Chapter 936
Parker’s eyes lit up. “The Citadel isn’t just a rust bucket anymore. My scans show the Mastermind retrofitted it with a state-of-the-art surveillance and lighting grid. If I can hack into their environmental control system, I can override the emergency strobes and projectors — turn the whole rig into a terrifying light show.”
“I’d need to be on-site to bridge the connection,” Parker added, pulling a balaclava over his head. “And Victoria called me cute once. I’m going.”
“Too dangerous,” Alistair said. “You’re a coder, not a commando.”
“I’m the only one who can bypass their firewall manually,” Parker insisted.
Skye looked around at the team — a broken CEO, a crippled tycoon, a dying brother, and a hacker in love.
“We need a distraction,” she said. “Liam, Alistair, and I hit the front gate. Loud. We draw their fire. Parker sneaks in the back.”
“Operation Firestorm,” Liam said, checking his pistol. “I hate it. Let’s do it.”
Julian pulled Skye closer. “Save him, Skye. Save my brother. The monster — that’s not him.”
“I know,” Skye said, her hand drifting to the scar on her back. “I know.”
The sea was rough, black waves crashing against the rusted pylons of The Citadel.
𝖱𝗈𝘮𝘢𝗇𝘤𝘦 𝗮𝘯𝖽 𝘱a𝘴𝗌i𝗈𝗇 𝗼𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝗅𝗻𝗼𝗏е𝘭s.𝖼𝗼𝗺
Skye, Liam, and Alistair stood on the deck of a speedboat, caught in the sweeping glare of the rig’s searchlights.
“Attention!” Skye shouted through a megaphone. “We have the shipping codes! We want to trade!”
It was a lie, of course.
On the gantry above, Ethan appeared. He held Victoria by the neck, dangling her over the edge. Terrified tears streamed down her face.
“Codes first,” Ethan’s amplified voice boomed.
“Parker, are you in?” Skye whispered into her comms.
Static. Then: “I’m in the vents. It smells like dead fish and bad decisions. Give me thirty seconds.”
“We need to stall,” Alistair muttered.
Liam stepped forward, limping deliberately, and held up a flash drive. “Here! It’s encrypted. You need my fingerprint to open it.”
“Bring it up,” Ethan commanded.
Liam walked to the lift. Skye and Alistair followed.
They reached the top deck. Ethan was surrounded by a dozen mercenaries.
“Hand it over,” Ethan said, extending his hand.
“Now, Parker!” Skye yelled.
The rig erupted.
The high-intensity projectors Parker had hijacked flared to life, casting hyper-realistic, roaring walls of orange and red light against the mist pouring from the vents. The sound of crackling timber and screaming metal flooded the air through the rig’s PA system at deafening volume.
It was fake — nothing but light and sound — but it looked terrifyingly real. The mercenaries panicked, backing away from the phantom heat.
But Ethan froze.
His scream tore through the chaos. Not a man’s scream — a child’s wail. He dropped Victoria and collapsed to his knees, covering his head with both arms.
“No! No! I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry! Put it out!”
He was curled into a ball, shaking violently. The confident CEO was gone. The broken boy had returned.
“Go!” Skye shouted.
Alistair lunged for Victoria, pulling her back from the edge. Liam opened fire on the disoriented mercenaries.
Skye ran to Ethan.
“Ethan!” She grabbed his shoulders. “It’s not real! Look at me!”
Ethan looked up. His eyes were wide and filled with tears. “Skye? Did I burn them? Are they dead?”