Episode 15

1:12 a.m. – Prague, Hotel Malströme

The moon filtered through half-drawn curtains, casting silver light across the hotel suite. Lucien lay awake, arm behind his head, while Sera's breath curled against his chest — warm, steady, grounding.

He had said the words.

I love you.

They weren't supposed to come out. He hadn't planned them. But they'd risen like a scream he'd swallowed for too long.

And now? Now he couldn't take them back. Not that he wanted to.

His phone buzzed once on the nightstand.

Encrypted message.

Collins: They've found Jax. We have a problem.

Lucien rose without waking Sera.

⎯

7:41 a.m. – Cain Tower Intelligence Hub, New York (Remote feed)

Lucien's jaw ticked as Jax's image filled the secure conference screen.

The footage was grainy. Jax was pacing a rooftop in Paris, clutching what looked like a USB drive and talking to someone off-camera.

Collins leaned over the control panel. "Intercepted this fifteen minutes ago."

Lucien narrowed his eyes. "That rooftop — it's near the east embassy line. A blind spot. He thinks no one can track him there."

"Looks like he's trying to negotiate with someone."

"Who?"

"Unknown," Collins said. "But if he's using that drive, it's bad."

Lucien clenched his fist.

"That drive contains access to the Omega Vault."

Collins stared.

"That's nuclear, Lucien. All Cain-Moretti trade routes, security matrices, and personal data — including your sealed psychological file."

Lucien's eyes turned to ice.

"If that falls into the wrong hands…"

Collins finished for him.

"You'll lose the empire. And Sera."

⎯

Meanwhile – Milan, Italy

Sera's Private Estate Office

Sera stood alone in her family's ancestral library. Dusty tomes. Stained glass. The past breathing through every creaking floorboard.

Collins had sent her what she asked for: a sealed envelope marked Giulia Moretti – Confidential.

Inside: medical records. Travel documents.

And one letter. Dated twenty-nine years ago.

She unfolded it with shaking hands.

Dear Giulia,

Adler has agreed. If the trial works, the child may be spared the side effects. We just need one. Your genes are strong — the Project will benefit.

– C.M.

She dropped the letter.

The room spun.

Her mother… had volunteered her?

She turned to the fireplace and hurled the envelope into the flames.

Behind her, Vivienne entered. "Everything okay?"

Sera didn't turn.

"I'm going to Paris."

⎯

10:32 a.m. – Paris, France

Lucien stood atop a glass rooftop with Collins beside him, earpiece in place. Their sniper was across the street, watching the target. Jax was there — pacing, sweating, clearly paranoid.

"I trusted him," Lucien muttered.

"He trusted you back," Collins said. "That's what makes betrayal hurt."

Lucien exhaled.

"We take him alive."

Collins looked skeptical.

Lucien's tone turned lethal.

"Alive. I want to ask him one question myself."

Below, Jax made the handoff. A woman in a gray coat accepted the drive.

The sniper called in. "Target confirmed. It's not Vanta. Unidentified."

Lucien stepped back. "Abort the shot."

"Why?"

He stared hard.

"Because I know who she is."

Collins blinked. "What?"

Lucien's voice dropped.

"That's Dr. Elsa Novik. Voss's protégé."

⎯

11:04 a.m. – Alley behind Hôtel des Ombres, Paris

Sera stepped from the SUV, dressed in all black. Her red hair was tied back in a knot, no makeup, no armor. Just rage.

Vivienne followed close behind.

"I don't want you to regret this," Vivienne warned.

Sera stopped at the corner. "Regret is for people who had a choice."

Vivienne opened the alley gate. Inside, a private courier was bound to a chair — courtesy of her family's local fixer.

"You delivered the drive to Dr. Novik?" Sera asked.

The man nodded. "I didn't know what was in it."

"Then why the gloves?"

He paled.

Sera turned to Vivienne. "He knew."

The courier began to beg.

Sera leaned in.

"Tell me where she took it. Or I burn every cell tower in this city until I find her myself."

⎯

1:28 p.m. – Cain-Moretti Crisis Room, Live Feed Connection

Lucien stood before a wall of monitors. Sera's face appeared on one.

"You're in Paris?" he asked.

"Your mole delivered the drive to a former Voss associate," she said.

Lucien nodded. "Novik. I recognized her."

"She's not working alone," Sera said. "I traced her signal. She's transmitting the Omega Vault contents to an external server in Oslo. If she completes it—"

"I lose everything."

Sera's eyes darkened.

"No. We lose everything."

Lucien stared at her for a long moment.

"You found something else," he said.

She hesitated. Then nodded.

"My mother was part of the Halberd project. She volunteered… me."

Lucien's breath hitched.

"She knew?"

Sera's voice trembled. "She was trying to protect me. I think she thought it would make me stronger."

Lucien stepped toward the camera.

"It did."

⎯

4:19 p.m. – Oslo, Norway

The Cain-Moretti strike team deployed across the snow-covered rooftops of the industrial district. Novik was inside a data vault — high-security, off-grid, pulsing with underground signals.

Sera and Lucien moved together through the shadows, weapons holstered, minds clear.

"We get the drive. We cut the transmission. No casualties unless necessary," Sera said.

Lucien nodded. "And Jax?"

"If he's there," she said coldly, "I want answers."

They entered the facility.

Alarms screamed.

Automatic security turrets dropped from the ceiling.

Lucien dove behind a console. Sera launched smoke grenades.

Three guards were neutralized. One remained.

Jax.

He raised his hands. "Don't shoot—please—"

Sera tackled him. Gun to his throat.

"You gave her the drive."

"She said she'd protect me from Vanta—"

"You endangered everything!"

Lucien pulled her off him.

Jax trembled. "You don't understand. Vanta has another list. Names. Families. If I didn't cooperate—"

Lucien's voice dropped.

"Where is the list?"

Jax's eyes darted to the terminal.

Lucien accessed it. Pulled the screen up.

There it was: Project Halberd — Phase II: Legacy Subjects

Sera's name.

Lucien's name.

And one more.

Unfamiliar. Marked: Subject 099.

Sera narrowed her eyes. "Who's 099?"

⎯

Later that night — 11:59 p.m.

They burned the vault.

Cut the connection.

Jax was turned over to Cain-Moretti's private detention unit — alive, but under surveillance.

In the Oslo suite, Sera stood at the window.

Lucien joined her.

"They're coming for us," she said.

"They've always been."

She turned to him.

"Then let's stop waiting."

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She handed him a document.

He opened it.

A marriage license application.

Sera stared at him.

"If the world wants to break us, they'll have to go through a union stronger than blood."

Lucien's throat went tight.

"Is this a proposal?"

"No," she said. "This is war. I want your name carved into mine. Legally. Publicly. Permanently."

He stepped forward, cupped her jaw, and kissed her — slow, deep, sealing.

"I do," he whispered.

Sera smiled against his lips.

"Then let's set the world on fire."