The dawn was a lie. The sky bled pale light, but the city beneath was still a battlefield. Smoke curled in abandoned alleys, sirens wailed in fits and starts, and the distant hum of helicopters cut through the tense quiet. Every shadow felt alive, every corner a potential death trap.
Aria moved with measured precision, every motion honed, every sense alert. Lorenzo sat at her side, black leather gloves gripping the wheel as their unmarked car wove through side streets and service lanes. Her mind was already three steps ahead, plotting traps, anticipating Sebastian's counters, calculating costs in blood and city infrastructure.
"Reports?" she asked, voice low, commanding, the calm in the storm.
Ricardo's face appeared in the car's secure tablet. "Convoys hit. No casualties on our side. They're disorganized… confused. But some districts… they're using civilians as shields."
