bChapter /bb295 /b

The early November air in Princeton cut through my jacket like tiny needles. I’d parked my car half a mile back, hidden among the trees, and made my way toward the mansion on foot. The sprawling estate belonged to a tech CEO–at least on paper. In realityb, /bit bwas /bone of Shadow Organization’s strongest branch headquarters.

I paused at the edge of the property, studying the seemingly quiet mansion. No movement, no lights shing between windowsb, /bnothing to suggest the ce was crawling with trained killers. But I knew better. In the shadows, figures waited, watching, ready to strike at the first sign of trouble.

Too bad for them I wasn’t giving any signsb. /b

The security system was advanced–motion sensors, infrared cameras, weight–sensitive pathways–but nothing I hadn’t bypassed a hundred times before. I moved like a ghost, each step calcted, my breathing controlled. Thepound’s outer defenses recognized me as nothing more threatening than a passing deer.

I slipped past the firstyer of security, disabling the motion sensors with practiced ease. My fingers moved automatically, muscle memory taking over as I attached a small device to the electrical box. Three minutes untilplete darkness.

I counted down silently as I positioned myself near a side entrance. When the timer hit zero, the entire mansion plunged into ckness. Immediately, I heard movement inside–low voices, quick footsteps. The supposedly empty house suddenly came alive with activity.

The Shadow Organization knew I wasing. They’d been waiting, preparing for my arrival ever since I’d awakened from their bcontrol/b. Well, dinner was served.

My knife gleamed faintly in the darkness as I slid it across the throat of the first guard who came to check the power. He didn’t even have time to register my presence before he was choking on his own blood. I lowered him silently to the ground and moved deeper into the house.

This branch had been under Umbra and Silhouette’s control before they met their end on that yacht. I’d heard King of Hearts had been trying to bring them under his influence. Now, with new management in ce, it was time to send a message to what remained of Shadow Organization.

They were ready for me–or thought they were. Silenced gunshots echoed through the dark hallways as they tracked my movements. I disappeared around a corner, and the shooter followed cautiously, his footsteps nearly silent on the plush carpet. He was good, but not good enough.

I appeared behind him like a ghost. He sensed me at thest second, his eyes widening as he spun around, raising his weapon. Toote. My de opened his neck before his finger could squeeze the trigger.

More of them rushed up the stairs toward the third floor where I’d been spotted. I met the bfirst /bone with a brutal kick that sent him tumbling back down to the second level. The sickening crack of his neck breaking was barely audible over themotion.

I moved through the mansion like a shadow, collecting lives bas /bI went. The metallic smell of blood filled every room, coating the back of my throat. In one hallway, I took down three men in quick session–a knife to the kidney, a broken windpipe, a severed femoral bartery/bb. /bTheir training was impressive, but mine had been forged in hell itself.

Time blurred as I hunted down everyst one of them, leaving nothing but cooling bodies in my bwake/b. The bonce/bb–/bbpristine /bmansion transformed into a ughterhouse, blood soaking into expensive carpets and staining marble floors.

Then I walked out, stepping over bodies, my shoes leaving bloody footprints on the marble floor.

Outside, I took a deep breath of the cold night air and pulled out my phone. “Maxib, /bdeploy the drones.”

The voice that responded was no longer the childish robot voice, but a deep, smooth baritone–Ethan’s voice: “Target locked. Drones ready. Initiating explosive deployment now.” fn33f7 For original chapters go to find?novel/fn33f7

Chapter Comments