All Chapters of ECHOES OF THE PAST : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

I left the safe house two hours after Damian walked out, slipping away while Lena was absorbed in her surveillance work. I didn't tell her where I was going, didn't ask permission, didn't care about strategy or backup or any of the careful planning we'd been doing for weeks.I just needed to end this. Needed to finish what I'd started without Damian's presence reminding me of his betrayal, without The Balance's invisible hand guiding my choices, without anyone controlling or manipulating or deciding my fate except me.The Paris streets were cold and wet with evening rain, and I moved through them invisibly, a ghost fueled by rage and hurt. I extended my awareness, searching for Evan's distinctive mental signature among the millions of minds in the city.It took an hour of searching, filtering through the mental noise of restaurants and bars and hotels, before I finally found him. His thoughts were unmistakable, obsessive and calculating in equal measure, radiating from an exclusive

Damian moved to the window, staring out at the Paris night as if gathering courage from the darkness beyond. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy with the weight of secrets he'd carried for too long. "The Balance didn't just bring me back to seek justice for my own murder," he began. "That was part of it, but there was a larger mission, something I didn't fully understand at first." "What kind of mission?" I asked, keeping my distance but listening. "There's an organization," Damian said, turning to face me. "Larger and more dangerous than Richard Grayson's criminal network, more sophisticated than anything you've encountered so far. They call themselves The Consilience, and they've been operating in the shadows for decades, maybe longer." "What do they do?" I asked, sensing this was bigger than just Evan's fraud and murder. "They traffic in power," Damian replied. "Not just money or influence, though they have plenty of both. They traffic in supernatural power, in arti

The medical facility in the 16th arrondissement was exactly the kind of place where wealthy criminals conducted business they didn't want recorded, a fortress of steel and glass disguised as a legitimate medical practice.Security was tight but not impenetrable, especially for someone who could become invisible and read the guards' thoughts to know exactly where their attention was focused."Are you sure about this?" Damian's voice came through my earpiece as I approached the building. He was positioned three blocks away with a clear line of sight to the entrance."We could wait for better intelligence, more preparation.""We don't have time for better preparation," I replied quietly, slipping past the first security checkpoint while the guards were distracted by a delivery."If Richard's planning something major in forty-eight hours, we need to know what it is now.""Just be careful," Damian said, and I could hear the concern beneath his professional tone. "If you get caught, if the

Richard excused himself, moving a short distance away with Evan. But I could still read their thoughts clearly, could hear the conversation Evan was having with his father in urgent whispers."The Volkovs. There's something wrong about them. The woman especially, she seems familiar in a way I can't explain.""Evan, we vetted them thoroughly. Their credentials are impeccable, their reputation solid. You're being paranoid again.""Maybe. But father, what if it's Aria? What if she's here, disguised somehow? I felt that same connection, that same pull I always felt with her."Richard's thoughts shifted immediately from dismissive to alert. "If you're right, if she's somehow infiltrated this party, we need to act quickly. The Consilience wants her captured, not allowed to escape with evidence."I felt Damian tense beside me, sensing through our connection that something had changed. Richard and Evan were still talking but now Richard was signaling to security, subtle gestures that mea

Evan's eyes rolled back as his brain simply shut down under the assault.He collapsed unconscious, and his guards stared in shock at what I'd just done."Anyone else want to stand in our way?" I challenged, my voice hard.They ran.Damian and I continued toward deck three but the water was rising faster than we could move. The yacht was listing badly now, forty-five degrees and increasing, making every step treacherous."We're not going to make it in time," Damian said, assessing the flooding with grim calculation. "Even with our abilities, by the time we reach them and break the locks...""Then we split up," I interrupted. "You go for the captives, use your speed to reach them and start evacuating. I'll find another way to slow the flooding, buy you more time.""Aria...""Go!" I shouted. "Every second we argue is another second they're drowning."Damian hesitated one more moment, then kissed me hard and fast. "Don't die on me again. I can't handle losing you twice."And then he w