The wind snapped through the battered sails of the stolen cargo boat, cutting across Zara's face like the memories she was trying to outrun.
Leo sat opposite her, bound, bruised, but silent.
"You've said nothing since we left port," she said, her voice flat.
Leo met her eyes. "There's nothing I can say that can undo it."
Zara paced. Her fingers itched near her belt—where a pistol hung, hidden. But it wasn't about violence now. Not yet. It was about truth. And survival.
She turned back to him. "The Viper. Tell me everything."
Leo exhaled slowly. "Real name: Tomás Villar. Former agent—deep undercover. Now runs a breakaway cartel that sells intelligence to the highest bidder. He doesn't want money anymore. He wants power. And control over you."
Zara's blood froze. "Why me?"
"Because you're the only operative who's ever ghosted him successfully. And… because you stole something."
Her jaw tightened. "What did I steal?"
He looked down. "Me."
There was silence. Long, deep, weighty.
"You weren't just a mark," he said, his voice low. "I was assigned to bait you. To use you. But I fell. Hard. And when you disappeared in Spain, I followed orders to find you. That mission—fake marriage, shared aliases, wedding photos in Valencia—it was all meant to trap you. But I didn't give you up. I swear it, Zara."
Zara's eyes brimmed. "So what? You lied to protect me?"
"I lied because I loved you."
Before she could reply, the radio crackled.
"Zara Cruz. This is Shadowbird. Incoming coordinates have changed. Do not dock. Repeat—DO NOT DOCK. Rina has been compromised."
Zara snatched the receiver. "What? How?"
But the line went dead. Seconds later, a sharp boom echoed in the distance—an explosion at the dock they'd just left behind. Smoke billowed into the sky.
Leo's head dropped. "He's already ahead of us."
Zara stared at the growing cloud, her mind racing. "Then we change course."
She untied Leo's hands.
He blinked in shock. "You're trusting me?"
"No," she said, throwing him a knife. "I'm giving you the same chance I gave Rina. One bullet. One mission. Fail me, and I finish what Spain started."
He nodded once, silent.
<<<<<
Later That Night.
The sea was quiet. Stars blanketed the sky as Zara sat alone on the deck, Kai's voice echoing in her head.
> "If they ever find me, look in the place where the sun never sets. That's where the truth begins."
A soft footstep approached. Rina.
Zara tensed. "You have a lot of nerve."
"I have a lot of guilt."
Zara stood, slow and lethal. "Then say it. Say what really happened in Spain."
Rina swallowed hard. "I sold you out. I told Tomás where you'd be. I thought he'd let us go if I gave him you. I didn't know he'd burn the safehouse. I didn't know Kai would die."
"You thought?" Zara's voice cracked. "Kai didn't die in that fire. He faked his death because of you. He left a message. For me."
Rina blinked fast. "He's alive?"
Zara smiled coldly. "You just told me more than you meant to."
Behind her, Leo stepped forward. "We need to move. Now."
Zara didn't take her eyes off Rina. "You're coming with us. But one wrong step…"
Rina nodded. "I know."
<<<<<
As They Moved Inland.
A girl stumbled into the moonlight. Barefoot, dirt-streaked, and trembling.
Zara froze. "Hannah?"
It was the girl from the cartel's missing list. The one presumed dead two years ago.
But her eyes were cold. Empty.
"I've been waiting," Hannah whispered. "He sent me."
Leo drew his gun. "She's a plant."
Zara held him back. "No. She's a warning."
Hannah smiled, eerie. "The Viper says… your time is up."
And then, without another word, she collapsed.