Icarus Deception Novels & Stories

She began programming the second iteration of Icarus something she called [Nemesis Protocol]. If Icarus was the wings to fly, then Nemesis was the sword to strike. The real war had only just begun. END OF CHAPTER 25..

His eyes narrowed till I couldn't see the whites of his eyes, "I don't trust you and I know you're not who you're pretending to be. But don't worry, angel, I won't embarrass you by divorcing you. The only way you are leaving this marriage is in a body bag." Of all the threats I'd received that day, his was the one that made my body tremble. It wasn't a threat given in anger or with purpose. It was simply a statement of fact. I would be a fool to think of betraying Roman with his words hanging over me like a cloud of doom. Unfortunately, I was already betraying him by impersonating the real Sofia and I would have no choice but to play Russo's game to hide Sofia's betrayal. This was really the

“Father, I know not of this war which has just been fought, and I can defend my actions for those actions I have done. I was told that Morpheus was planning on forcing Phantasus and myself out of the Dreamlands once he took the crown from you. We couldn’t let that happen, so I came up with a plan to make him see the error of his ways. Yes, I trapped him in the mortal realm but I knew he would return. As for the other attacks, I had no knowledge of them. Apart from Dareios, I have sent no one after my brother or his betrothed.” Icelus’ voice shook with a passion I couldn’t understand. Was it because he hated Morpheus and me with such intensity? I really didn’t know. The stories didn’t really

I hated that I couldn’t escape it, that I couldn’t escape him. I sighed, pulling my robe tighter around my body as I stared at the glimmering horizon. I was trapped in a gilded cage, one that sparkled and gleamed with everything I had ever wanted, but it was still a cage. The luxury, the wealth, the constant display of power—it was all meaningless. At least, that’s how I tried to convince myself. The truth? I was losing myself, bit by bit, in the very world I had fought to escape. And Luca? He was everything that was wrong and yet everything that pulled me deeper into his orbit.

He spat, clenching his fists. “Alright, Luca,” I agreed, lifting my hands in surrender. “So tell me, what do you know about how Iris feels? Do you truly think she isn’t happy, as she’s deceived you into thinking?” His brows furrowed close together at my words, and he bit his lower lip in thought. “She—“ “Iris is a stunning woman, Luca,” I interrupted, pacing close towards him, “extremely stunning. And we both know how deceiving that can be, to us men. So, ever thought maybe she—“

The temptation was a siren's call—a lifeline to the outside world, a chance to regain some semblance of control, to perhaps even turn the tables. He saw the paintings in his mind's eye. The falling Icarus. The caged man. He heard Caius’s cold, pragmatic warning: "He will use you and discard you. Your life, your sister’s life… they are meaningless to him." He thought of the folder on the desk, the truth it contained. Marcus hadn't given him the truth; he had given him a weaponized lie. He had preyed on Lynn’s grief, molding him into a tool for his own vendetta. Responding to him now would be stepping back into the role of the pawn. It would be validating the manipulation.

The grand, brilliant architecture of his twenty-four-year forgery—the beautiful, legal cage he had spent my entire childhood painting—had just been deleted by the very asset he built to validate it. "You... you stupid girl," Arthur wheezed, his papery baritone dropping into a hollow, trembling register that held no anger, only an absolute, panicked disbelief. "The trust... the maritime coalition will flag the data drop within three minutes. You haven't saved him, Elara. You’ve erased yourself."

Yet, his sharp amber eyes remained wide, wild, and utterly unhinged—burning down into hers with a possessive, territorial fury that refused to let death sever his hold on her. "Hold on to me, Vivian," he growled, a low, guttural baritone that ripped from his chest like a broken roar. "Look only at me. I will tear this pier apart before I let you fall." Behind him, the abandoned data terminal let out a final, rapid succession of electronic chirps before its screen went completely black. The *Project Icarus* files—the multi-million-dollar shadow empire her father had used to trade her away—were permanently erased from the network servers. But neither of them cared about the lost leverage anymo

The gentleness in his voice when he calls me "sweetling." It's nothing like Cassius's calculated charm. Nothing like the carefully crafted gestures designed to win my trust before shattering it. Alaric's care feels... real. Even his deception about his identity, which still stings, came from a place of duty rather than cruelty. He was investigating threats to his pack, not playing with my heart for entertainment. "Earth to Sage?" Iris waves a hand in front of my face. "You're doing it again." "Doing what?" "That smile. The one you get when you're thinking about him."

he said. My lips curled into a dark smirk. “Ever heard of deception?” I mumbled, flexing my wrist slowly as the silver chain snapped. I rose slowly to my feet, my hands still clamped behind my back, giving them the illusion that my hands were still bound. “Letting the enemy chase a truth so bold, that they fail to see the danger standing right in front of them,” I smirked. His face paled. “What was your plan, Luka? Take me, and then what?”