The elevator didn't stop at the lobby.
It kept descending, far past the bedrock of the city, until the mirrored walls flickered and turned pitch-black. A low, rhythmic thrum vibrated through the floor—like the heartbeat of something ancient and hungry. When the doors finally slid open, we stepped out into what looked, from the outside, like any upscale suburban mega-mall at 2 a.m.: neon signs still glowing, escalators frozen mid-climb, the faint scent of cinnamon pretzels and floor wax.
We crossed the empty parking garage, boots echoing, and pushed through the automatic glass doors of the 24-hour HyperMart supermarket. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. Rows of instant noodles, energy drinks, and discounted Halloween candy stretched into the distance. No staff. No security. Just the low hum of refrigeration units and the occasional mechanical voice announcing that the store would close in negative three hours.
Kai grabbed two family-size packs of spicy shin ramen and tossed one to me without breaking stride.
"Souvenir," he smirked.
We walked all the way to the back, past the frozen pizza aisle, past the employee-only double doors that definitely weren't employee-only. There, hidden behind a fake vending machine that sold nothing but off-brand cola, was a brushed-steel panel. I pressed my palm to it. Runes flared crimson beneath my skin, and the wall irised open like a camera shutter, revealing a private elevator plated in obsidian.
Inside, the walls were mirrors tinted blood-red. As we descended, I pulled out my phone and hit play on the raw, unedited compilation we'd put together over the last six months: Elena screaming Victor's name while Kai (wearing Victor's face) split her open on the marble countertop; the twins on their knees, tears of pleasure streaming, begging "Daddy" to cum on their tongues; my own mother riding me until her legs shook, whispering how proud she was of her perfect son.
Kai leaned over my shoulder, watching with lazy approval.
"Hmm. Not bad, bro. Cinematography's improved."
I snorted. "You too. That close-up of Elena's face when she realized she was about to squirt? Art."
He waved a dismissive hand, rings of hellforged gold glinting. "It's nothing. Just doing the Lord's work."
The elevator chimed. Floor -66. The doors parted.
We stepped into the true heart of the Supernatural Containment & Acquisition Directorate—SCAD Headquarters.
Polished black marble floors stretched for what felt like miles. Holographic displays floated in mid-air: live feeds of every major city on Earth, heat signatures of newly awakened supernaturals pulsing like crimson fireflies, stock-ticker-style lists of ongoing operations. Dozens of agents moved between stations—some in tailored suits, some in tactical armor, a few clearly not human at all. A nine-tailed kitsune in a pencil skirt hurried past clutching a tablet. Twin vampires argued in rapid Italian over a map of Prague.
A young woman with short silver hair and glowing circuit-like tattoos jogging up to us.
"Chief's waiting. She said, and I quote, 'Tell those two pretty bastards to move their asses.' Also: excellent work topside. The Langford-Reed package is already being processed by Accounting."
Kai flashed her a lazy salute. "Tell Lilith we're flattered."
We followed her down a corridor lined with one-way glass cells. Inside one, a teenage boy levitated three feet off the ground, weeping blood. In another, a woman with skin like cracked magma rocked back and forth, whispering apologies to someone who wasn't there.
The conference room doors slid open on silent hydraulics.
At the head of the obsidian table sat Chief Lilith Valerious.
Even after a century of seeing her, the sight still stole the air from my lungs.
She was reclining in a high-backed throne of carved bone and crimson leather, one endless leg crossed over the other. Black silk stockings sheer enough to show the faint scarlet runes inked beneath. A pencil skirt so tight it looked painted on, hugging the dramatic curve of her hips and the obscene swell of an ass that had launched a thousand wars. Her blouse—white, crisp, three buttons deliberately undone—strained against breasts that defied gravity and logic. Raven hair cascaded in perfect waves to her waist, framing a face that was equal parts angelic and predatory: high cheekbones, blood-red lips, golden eyes slit like a cat's. Horns, elegant and ebony, curved back from her temples. A succubus queen in every inch.
She didn't look up from the dossier floating in front of her.
"Sit."
