The sunset bled across the horizon in streaks of violent violet and bruised orange. As I walked back toward the house, I felt Yuri's gaze like a physical weight against my spine. I didn't look up. I couldn't. I was carrying too many secrets, and Yuri had a way of reading them like they were written in the Ghost Code on my skin.
I retreated to my room to prepare for the midnight run. Every shadow in the corner seemed to pulse with Viktor's warning: A kill-switch. I looked at the white silk of the duvet and thought of my mother, sleeping in a villa that might be a tomb.
The brass key felt hot against my palm. My father hadn't just left me a legacy; he'd left me a detonator.
At 11:30 PM, the door to my room opened without a knock. Yuri stood there, dressed in dark, tactical gear that made him look like the predator he had always been. The sling was gone, his arm hanging with a deceptive ease.
"It's time," he said, his voice flat.
"Is she safe, Yuri?" I asked, my voice trembling as I pulled on a heavy dark jacket. "My mother. Is she really safe in that villa?"
Yuri paused, his eyes narrowing in the dim lamplight. He walked toward me, his boots silent on the carpet. He reached out, his hand cupping the back of my head, his thumb forcing my chin up so I had to meet his gaze.
"She is under the highest level of protection I can provide, Jessy. Why are you asking me this now?"
"Because everyone in this house tells me a different version of the truth," I said, my heart hammering. "And I'm tired of being the only one who doesn't know which lie I'm living."
Yuri leaned down, his forehead resting against mine. For a second, the mask slipped, and I saw a flash of raw, desperate exhaustion. "The truth is that we are about to enter a place where only one of us might come out. If you don't trust me, trust the fact that I've killed men to keep you alive. That is the only currency I have left."
He pulled me toward the door. We didn't use the grand staircase. Instead, he led me through a hidden panel in the library that spiraled down into the dark.
We emerged at a private cove at the base of the cliffs, where a blacked-out speed boat waited. Miller was at the helm, his face a mask of professional neutrality. We cut through the black water in silence, the salt spray stinging my cheeks.
The "bunker" was a jagged concrete tooth sticking out of the coastline, a relic of a forgotten war. As we docked, the air felt thick, charged with the static of the servers humming deep underground.
"Stay close," Yuri commanded, drawing his weapon as the heavy steel doors hissed open.
The interior was a labyrinth of glowing blue cables and cooling fans. In the center of the final room sat the terminal—a cold, silver altar for the Glass Ledger.
"The biometrics first," Yuri said, gesturing to the glass plate.
I stepped forward, but my hand stayed in my pocket, gripping the brass key. I looked at the terminal, then at Yuri. "Viktor said the hardware needs a physical key to stabilize. He said without it, the Ledger is junk."
Yuri froze, his eyes turning to shards of ice. "You spoke to him."
"He told me about the kill-switch, Yuri. He told me the villa is rigged."
"Jessy, step away from the terminal," Miller's voice rang out, but he wasn't looking at me. He was pointing his weapon at Yuri. "Viktor's team is already at the villa. He doesn't need the key anymore. He just needs you to be out of the way."
The silence in the bunker was deafening. I looked from Yuri to Miller, the brass key slick with sweat in my hand.
"Miller," Yuri said, his voice a low, lethal growl. "I treated you like a brother."
"Viktor treated me like a partner," Miller countered. "Jessy, give me the key and step toward the door. We can save your mother. Yuri is the only one who wants to keep you in this cage."
I stood between them, the "key" to an empire, realizing that the most dangerous thing about a wolf isn't his teeth—it's the fact that he makes you love him before he bites.