The Circle did not respond immediately.
And that was how Kevin knew it would be bad.
They never rushed. They never panicked. When the Obsidian Circle went quiet, it meant they were choosing how to hurt you, not if.
The compound Elena had led them to was hidden deep in broken land—old concrete walls cracked by time, rusted watchtowers, underground rooms sealed off years ago. It had once been a training site for elite operatives before the Circle abandoned it and wiped it from official maps.
Now it was breathing again.
Kevin stood on the highest platform, scanning the horizon with binoculars. Shalom leaned against a wall beside him, reloading her weapon with steady hands. She looked calm, but Kevin knew better. He could see it in her jaw, in the way her shoulders stayed tense.
"They're coming," he said.
Shalom didn't ask how he knew.
She just nodded. "From where?"
"Everywhere."
Below them, the other operatives moved quickly. There were about twelve of them—men and women the Circle had tried to erase. Some had scars. Some walked with limps. All of them had the same look in their eyes.
People who had nothing left to lose.
The woman who had introduced herself as Mara approached Kevin.
"Our scouts picked up encrypted movement," she said. "Multiple teams."
Kevin lowered the binoculars. "Victor?"
Mara's lips tightened. "Yes."
Shalom stiffened at the name.
Victor Kane.
The man who never raised his voice. The man who smiled when he signed death orders. The man who believed love was weakness and loyalty was ownership.
"He's sending a message," Kevin said.
Mara crossed her arms. "To who?"
"To everyone," Kevin replied. "And to us most of all."
The first strike came at dawn.
No warning. No signal.
Just fire.
A distant explosion tore through the eastern wall, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Alarms screamed. Dust filled the air.
"Positions!" Mara shouted.
Gunfire followed—controlled, precise, relentless.
"They're not storming," Kevin said as he moved. "They're testing defenses."
Shalom took position beside him, her eyes sharp. "They want us scared."
Another blast. This one closer.
A young man named Jace—a former tech operative—fell as shrapnel tore through the air. He screamed once before going silent.
Shalom froze.
Kevin grabbed her arm. "Don't stop."
She forced herself to move, but the sound followed her. The Circle always did this. They didn't just kill. They made sure you felt it.
By mid-morning, the attack stopped.
Just like that.
No victory. No closure.
Only smoke, blood, and the quiet hum of surveillance drones pulling back.
"They left," someone said.
"No," Kevin replied. "They paused."
Victor Kane watched the footage in silence.
Jace's body lay still on the cracked concrete. The camera angle shifted, zooming in on Kevin's face—dust-covered, jaw tight, eyes burning.
Victor smiled.
"Good," he murmured.
A man beside him hesitated. "Sir… should we finish them?"
Victor raised a hand.
"No," he said calmly. "Pain needs time."
He turned toward another screen.
"Activate Phase Two."
By nightfall, the Circle struck again.
This time, they didn't hit the compound.
They hit elsewhere.
Kevin was cleaning his weapon when Elena burst into the room, her face pale.
"They found your sister," she said.
The words hit like a gunshot.
"What?" Kevin stood instantly.
"Not her location," Elena clarified quickly. "Her life."
Shalom stepped closer. "What does that mean?"
Elena swallowed. "They froze her accounts. Fired her from her job. Released fabricated evidence linking her to criminal activity."
Kevin's hands curled into fists.
"And that's not all," Elena added. "They leaked photos. Personal ones. Made sure she knows it's because of you."
Kevin closed his eyes.
The Circle didn't kill families right away.
They broke them first.
Shalom touched his arm. "Kevin…"
"They promised," he said quietly. "They said if I ever crossed them…"
She pulled him into a tight embrace. "This isn't your fault."
He shook his head. "Everything they touch becomes my fault."
The third strike came before dawn.
Snipers.
Silent.
Deadly.
Two guards dropped without a sound.
Then chaos.
Kevin dragged Shalom behind cover as bullets tore into walls, shredding concrete.
"They're inside the perimeter!" someone yelled.
Mara was already firing back, blood running down her forehead.
"They're hunting you," she shouted at Kevin. "Not us."
Kevin scanned the shadows.
Then he felt it.
A presence.
A shot rang out.
Shalom screamed.
Kevin turned just in time to see her collapse.
"No!"
He was beside her instantly, pressing his hands against her shoulder where blood soaked through her clothes.
"I'm here," she gasped. "I'm here."
Kevin's vision blurred. "Stay with me."
"I'm not dying," she said through clenched teeth. "Not today."
Kevin lifted her, moving fast, ignoring the pain in his own body as bullets struck close.
They reached the underground tunnel just as explosions rocked the compound above them.
The Circle didn't retreat this time.
They erased.
By morning, the compound was gone.
Nothing left but smoke and rubble.
Mara counted survivors.
Six.
Six out of twelve.
Elena sat on the ground, staring at nothing.
"They followed us," she whispered. "They always do."
Kevin stood apart, blood on his hands that wasn't his.
Shalom leaned against him, pale but alive.
Victor's voice crackled through a hacked speaker nearby.
"Kevin Blackwood," it said calmly. "You were exceptional."
Kevin said nothing.
"You could have lived," Victor continued. "You chose love instead."
The voice softened.
"And this," Victor said, "is the cost."
The transmission cut.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Final.
Shalom looked up at Kevin. "He's not going to stop."
"No," Kevin said. "He's going to escalate."
Mara approached. "Then what do we do?"
Kevin looked at the survivors.
At the wreckage.
At the woman he loved, bleeding because of him.
His voice was steady when he spoke.
"We stop running," he said.
Shalom straightened despite the pain. "And do what?"
Kevin met her eyes.
"We take the war to them."
Far away, Victor Kane reviewed casualty reports.
Minimal losses.
Maximum damage.
He allowed himself a small smile.
The Circle had struck brutally.
But the game was no longer one-sided.