We took the two chairs directly across from the Ice-Water siblings.
Left: Seraphine Voss, the elder sister. Hair like fresh snow, eyes pale blue and colder than absolute zero. Skin so flawless it looked carved from glacier ice. She wore a sleeveless white combat dress that left her arms bare, frost curling off her fingertips in lazy spirals.
Right: her little brother, Caspian Voss. Seventeen, maybe eighteen. Tousled silver-blue hair, mischievous sea-green eyes, the kind of pretty that got him anything he wanted. His power rippled off him in soft waves—you could smell salt air and hear distant waves.
Seraphine inclined her head, voice like cracking ice. "Congratulations on mission completion. Clean extraction, total psychological collapse of targets. Textbook."
Caspian grinned, flashing a dimple. "You guys are legends."
Kai kicked his feet up on the table. "All in a day's work."
I leaned forward, unable to hold it in anymore. "Chief. Respectfully—what the fuck are we doing?"
Lilith still didn't look up. Her crimson nails tapped the holographic file. "Classified."
I exhaled through my teeth. "People are burning, Lilith. We just hollowed out two of the most powerful men on the planet, turned their families into broken dolls, and now—"
She finally lifted her gaze. Those golden eyes pinned me like a butterfly to cork.
"I said. Classified."
Kai's hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing once. "Easy, Ace. You'll know when you need to know. For now…" He jerked his chin toward the massive wall screen behind Lilith.
Live news feed. Breaking: MASSIVE FIRE ENGULFS LUXURY FIVE-STAR HOTEL DOWNTOWN.
Drone footage showed the entire upper half of the building engulfed in unnatural crimson-black flames that didn't behave like normal fire. They danced, almost alive, forming screaming faces in the smoke.
The ticker read:
AUTHORITIES BAFFLED—WITNESSES CLAIM TWO MEN EMERGED FROM THE INFERNO UNSCATHED, EYES GLOWING LIKE DEMONS.
Another angle: Victor Langford and Senator Harlan Reed walking barefoot through the lobby, surrounded by a hurricane of hellfire that incinerated everything it touched. Their expressions were blank at first—hollow shells. Then midnight hit.
Security footage, time-stamped 00:00:01.
Both men froze. Their eyes snapped open—pupils blown wide, irises burning neon red. Something ancient and furious awakened behind them. The screams started—raw, animal howls of grief and betrayal that shattered every window on the ground floor. Hellfire exploded outward in a perfect circle. Marble melted. Steel twisted. Guests and staff were ash before they could scream.
Victor raised one hand, and a column of black flame punched straight through fifteen floors. Harlan simply looked at the ceiling, and the roof peeled open like a tin can.
Lilith's lips curved in satisfaction. "There we go. Two new Class-S Hellfire Sovereigns. Awakened by trauma, fueled by vengeance. Beautiful."
Seraphine and Caspian were already standing.
Lilith flicked a finger. "Voss siblings—containment and retrieval. Bring them in alive. We need them sane enough to sign the contract."
Seraphine's voice was frost. "Understood."
Caspian cracked his knuckles, water swirling around his wrists like liquid mercury. "Let's go surfing on some lava."
They vanished in a swirl of snow and sea mist.
The doors hissed shut behind them.
I turned back to Lilith, voice raw. "Tell me this has a point. Tell me we didn't just ruin five innocent women and create two walking apocalypses for shits and giggles."
Lilith finally closed the dossier. She stood—slow, deliberate—every movement designed to make mortals kneel. Walked around the table until she was right in front of me. One manicured finger tilted my chin up.
"Little prince," she purred, voice like velvet dragged over broken glass. "Everything has a point. You'll see it when the board is full."
Then she glanced at Kai, who just shrugged.
I looked at my blood brother—my partner in every atrocity we'd committed together.
"Kai. Level with me. Do you actually know what the endgame is?"
He met my eyes, utterly serious for once.
"I have no idea, bro."
On the screen behind us, the hotel collapsed into a lake of molten glass and screaming fire, and the world moved one step closer to whatever the hell we were building.