warning, the staff froze mid-task, exchanging uneasy glances.

“Mr. Skye, why are you here in person?” one of them asked. “You could’ve just sent someone over.”

A middle-aged woman—clearly the floor supervisor—hurried over with a professional smile, reaching to take the evidence bag from him.

Skye waved her off. “You all keep working. I’ll handle this myself.”

They hesitated, but eventually sat back down. Everyone in the Bureau knew better than to argue with Skye—he had his own way of doing things.

Inside the testing room, the lights dimmed as the machine hummed to life. Skye slid the blood sample into the reader and shut the door with a firm click.

One by one, the results flickered across the LCD screen.

“Vaughn’s blood… Vernon’s…”

Data scrolled faster, blue light reflecting off Skye’s sharp features, washing his face in a cold, ghostly glow.

Then the next result appeared—

“Cassia’s blood?”

His pupils contracted.

The Bureau’s central file system was linked directly to the national database.

“Cassia was there?” he whispered. He’d dealt with Axel before, and he knew exactly who Cassia was.

Then the next result hit the screen, and Skye’s breath caught.

“Axel’s blood… and—what the hell—another infected?”

His chest tightened. The machine began to flash red, warning of incomplete data. The final blood sample registered no identification—no origin, no file.

“Unknown subject,” the screen read.

“Shit.” Skye leaned forward, staring at the blank entry. Something about it nagged at his memory. He darted out of the room, rummaging through a drawer in his office until he found an old USB stick. Plugging it in, he pulled up an archived report from months ago.

And there it was.

“That same damn signature…” he breathed.

His thoughts snapped back to Universal Studios. He remembered the blood he’d found at that scene—a sample that hadn’t matched any known infected. Everyone had laughed at his back then, said he was seeing ghosts, chasing credit that didn’t exist.

But now… here it was again.

“This person…” he murmured, staring at the screen, “…could they be connected to Vernon’s death?”

The logic lined up too neatly to ignore.

Back then in Everton, this unidentified infected had appeared alongside two Awakened individuals. Now, Vernon had also turned infected under mysterious circumstances.

“If Axel saw that same infected person, there’s no reason for him to hide it. He’s killed plenty before. Which means—these are two separate cases.”

Skye frowned, piecing the puzzle together in his mind.

“Vaughn went looking for Axel, wounded Cassia… then Axel killed Vaughn in retaliation?”