The city was still half-asleep when Eva Lorne stepped into the morning like she owned the hour. The courthouse loomed ahead, all concrete and order, but Eva moved through it like a serpent in silk. Elegant, lethal, unbothered. Her black heels struck the marble floor with a steady rhythm, echoing louder than the murmurs that followed her.
She didn't walk into rooms. She arrived.
Today, like most days, she wore tailored obsidian and blood-red lipstick, signature, striking, and slightly dangerous. Her opponents in court knew to brace themselves. Eva didn't just defend; she dominated. Her cross-examinations felt more like executions.
By night, the sharp edges softened into a calculated haze of perfume and seduction. She played the social scene like a card game, choosing lovers like drinks, strong, fast, and better forgotten.
But there was one rule in Eva Lorne's life that never bent: loyalty to Grace Laurent.
Their bond had started in school, two girls from powerful legacies, bound by secrets and rebellion. Grace had always been the heart, Eva the blade. When Grace lost her father in that car crash, it was Eva who showed up without being asked, two little girls just being there for each other. When Grace took over Élan Mode, Eva tightened the locks around her world.
She had stood by when the sharks circled after Grace's father died. They came with champagne smiles and gold-plated condolences, but Eva had seen through their eyes, hungry, waiting. Grace's mother had held her ground with quiet strength, never remarrying, never surrendering. And Eva had been the unofficial shadow behind them both.
Grace didn't always see the danger. Eva made it her job to notice the invisible things. Which was why tonight, Eva stood barefoot in her own apartment, drink in one hand, staring at the blank screens.
The security footage from Grace's penthouse had gone dark.
She called her guy.
"They were working when I left," he said, clearly nervous.
"Then why am I staring at static?"
"No signal. But there's no sign of physical tampering. The files… they're gone."
Eva set her glass down slowly. "Gone?"
"Wiped clean. No backup."
Her lips twitched. Not in surprise, but irritation. Someone had been smart. Smarter than her tech, her precautions, her people.
But no one was smarter than her.
She ended the call and lit a cigarette, exhaling through a slow breath. Smoke curled in the dim light, wrapping around her like armor. Her eyes flicked toward the skyline in the distance, the one Grace lived in.
Whoever had walked into Grace's space had already become a ghost in the machine.
Eva didn't believe in ghosts. But she believed in enemies who hid in plain sight.
And whoever this was, they'd just made her very interested.
She walked over to her window, glass in one hand, phone in the other, her mind already running strategies. A low hum of jazz played in the background as the night city glittered in defiance. Then, a knock on her door.
She opened it to find Sebastian, the one currently sharing her bed, and occasionally, her secrets. He looked at her with that disarming grin, the one that made most women melt. She let him in without a word.
"Still working?" he asked, eyes drifting to the monitor.
Eva nodded. "Need a favor."
He smiled wider. "Anything."
"Grace's penthouse. I want you to do it again. But this time, hardwired backups. Infrared, night vision, the works. Don't stop until it's flawless."
He kissed her cheek. "Done."
An hour later, Sebastian stepped into Grace's penthouse like a ghost of his own. Quiet, professional, invisible. Eva watched the live feed from her screen, seeing him move efficiently.
But as the final camera connected, the screen blinked... and then went black.
All of them.
She stared.
Static.
No feed. No data.
Even Eva couldn't guess the reason. She stared at the blank monitor like it had betrayed her. No signal, no visuals. It was as if the space existed outside reality, as if some phantom force had drawn a blackout curtain across the system.
"Are you sure everything's functional?" she asked the tech.
He ran diagnostics again. "Everything checks out. This… doesn't make sense."
A moment of silence stretched between them, thick and uncomfortable.
"Change the angles," Eva ordered.
He adjusted. Still nothing. Just static. Just void.
It wasn't a glitch. It wasn't hardware. It was something, or someone, deliberately obstructing them. Eva felt it like an instinct clawing up her spine.
She glanced toward Grace, who remained unaware, swirling her glass and half-listening to some soft jazz playing in the background. That was Eva's gift, keeping her calm.
But inside, Eva wasn't calm.
The absence of answers screamed louder than any alarm.
There was someone else in this game.
And he had already rewritten the rules.