Alyssa’s POV
“Where the hell is Ethan?”
My breath was ragged, my body screaming in protest as I fought to stay upright. Blood ran down my arm, a warm, sticky reminder that I had been hit, but I couldn’t focus on the pain. Not now. Not when the man I loved was missing.
Isabella reloaded her gun, her expression hard. “I lost him in the chaos.”
That wasn’t good enough.
“You lost him?” My voice was sharp, cutting through the sounds of distant gunfire and alarms blaring through the underground stronghold. “How the hell do you lose Ethan Harris?”
Her jaw clenched. “Because Leon sold us out, and we were ambushed!” she snapped. “I barely got out, and you almost died back there. We all lost something.”
I knew she was right, but anger burned in my chest, a molten fury that refused to be ignored.
“Then we find him,” I growled. “We end this. Tonight.”
Leon had betrayed us. Again. And now Ethan was in the hands of the mastermind, the man pulling the strings from the shadows. The one who wanted everything I had fought for-the Circle, my power, my control.
I wasn’t about to let that happen.
“How do we track him?” I asked, forcing my voice to be steady.
Isabella exhaled, her fingers pressing against her earpiece. “Lucas is hacking into their surveillance feeds. If they took Ethan, they’ll want leverage. That means keeping him alive… for now.”
That for now made my blood run cold.
I turned to Leon’s unconscious body, still lying where Ethan had knocked him out before we were overwhelmed. I crouched beside him, gripping his collar, my fingers curling into the fabric of his bloodstained shirt.
He stirred, his eyes fluttering open. And the second he saw me, I knew he understood-he was so fucked.
I yanked him up, slamming him against the cold concrete wall. “Where. Is. Ethan?”
Leon groaned, dazed but still managing to smirk. “You’re gonna have to be more specific, sweetheart. Lots of people want him. Lots of people own him.”
Wrong answer.
I drove my knee into his ribs, making him choke on his next breath. “Try again.”
A bloody chuckle. “You think threats are gonna work on me?”
I leaned in, my voice deadly soft. “No, Leon. I think pain will.”
His amusement faded.
Before I could make good on my promise, Isabella’s earpiece crackled. “We’ve got something,” Lucas’s voice came through. “They’re moving Harris now-north tunnels. If you don’t hurry, he’s gone.”
I met Isabella’s gaze, releasing Leon without another word. He crumpled to the floor, coughing.
Then I turned on my heel, already moving. “Let’s go.”
We moved fast, slipping through the underground corridors like shadows. The stronghold was still in chaos from our earlier attack, and that worked in our favor. The enemy wasn’t expecting us to recover so quickly.
But nothing could have prepared me for what was waiting at the end of the tunnel.
A large metal door stood ajar, bright white lights spilling into the hallway. Beyond it was a vast, open chamber-a makeshift command center with rows of monitors and heavily armed guards stationed throughout.
And at the center of it all-
Ethan.
Bound to a steel chair, his head hanging low, blood dripping from a fresh cut on his temple. His white dress shirt was stained red, the fabric torn. But he was alive.
Barely.
A man stood beside him, dressed in a tailored suit, his hands clasped behind his back. His salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back, his sharp features calm-controlled.
The mastermind.
His cold blue eyes found mine the second I stepped into the room.
“Alyssa Morgan,” he greeted, as if we were old acquaintances meeting for a business lunch. “Right on time.”
I lifted my gun, my grip steady. “Let him go.”
He smiled. “You’re in no position to make demands.”
“Try me.”
His eyes gleamed with something dangerous. “Oh, I intend to.”
At his signal, two guards flanked Ethan, guns pressed to his temple. My heart slammed against my ribs, but I didn’t let it show.
The mastermind sighed, pacing leisurely. “I have to admit, you’ve been a problem, Alyssa. An unexpected problem. I thought, after your father, the Circle would be easy to claim.”
I clenched my jaw. “You thought wrong.”
“Perhaps.” He stopped, looking at me thoughtfully. “But I am a man who appreciates talent. You’ve built something impressive. You’ve held your ground. That’s why I’m offering you a choice.”
I already knew I wasn’t going to like it.
“You can walk away right now,” he said smoothly. “Give up the Circle, relinquish your control, and I let Ethan go. You both disappear, live your lives however you choose.”
A sickening silence filled the space.
I felt Isabella shift beside me, felt her unspoken warning. This is a trap.
But I already knew that.
“And if I don’t?” I asked, my voice even.
The mastermind’s smile never wavered. “Then I put a bullet in his head.”
Ethan exhaled a laugh, weak but defiant. “Alyssa,” he murmured, his voice hoarse. “Don’t you dare.”
I swallowed, my pulse roaring in my ears.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew surrendering wasn’t an option. If I gave him the Circle, he wouldn’t let us go. He’d eliminate me, take my empire, and Ethan… Ethan would still die.
But if I did nothing, he’d be executed in front of me.
The mastermind tilted his head. “Time is ticking.”
Ethan met my gaze, and in that moment, I knew-he trusted me. He trusted me to make the right call.
And I did.
I slowly lowered my gun.
The mastermind’s smile widened, satisfaction glinting in his eyes. “Good girl.”
But he didn’t see it.
Didn’t see the silent signal I gave Isabella.
Didn’t see the knife I slid from my sleeve.
Didn’t see me move-
Until it was too late.
I lunged, the blade flashing as I drove it deep into the guard’s throat, his gun clattering to the floor.
Before the second guard could react, Isabella fired. One shot, clean between the eyes.
Ethan was still bound, but I was already at his side, slashing through the ropes.
“Hold on,” I whispered.
He coughed, his voice strained. “That was stupid.”
“Worked, didn’t it?”
Gunfire erupted behind us as Isabella covered our escape, but I wasn’t done yet.
The mastermind was still standing, staring at me with something almost like amusement.
“You always were your father’s daughter,” he murmured.
I leveled my gun at him. “And you always were a dead man walking.”
I pulled the trigger.
But the bastard was faster.
The lights went out, and smoke filled the room.
The sound of his laughter echoed through the chamber as he disappeared into the chaos.
And I knew-this wasn’t over. Not even close.
We burst out of the stronghold, gunfire and alarms blaring behind us. Ethan was weak, barely able to stand, but I held onto him, kept him moving.
Then, the second we reached the SUV, Isabella turned to me. “What now?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“We burn it down.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “The entire stronghold?”
I nodded. “All of it. The Circle, the mastermind, every last piece of this empire that they think they control. We end them before they ever get the chance to come back.”
Ethan’s fingers tightened around mine. “You sure about this?”
I looked at him, then at Isabella.
Then I made my choice.
I reached for the detonator in my pocket.
And pressed the button.
An explosion tore through the night, flames engulfing the stronghold, turning everything to ash.
There was no going back now.
I had just declared war.