LOGINMidnight was approaching.Three decks below the Neptune's surface, the extravagant circular auction hall blazed with light. The air was thick with the scent of agarwood, expensive cigars, and the undercurrent of blood. Massive crystal chandeliers cast a dim, opulent golden glow over the space. The circular viewing galleries were packed to capacity. Those who stood here were titans and criminals from the global underground, arms dealers, illegal tech moguls, and black-market power brokers. The murmur of voices rose and fell like a living thing, punctuated by the clink of glasses and the rustle of expensive fabrics. The polished marble floor reflected the chandelier light in a thousand tiny points, like a field of distant stars.Dominic and Avery sat in the best VIP box on the second level.
Under the cover of night, the open sea churned with towering waves. The black water stretched endlessly, like a beast with its jaws wide open, its surface broken only by the white caps of crashing swells. But in the heart of this dark and lawless expanse, a colossal structure blazed with light, extravagant beyond measure. Its decks were lined with gold and crystal, its hull a fortress of steel against the raging sea.The Neptune, the world's largest mobile underground trading platform.The sound of rotor blades cut through the air, growing louder as a black helicopter descended onto the top deck. The downdraft sent the sea spray scattering across the landing pad. The engines wound down to a low hum.The cabin door slid open. The sea wind whipped agai
The gunpowder smoke on the overpass had been washed away by the rain. Obsidian City welcomed a rare, clear sky. The morning light fell across the buildings, clean and bright, as if the city itself had been reborn. The wet streets glistened under the pale sun, and the distant hum of the harbor carried a note of calm that had been absent for years.With the International Special Investigation Bureau and the Morris family's heavy blockade, the web of black-market interests that had entrenched itself in Obsidian City for years was uprooted. One by one, the old channels were shut down, the hidden accounts frozen, the shadow networks dismantled. North Port was orderly. Ships moved in and out on schedule. The old world's poison had been cleansed by absolute force.Inside the underground command center, the air was cold
Six in the morning. The coastal overpass at Obsidian Port.The rain had not stopped. The sea wind whipped up towering waves that crashed violently against the cliffs below the overpass, sending plumes of white spray high into the air. Sirens and ambulance alarms tore through the rainy night, painting the sky with streaks of red and blue light. The emergency vehicles' flashing beacons reflected off the wet asphalt, casting long, distorted shadows across the bridge. Rainwater streamed down the concrete barriers in thin, relentless rivulets, pooling in the cracks and running toward the edges.Under international judicial procedure, after the interrogation at Kessler Estate, Victor had to be transferred to the International Special Investigation Bureau and Obsidian City's joint police escort. He was to be taken to a
Morning light pierced through the thin morning mist, slanting across the balcony of the hillside villa's master bedroom. The pale gold rays spilled across the wooden floor, catching the dust motes floating in the still air. Outside, the garden was lush and green, the leaves still glistening with droplets from the night before.The air was fresh with the scent of damp grass and earth, carrying the clean smell of rain-washed leaves and early-blooming flowers. The gunpowder and blood of yesterday's dock and interrogation room seemed to have been washed away entirely by the morning sun, leaving behind only the quiet peace of a new day.Dominic leaned back in a soft chair, his left shoulder wrapped in thick white bandages, the buttons of his shirt slightly undone, revealing the strong lines of his collarbone and the
Kessler Estate, underground high-security interrogation room.The walls were cast from heavy blast-proof steel, their surfaces cold and unyielding. The air carried the sharp, metallic tang of reinforced alloy, mixed with the sterile bite of diluted nitric disinfectant that lingered at the back of the throat. The room was windowless, sealed, cut off from the outside world. A single overhead light cast a harsh, unforgiving glare across the space, leaving no shadows for anything to hide in.In the corner above, a silent surveillance camera tracked every movement, its small red indicator light blinking in steady, deliberate pulses.Victor was secured to a custom titanium interrogation chair, its restraints designed to hold even the strongest man. His wri
A gunshot cracked through the air.Before Avery could react, a hand shoved her head down. She was yanked into someone's chest, hard.The bullet hit the spot where she had been standing. Wall chips scattered everywhere.She looked up. It was Dominic.His chin pressed against the top of her head. His
Dorothea was still standing in the hallway, a tiny, spectral figure in the gloom.Avery walked over and scooped her up. The child’s skin was like ice; there was no telling how long she’d been rooted there."Sweetheart, why are you out of bed?"Dorothea didn't answer. She buried her face in the croo
Avery couldn't sleep.She watched the sky bleed from ink-black to a bruised, pale gray. She lay there, eyes wide, as Dominic's words played on a loop in her mind: “I wanted to see if you would use Wenger's method. To kill me.”Beside her, Dorothea's chest rose and fell in a rhythmic, innocent slumb
"You're afraid of me."He moved closer as he spoke. Close enough that she could smell the cedar on him.Dominic reached out and pinched her chin, tilting it up. Her head was forced back. Her throat exposed.His thumb pressed down on her lower lip."All talk."She raised her hand to slap his away. He







