Chapter 792
Alistair leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine for a fleeting second. “I’ll bring him back. I promise.”
He pulled away, his face hardening into the mask of the War God the underworld feared.
“Lucian, take Alpha Team. We move in five.”
The rain in the Old Port district was relentless, sheets of water hammering against the rusted corrugated metal of the abandoned warehouses. It was the kind of night where secrets went to die.
Alistair moved through the shadows of the shipping yard, the rain slicking his tactical vest. Through his night-vision goggles, the world was a wash of green and black. Lucian was on his left, moving with the silent grace of a predator.
“Oracle, we are in position,” Alistair whispered into his comms.
“Copy that,” my voice came through his earpiece, clear and steady, though I was miles away. “Parker is cycling the frequency hopper. I’m predicting the next encryption shift… it’s a prime number sequence based on the date of his father’s death. Parker, key in 10-24.”
“Got it,” Parker’s voice chimed in. “Jammer is cycling down. You have a…”
A hum resonated through the air, felt in the teeth rather than heard. The floodlights on the warehouse perimeter flickered and died. The automated turret guns mounted on the roof slumped, powered down.
𝘙𝘦а𝖽 𝘧𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝗻о𝘃е𝗅𝘀 𝘰ո 𝗀𝖺𝗹ոо𝘷𝗲𝗅s.c𝘰𝘮
“Nice work, beautiful,” Lucian quipped over the channel.
“Cut the chatter,” Alistair ordered. “Breach.”
They blew the side door. The explosion was muffled by the thunder overhead. The team swept into the facility, weapons raised.
It was a maze of crates and hanging tarps. Ethan’s mercenaries were scrambling, blinded by the sudden blackout.
“System is black! We have no comms!” a guard shouted before Alistair silenced him with a precise double-tap to the chest plate, non-lethal rounds that knocked the wind out of him.
“Right flank, heat signatures detected,” my voice guided them as I watched the thermal feeds Parker had hijacked. “Three targets behind the forklift.”
“On it,” Alistair replied.
He moved efficiently, a blur of violence. He didn’t enjoy it, but he was a master of it. He cleared the path, his mind focused on one thing: finding Liam.
They pushed deeper, descending into the sublevels of the facility. The air grew colder, smelling of damp earth and copper.
“I’m losing your signal, Alistair,” I warned, static creeping into my voice. “The concrete is too thick down there. Julian’s device can’t penetrate the bunker level.”
“We’re close,” Alistair said. He could feel it. “Lucian, watch our six.”
“Alistair, wait,” my voice crackled, sounding distant and panicked. “I’m reading a massive power surge in the basement. It’s not a server. It’s a trap mechanism.”
The signal cut.
“Skye?” Alistair tapped his earpiece. “Skye!”
Nothing but white noise.
“We’re dark,” Lucian said, his back to Alistair as he scanned the corridor. “Do we abort?”
Alistair looked at the heavy blast door ahead. Liam was behind that door. He knew it.
“We finish it,” Alistair said.
He rigged a breaching charge on the door.
“Three. Two. One.”
The door blew inward.
Alistair stepped through the smoke, his rifle raised. The room was vast, illuminated by a single spotlight in the center.
Under the light, suspended by chains from the ceiling, hung Liam Kensington. He was unconscious, his face bruised, his shirt torn.
“Liam!” Alistair moved forward.
As he crossed the threshold, a heavy steel gate slammed down behind him, separating him from Lucian and the team.
“Boss!” Lucian shouted, banging on the metal.
Alistair didn’t turn. He kept his eyes on the shadows moving in the corners of the room. He raised his rifle, scanning for targets.
“I wondered when the real Thorne would show up,” a voice hissed.
From the darkness, a man stepped into the light. He was wiry, holding two curved karambit blades that glinted wickedly.
Caleb. The assassin who had disappeared years ago.
“Thorne,” Caleb said, licking the edge of his blade. “It’s been a long time.”
Back at Oracle HQ, I stared at the screen. Alistair’s life signs had flatlined.
“No,” I whispered, my hands shaking as I typed frantically. “No, no, no.”