Chapter Six –
Corvane burned quiet.
The city didn't scream when it died — it whispered. Smoke slipped through the cracks between buildings, windows glowed like old memories, and sirens sang somewhere far away, their echoes swallowed by rain.
Rhea watched from a rooftop above the docks, her coat heavy with water and ash. The Vale compound below was a shadow of itself. Half the men were gone — either fled or dead — and the rest stayed close to the heart of the empire, pretending loyalty could still buy safety.
Luciana hadn't called.
Rhea hadn't answered.
It had been three days since their last confrontation. Three nights since she'd walked out with the weight of a broken world sitting in her chest.
Now she was back — not for Luciana, not even for revenge.
For truth.
She climbed down the fire escape, boots slipping on wet steel, and slipped through the back entrance of the warehouse that used to hum with power. The hallways were empty except for the echo of rain hitting the tin roof. Her footsteps sounded too loud, too final.
In the main office, lights flickered weakly. Luciana was there — sitting behind the desk, cigarette burning between her fingers, eyes red-rimmed but dry.
"You came," she said softly, as if she hadn't been waiting every second.
Rhea didn't speak.
Luciana's voice was hoarse. "They're turning on me, Rhea. Mateo's gone, Marlo's missing, and the streets are whispering that Vale's finished. You happy now?"
Rhea stepped closer. "You made this city bleed. You think it was going to forget?"
Luciana's mouth twitched into something between a smile and a flinch. "Maybe I thought you'd stay long enough to stop it."
"You lied to me."
"I saved you."
"By making me your weapon?" Rhea's voice cracked. "By turning me into someone who doesn't know how to breathe without a gun in her hand?"
Luciana stood suddenly, slamming her palms against the desk. "You think I wanted this? You think I don't wake up every day wondering what I could've been if I hadn't built this hell?"
Rhea stared at her — at the woman who'd been her anchor, her ruin, her only home. "Then why not walk away?"
Luciana's gaze softened. "Because I can't. Corvane doesn't let go of people like us."
The room fell silent except for the sound of the rain.
Then Luciana reached into a drawer and pulled out a file.
"Everything Mira told you — it's true," she said. "But not the way you think."
Rhea hesitated. "What is that?"
"Records. Every deal, every hit, every debt paid in blood. Mine, Vitani's, yours. I kept them all because I needed to know if it ever meant something."
Rhea took the file, flipped it open — photographs, names, coded notes.
And there, in the middle — her own file.
RHEA CORTEZ
RECRUITMENT DATE: 03/07
STATUS: PROTECTED ASSET.
Her heart stopped.
Protected asset. Not partner. Not soldier.
Property.
She dropped the file like it burned.
Luciana stepped forward, desperate now. "I didn't mean it like that. It was insurance — you were the one thing I couldn't lose."
"You mean control."
"No," Luciana said, her voice trembling. "I mean love."
The word hung between them — wrong, too late, too heavy.
Rhea felt something inside her fracture. "Don't do that. Don't use that word like it fixes everything."
Luciana's eyes glistened. "It's the only truth I have left."
The door burst open.
Gunfire tore through the silence.
Rhea ducked behind the desk, instinct taking over. Luciana grabbed the pistol from her drawer and returned fire.
Three men stormed in — Vitani's.
Rhea shot first, one down before he reached cover. Luciana hit the second in the chest. The third tried to flee; Rhea caught him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Who sent you?" she hissed.
The man coughed blood. "Everyone wants Vale gone."
Luciana raised her gun — and fired before Rhea could stop her.
The man collapsed, silent.
Rhea turned on her. "He could've talked!"
"He would've lied," Luciana snapped.
The air was thick with smoke and blood. The city roared outside — sirens closing in.
Rhea stared at Luciana, breathing hard. "It's over."
Luciana's voice broke. "Not until I say it is."
Rhea shook her head slowly. "Everything burns eventually."
Luciana's hand trembled around the gun. For the first time, she looked small — fragile, human.
Rhea stepped closer, took the gun gently from her hand, and whispered, "I'll get you out. But after that… we're done."
Luciana nodded once. "I know."
They slipped out the back into the rain, smoke rising behind them as the Vale empire collapsed in fire and glass.
And somewhere beneath that storm, Rhea realized — no matter how far she ran, she'd never escape the ashes.