Chapter 92: The Masquerade

Paris. The Opera Garnier.

It was the most exclusive event of the season. A Charity Masquerade Ball.

Jackson and Serenity stepped out of a limousine. They were both wearing masks. Serenity wore a Venetian mask covered in silver feathers, matching her silver gown. Jackson wore a simple, terrifyingly sharp black phantom mask.

"Remember," Jackson whispered, guiding her hand through the crowd of photographers. "We are here to observe. Not to start a war."

"Says the man carrying a concealed knife," Serenity whispered back, squeezing his hand.

Inside, the ballroom was a sea of velvet, silk, and gold. Champagne flowed like water.

"Do you see her?" Serenity scanned the room.

"There," Jackson nodded slightly towards the balcony.

Standing alone, looking down at the crowd with boredom, was a woman. She wore a dress as black as midnight. On her pale neck hung a large pendant: A Hawk, painted pitch black.

"Countess Winter," Jackson murmured. "Let's go say hello."

They walked up the grand staircase. The Countess saw them coming. She didn't run. She didn't call for guards. She simply finished her drink and waited.

Up close, she was striking. Ice-blue eyes, platinum blonde hair. She looked dangerous.

"Mr. Sterling," the Countess spoke first. Her voice was cool and smoky. "And Grand Duchess Aurelia. You decided to join the party."

"You were asking questions about me," Jackson stood in front of her, his body shielding Serenity slightly. "I came to give you the answers personally."

"Direct. I like that," the Countess smirked.

The music changed to a waltz.

"Dance with me, Jackson," the Countess extended a gloved hand. "If you want to know why I wear your family crest in black... you have to earn it."

Jackson looked at Serenity.

"Go," Serenity nodded, her hand hovering near the hidden taser in her clutch. "I'll be watching her hands."

Jackson took the Countess's hand and led her to the dance floor. They moved fluidly, a black swirl in the colorful crowd.

"Who are you?" Jackson asked, his grip on her waist tight. "Are you with The Order?"

"The Order?" The Countess laughed softly. "No. The Order are messy children playing with fire. My organization is... older. We watch. We do not interfere."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you broke the rules," she leaned in close to his ear. "You destroyed the Arctic Core. You woke up forces that were meant to sleep."

"I saved my family," Jackson argued.

"And in doing so, you unleashed a hunter," the Countess whispered. "The man you saw in the snow. Liam."

Jackson stiffened. "What do you know about my father?"

"The Golden Hawk represents the Rulers," she touched his chest. "But the Black Hawk... we are the Shadows. The Protectors."

"Your father wasn't captured twenty years ago, Jackson. He surrendered."

Jackson stopped dancing. The couples around them bumped into him, but he stood still as a statue.

"Explain," he growled.

"Liam has the Element running through his veins, but unlike Arthur, he controlled it. He became the perfect weapon," the Countess looked into Jackson's eyes.

"He sent me to warn you. You think the Order is defeated? You only cut off the tail."

She pressed a small piece of paper into Jackson's hand.

"The Head of the Snake is not in Europe. He is back where it all began."

"Where?"

"In the place you call home," she pulled away as the music ended. "Check your own backyard, Jackson."

Before Jackson could grab her, the lights in the ballroom flickered. A distraction.

When the lights stabilized, the Countess was gone. Vanished into the crowd of masked strangers.

Serenity rushed to his side. "What did she say?"

Jackson looked at the paper in his hand. It was a set of coordinates.

He recognized them immediately.

Coordinates: New York City. The site of the old Sterling Orphanage.

"The orphanage?" Serenity gasped. "Where I grew up?"

"It seems," Jackson crushed the paper in his fist, his face turning grim. "The enemy has been watching you since the very beginning."