The safe house felt suffocating, the stale air thick with unspoken truths and shattered loyalties. Maya's eyes darted across the dim room, searching for any hint of a trap, but the only thing catching her attention was the figure standing before her — Elias.
He hadn't changed much. The same cold gaze, the same faint scar tracing his jawline. But his presence here, now, stirred something Maya thought she had buried long ago.
"What are you doing here?" Maya asked, voice steady but edged with tension.
Elias's lips curved into a faint smile. "I could ask you the same."
Callen stepped forward, protective but cautious. "Explain yourself, Elias."
Elias's gaze shifted to Leena, who remained silent, her eyes unreadable. "I'm here because the game isn't over. And neither are the players."
Maya swallowed hard. Old wounds tore open as memories flooded back — promises broken, alliances shattered. Yet beneath the pain was a flicker of something else: a chance to turn the tides.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the back door. They spun around to see masked operatives pouring in.
"We've been compromised," Elias said grimly. "They want the Protocol — and they want us."
Maya's heart pounded. The walls were closing in, and the fight was far from over.
As bullets shattered the silence, Maya realized this was only the beginning.