Chapter 10: Chains and Shadows
The cell was cold. The air damp. Aiden sat silently in the shadows, the iron cuffs biting into his wrists. Bruised. Bloodied. Betrayed.
It had been three days since his arrest.
Three days since Elena looked into his eyes with fear.
Three days since he told her the truth—that he was sent to end her life but instead chose to walk away from the mission.
Now he was caged like the weapon he had once been. And yet, his mind was not on escape. Not on freedom.
It was on her.
Suddenly, the silence broke.
The guard outside collapsed with a quiet thud. No sound. No alarm. Just a body slumping into darkness.
A shadow slipped into the cell, silent as smoke.
"Time's up," whispered a familiar voice.
It was Milo, a former ally from the syndicate. A quiet boy turned skilled hacker. Aiden had saved him once when they were both younger—a favor never forgotten.
Milo didn't smile. He just knelt, picking the lock on Aiden's cuffs with fast, practiced hands.
"You saved my sister, remember? Now I'm returning the debt. You've got maybe ten minutes before they trace the breach."
Aiden looked at him, confused. "Why now?"
Milo's jaw clenched. "Because Lucien sent Dante."
Aiden's blood turned cold.
At the Syndicate's underground base...
Lucien stood in the heart of the operations chamber, dimly lit by the glow of surveillance screens. His face, usually calm, was hardened into stone.
"He had one job," he muttered, pacing in front of the large monitors.
The air was tense. Agents watched silently, not daring to speak.
Dante stood at attention, motionless. A tall man clad in black, his presence sharp and lethal.
"Aiden was a tool," Lucien continued. "We raised him. Trained him. Conditioned him. Yet he failed. Not only did he abandon the mission... he turned emotional."
He picked up a crystal glass and hurled it against the wall. The crash echoed across the chamber.
"He showed hesitation," Lucien snarled. "He spoke to the girl. He disobeyed orders."
He turned his eyes toward Dante.
"You're our finest creation," Lucien said, voice lower now. "Not a mistake like him. I need you to go to the girl's estate and finish what he couldn't. She's not just a mission anymore. She's a symbol."
Lucien stepped closer, his voice colder.
"Make her death an example. And if Aiden interferes again—end him."
Dante nodded once.
"Consider it done."
As Dante left, Lucien stared at a still frame on one of the monitors—a surveillance capture from days ago, showing Aiden in the girl's home, standing with her instead of following orders.
His lips curled in disgust.
"He chose her... over us."
Then, under his breath, more quietly, more bitterly:
"He was supposed to be perfect."
---
Back in the city...
Aiden moved through the narrow alleys of the city's lower blocks. Weak from wounds, clothes torn, a hood over his face. But his steps were determined. His heart beat harder the closer he got.
He remembered the estate's structure. The blind spots. The guards' patterns. Every detail mattered now. He needed to know if she was safe.
Please let her be safe.
The night was quiet. Too quiet.
He paused in the shadows across the street from the noble estate. Lights flickered inside. One window was still open. But something felt off.
No guards on the north side.
No movement at the gate.
Is he already here...?
Aiden clenched his fists.
If Dante had entered... Elena was in danger.
He looked at the building again. The warmth of that place once felt like the first home he had ever known. Not because of the walls or the lights.
Because of her.
Elsewhere that night...
Dante walked through the halls of Elena's estate like smoke moving through cracks. Silent. Invisible. Inevitable.
He had entered undetected, past two guards already neutralized. There was no emotion in his actions. No pause. No question.
He was efficient.
Deadly.
And precise.
He stood now outside Elena's room, listening.
But she wasn't inside.
No footsteps. No voice.
"Strange..."
Dante turned and swept through the rest of the corridor. Each room empty. He checked the outer halls.
No sign of the target.
Had she fled? Did someone warn her?
He paused, then tapped his comm device.
"Target not found. Adjusting path. Initiating secondary search protocol."
His tone was cold, mechanical.
But in the back of his mind, he wondered...
Was Aiden already here?
Back in the shadows...
Aiden stayed hidden behind the cover of trees. He watched. He waited. He calculated.
He couldn't storm in. Not yet.
Think, Aiden. If Dante is here... he's already inside. If Elena is still there, she's not safe.
His fingers trembled slightly. Not from fear.
From the pressure.
He had lost everything once. He wasn't going to lose her too.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a stolen communicator from the guard he had passed earlier.
"Elena... if you can hear this... stay hidden. I'm coming."
From the rooftops, not far above him, Dante paused.
His lips twitched faintly.
"So... the traitor returns."
To be continued...