The rain came hard that morning, soaking Blackvale in gloom. Elena stood at the window of her penthouse, a steaming mug of coffee untouched in her hands. Her reflection in the glass looked almost unfamiliar—older, sharper, haunted.
She hadn't slept.
The thought of Sabrina standing in this very home, looking at Elias, made her stomach turn.
"They're closing in," Kira said from behind her. She was already dressed in black and gray, her pistol tucked under her jacket.
Elena nodded. "They won't stop. Desmond wants the boy, and Sabrina won't miss next time."
Kira pulled up the surveillance feed from last night. "They knew the codes. Our security wasn't breached—they walked in like they belonged."
Elena narrowed her eyes. "Someone on the inside again?"
"Possibly. Or someone's manipulating Damon. He hasn't been the same lately."
Elena's hands curled into fists. "We can't afford more traitors."
Kira glanced toward Elias's room. "And he can't afford secrets. He's not just your son. He's... something more."
"I know."
She didn't know the full truth yet, but something inside her was changing an instinct, a deep, primal protection only a mother could feel. She would burn the world before she let them touch her child.
At Wolfe Enterprises, Alexander's office was eerily quiet. He sat at his desk, staring at an old photo in his hand. It was a picture of Elena, taken on a day she didn't know he was watching before everything fell apart.
She had been laughing. Freely. Beautifully.
"Sir," Victor's voice came through the comms. "We found where she went. An off-grid compound outside the city. She met with Nova Cross."
Alexander's brows furrowed. "Nova? She disappeared after Prague. I thought she was dead."
"She's alive. And loyal to Elena."
"Keep an eye on her. And increase surveillance around Elias."
He ended the call and stood, walking to the window. The city buzzed below, blind to the war unfolding in its shadows. He had always known Elena wasn't the woman the tabloids made her out to be nut this? This was something else.
He picked up his phone and dialed a private number.
It rang once.
"I need you to look into Elias. Blood tests. Ancestry tracing. Quietly."
"Understood," the voice replied.
He hung up and murmured to himself, "What the hell did we create, Elena?"
Later that evening, Elena and Kira drove to a hidden facility in the warehouse district one of her last safehouses.
Inside, a group of trusted agents waited, among them was Jules, her former cryptographer.
"You called us back from the dead," Jules said with a grin.
"We're not dead until Desmond is," Elena replied.
Kira brought up encrypted files pulled from Desmond's database. It took Jules mere minutes to crack through.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing to a symbol buried in the data stream.
A circle with ancient markings and a line down the center.
"I've seen that before," Elena whispered. "My father had a pendant with that symbol. He said it was a seal."
Jules enlarged it. "Seal of the Orin Bloodline. It's old magic. Ancient, even. This... this is blood magic, Elena."
The room chilled.
Kira looked between them. "Are you saying Desmond's not just after power or revenge?"
Jules nodded slowly. "He wants the Vault of Orin. And your son is the key."
At the same time, in a penthouse overlooking the city, Sabrina stood before Desmond.
"I saw him," she said. "Elias. He's not just Elena's son he's his."
Desmond's expression darkened. "Alexander's?"
"Yes. That makes him stronger than we thought. The Vales and Wolfe bloodlines haven't mixed in generations. This boy is... the perfect vessel."
Desmond turned to the wall, running a hand over an old tapestry showing a sealed doorway surrounded by fire and serpents.
"The Vault will open soon," he murmured. "And when it does, I'll ascend."
Sabrina raised a brow. "You're playing a dangerous game."
"So are you," he replied. "But we both know what's at stake."
Suddenly, a loud beep broke the moment. One of Desmond's guards stumbled in, bleeding from the shoulder.
"Sir, the Black Mask team failed to extract the boy. We lost two men."
Desmond's eyes flared with fury. "Then it's time we stop sending whispers."
He turned to Sabrina. "Next time, bring Elena to me."
Back at the safehouse, Elias stirred in his sleep. Damon sat outside the room, guilt eating away at him. He should've seen Sabrina coming. Should've stopped her.
But she had whispered something that kept replaying in his mind.
"You're not who you think you are either."
He didn't understand it, but it felt true.
Inside the room, Elias tossed again, sweating.
And then, without warning, the bedside lamp flickered. Glowed red. A sharp wind blew through the closed windows. Symbols shimmered faintly across his skin brief, ancient markings that faded before they could be fully seen.
Elena burst into the room just as the glow stopped.
She rushed to him, heart hammering. He looked up at her, frightened.
"Mommy… I had a dream. A man in shadows told me to come find him. He said… he was waiting for me. That I had power."
Elena cradled him to her chest.
"It's just a dream, baby," she whispered. But even as she said it, she knew.
It wasn't.
By midnight, she was in Alexander's office.
She didn't knock. She never did.
"You need to tell me what you know," she said.
Alexander looked up, surprised. "You're not supposed to be here."
"Sabrina came for our son. Our son, Alexander. And he's changing. Something is happening to him."
Alexander stood slowly, staring into her eyes.
"I had blood samples run," he admitted. "I had to know. He's... not just ours, Elena. He's... beyond us."
She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"His DNA showed markers not seen in centuries. Traces of Orin bloodline signatures things that shouldn't exist anymore. Powers that were buried with your ancestors. Powers tied to the Vault."
Elena backed away.
"You tested him without my permission."
"I needed to protect him."
Their eyes locked.
Old feelings stirred passion, betrayal, regret.
But there was no time for emotions now.
"Elena," Alexander said, his voice softer, "we have to work together. Whatever this is, it's bigger than both of us."
She didn't respond at first. Then finally, she nodded once.
But the trust between them... was still fractured.
Outside, on a rooftop across the street, Sabrina watched through a sniper lens.
She saw them together.
She smirked.
"The cracks are already there," she whispered into her comm. "It won't take much to break them again."
And this time... she would.