LOGINThe convoy left Blackstone before dawn quietly, the headlights off during the first stretch of the road. Communications were also silent as what they had discussed for the first few hours.Only the low hum of engines cutting through the darkness while the estate disappeared slowly behind them.Inside the lead vehicle, tension sat heavily between everyone.Dominic decided to drive the car himself, a sign to everyone about his mood.Althea sat beside him reviewing the copied maps again under the dim overhead light while Sebastian and Michael occupied the back seats.No one spoke for almost twenty minutes.Enzo’s voice finally crackled through the radio from the second vehicle.“So, are we all collectively ignoring the fact that Seraphina once dated a shadow intelligence general?” He asked calmly.Dominic closed his eyes briefly.“Enzo.”“What?” Enzo returned. “I’m still processing up to now.”Sebastian sighed heavily from the back seat.“Must you process out loud?” He questioned sarcast
The war room remained heavy with silence after Vincent’s final words.He controls the war before it even starts.No one said a word after that.Even Enzo remained silent, not coming up with anything to lighten the atmosphere. Because for the first time since Luca had started his move, the scale of what they were dealing with had finally become visible.It’s not a family war or revenge.Not even power alone.Luca wanted control, movement and fear.Entire systems hidden beneath the surface of society.Dominic stood motionless near the center of the table, eyes fixed on the layered maps while his mind moved rapidly ahead.Planning.Calculating.Adapting.He finally looked toward Helena.“I need a meeting with the generals.” He said in a firm tone.The room shifted immediately as it was not made a request.Helena narrowed her eyes slightly.“You’re serious.” She stated.“Yes, I am.” He replied solemnly as he straightened up. “If the Axis Gate is real, I want every remaining structure mapp
Morning arrived with tension already waiting for them when Dominic and Althea went out of their room the following day.It was not explosive or frantic but heavy and purposeful.Blackstone felt like a headquarters and no longer feels like an estate preparing for conflict.Guards moved through the halls with sharper discipline with communication lines remained active.Maps and handwritten reports had already begun piling again inside the war room before sunrise.Dominic stood beside the long table waiting for everyone to arrive, one hand resting against the edge while the other held a cup of untouched coffee that had already gone cold.He barely slept.Not after the Axis Gate.Not after realizing Althea willingly walked into the center of, it.Not after finally understanding what his father had truly been protecting all these years.The door opened behind him and Dominic looked up immediately.Althea, who went to check on Nico after breakfast, entered first.August behind her.Then Hel
Althea interrupted him this time. But not with words. She reached for the buttons of her blouse calmly and started undoing them.Dominic blinked, mid-lecture.“What the hell are you doing?!”Althea didn’t answer as she simply slipped the fabric from her shoulders slowly, her eyes never leaving his.Dominic visibly lost his train of thought.“Thea.” He warned.Still no answer as her fingers moved toward the waistband of her pants next.Dominic stared at her.Actually stared.His irritation visibly colliding with immediate distraction.“You think this is going to stop me from being angry?” He scoffed.Althea finally spoke softly.“It looks to be working.” She answered with a small smile.Dominic opened his mouth immediately then stopped because unfortunately, it is working.“Thea.” He tried warning her again, though his voice had already dropped lower.Rougher.She stepped closer.Barefoot against the floor.Calm.Dangerous in an entirely different way now.“You yelled enough already, D
Dominic did not let go of her hand the entire way upstairs.They passed through the halls and corridors and the guards and staff immediately looked away the moment they saw Dominic’s absolutely furious expression.Althea had to double time on her feet as Dominic took long strides without even glancing at her to make sure, she’s okay. She tried pulling her hand but he only tightened his grip on her without saying anything.She stopped struggling after that and kept up with him.The door to their room slammed shut behind them with enough force to shake the frame.Althea barely had time to turn before Dominic faced her fully.His face is livid.“What,” he began sharply, “f8cking possessed you to disappear into the mountains chasing hidden war infrastructure without telling me?”Althea opened her mouth.Dominic didn’t let her answer and just wen on.“No! Actually—wait.” He continued as he dragged a hand through his hair violently. “Let’s make this worse. You took August with you. He’s no
Which was somehow worse.August noticed the shift in her expression immediately.“You’re nervous.”Althea frowned slightly.“I’m not nervous.” She argued.“You’re absolutely nervous.” He pointed out.She looked away again.“He’ll understand eventually.” She muttered.August barked out an actual laugh.“No, he won’t, Althea.” He countered and that made her glare harder at him. “He’ll understand why. But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to lose his mind first.”Althea exhaled slowly.True. She thought dreadfully.The gates of Blackstone finally appeared just after noon.Immediately, Althea noticed the difference. She saw additional guards that she knew Helena have brought from the island it with unknow tactical positioning. She noted the reinforced outer security.August muttered quietly, “She really turned the estate into a fortress.”Althea barely heard him because her stomach dropped when she saw Dominic standing near the front entrance, waiting.His arms are crossed and his expressi
The hospital was not supposed to feel like a battlefield.Althea stood scrubbed and gloved beneath surgical lights, hands steady, voice calm as she issued instructions. Around her, the operating room moved with precision. The monitors are humming, instruments passed without error, a choreo
Dominic had learned when he’s still young to immediately recognize when silence stopped being neutral. He was taught that it will never come in an announcement and will never be loud.It came as a shift with too many doors opening easily, too many messages arriving late, too many people suddenly car
There was no violence.Only absence.Althea immediately noticed when Helena did not arrive for breakfast.As far Althea knows, Helena was never late but deliberately missing. There were no familiar footsteps, any soft knocks. She felt no presence that had, for years now, become the quiet spine of A
The garden behind the Devereaux complex was designed to deceive.At first glance, it looked harmless. The garden stretches wide into manicured grass, low stone paths warmed by the sun, a canopy of old trees filtering light into something gentle and almost domestic. Birds nested freely here







