Chapter 85: Ashes And Echoes

The smoke curled into the night sky, thick and black, carrying the remnants of everything they had fought for—and everything they had lost.

Emily stood at the edge of the blast zone, the heat still radiating from the ruins of the compound. 

The wreckage stretched before her like a battlefield long abandoned, twisted metal and shattered concrete marking the final stand of Victor Hale's empire.

Her ears still rang from the explosion, the force had knocked them all flat, sending dust and debris cascading into the air.

 But it wasn't the destruction that made her stomach twist.

Lena was gone.

Emily clenched her fists. She had told herself it was necessary—that Lena had made the choice, that this was the only way but the words felt hollow.

A voice crackled in her earpiece. "Emily, do you copy?"

She inhaled sharply, pressing a hand to her radio. "I'm here."