Chapter twenty-one The Cracks in the Mirror

The night air was thick with betrayal.Adanna stood in the dimly lit corridor, her trembling fingers clutching the old dossier she had found behind the false wall in Victor’s study. Her breath came in sharp bursts, every inhale a fight against the pain in her chest.The papers inside the file bore the crest of an intelligence agency she thought long gone—an emblem from her past life in the covert world she had tried so hard to escape.Her husband’s name was printed there.“Agent V. K. Daren — Codename: Falcon.”Adanna’s heart broke quietly. The man she had loved, the one who had nursed her wounds, who whispered promises of forever under moonlight, had been living a second life right beside her.She could barely move. Every memory of his touch now burned like acid against her skin.Footsteps echoed in the hallway measured, confident, too familiar.Victor.He stepped into the light, his expression calm, almost unreadable, though his eyes betrayed the flicker of guilt.“You found it,” he

Last Updated : 2025-10-18

Chapter Twenty-two Ghosts Beneath the Waves

The cargo ship docked at Port Viera under the pale light of dawn. The mist rolled over the bay, thick as breath, veiling the outlines of cranes and shipping containers like ghosts waiting to be unmasked.Adanna adjusted her earpiece and scanned the horizon. The air smelled of salt and rust, the kind of air that clung to memory. She had been here once, years ago before love, before betrayal. Back when killing was duty, not regret.Victor stood beside her, dressed in dark tactical gear. His movements were silent but efficient, the rhythm of a man who had lived too long in shadows. His face was calm, but she could sense the unease beneath his stillness.“The perimeter’s quiet,” he murmured. “Too quiet.”Adanna gave a small nod. “They know we’re coming.”He looked at her sharply. “Then why walk in?”“Because ghosts only fear the living,” she said, pulling her weapon close. “And we’re not dead yet.”They moved through the docks like two shadows merging with the night.Every corner was a tr

Last Updated : 2025-10-18

Chapter Twenty-three The Hunt for the Ghost

The sea had long swallowed the lights of Port Viera behind them. Now, as dawn bled over the horizon, the water looked like liquid steel calm on the surface, cold and endless beneath.Victor steered their small vessel toward the coordinates glowing on the navigation screen. Adanna sat at the bow, hair tangled by the salt wind, her gaze locked on the horizon like she could burn holes through time itself.She hadn’t spoken much since they escaped the Syndicate ambush. Her mother’s face haunted her that impossible face staring up through the smoke and fire.Victor watched her silently. He wanted to reach out, to say something that would ease the weight pressing down on her. But there were no words for this kind of grief the kind that came with hope.“The Echelon Vault is off the grid,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “Hidden beneath an abandoned observatory in the Azores. If anyone has access to Orpheus, it’s there.”Adanna didn’t turn to look at him. “And if my mother’s there too?

Last Updated : 2025-10-18

Chapter 24 – After the Ashes

The morning after the fire, the world seemed too still.A gray mist rolled over the wreckage of the Orpheus complex, wrapping its broken towers in veils of silence. The air smelled of metal and rain. From the hill above, Adanna watched as the last of the smoke drifted toward the horizon like ghosts finally leaving their graves.Victor sat beside her, his jacket torn, soot smeared across his cheek. He hadn’t spoken for hours. Neither had she.Everything felt… suspended.As if time itself was holding its breath.Adanna finally whispered, “It’s over.”Victor looked up at the ruins below. “Yeah.” His voice was low. “But it doesn’t feel like victory.”“It never does.” She pulled her knees close to her chest. Her palms were bandaged, still trembling from the neural overload. “I killed her. Even if she asked for it I killed her.”Victor turned toward her. “You freed her. There’s a difference.”Adanna let out a bitter laugh. “Freedom doesn’t bring people back.”“No,” he said softly. “But it s

Last Updated : 2025-10-23

All Chapters of When Fire Meets Grace : Chapter 21 - Chapter 24

Chapter twenty-one The Cracks in the Mirror

Chapter Twenty-two Ghosts Beneath the Waves

Chapter Twenty-three The Hunt for the Ghost

Chapter 24 – After the Ashes