59:58, 59:57, 59:56.
The red digital clock on the screen ticked down, each second a jarring reminder in the silence of the war room. The Ouroboros symbol pulsed, glowing ominously.
Aria made a small, terrified sound and gripped my arm tightly, her nails pressing into my skin. "Dante, what do we do? He's in the building!"
Nyx moved around frantically, her hands striking the unresponsive keyboard. "He's not just in the network; he's in the mainframe," she said, her voice a mix of anger and fear. "He's in the building's operating system. He's locked us in. The elevators are down. Emergency magnetic locks are engaged on every stairwell door. We're trapped in his digital snare."
The new boss's voice echoed in our thoughts: Deliver Miss Rossi.
I looked at Dante; he wasn't facing the screen or the clock. He was focused on me, his expression a mask of cold, absolute rage, more frightening than any threat. The man who had once been shattered by his father's past was gone. The King had reclaimed his throne.
His decision came instantly.
"Over my dead body," he said, his voice low and fierce.
45:00, 44:59, 44:58.
The clock continued its countdown. Dante pressed the hard-line comms button on the conference table, bypassing Nyx's compromised system. "Leo! Elias! Code Black! I repeat, Code Black! We are under direct assault! The enemy is in the system. They have the building."
Leo's voice came through, strained but sharp. "Sir! We already have contact! They're not just en route—they're here! Multiple armed hostiles in the main lobby! They're coming up the emergency stairs! The 60-second demand wasn't a deadline; it was a distraction. They were already inside!"
A new sound joined the ticking of the clock, unmistakable and muffled, coming from far below. Gunfire. Heavy and automatic, it was getting closer.
"He's using the demand to trap us in this room," I said, my mind racing as the pieces fell into place. "He doesn't want us to surrender. He wants us all in one spot. He wants a clean sweep. He wants the ledger, and he wants to eliminate the only people who have ever seen it."
30:00, 29:59, 28:58.
Dante moved. He walked to the wall safe, spun the dial, and retrieved two black tactical pistols along with several extra magazines. He kept one and tossed the other to me. My hands were steady as I caught it. The weight felt familiar. Frighteningly so.
"Elias," Dante barked into the comms. "What about the fire suppression?"
"Halon gas, sir," Elias replied, grave. "Inert gas. It displaces oxygen. It will flood the sealed floors in under two minutes. It doesn't kill with fire; it suffocates. A clean, quiet way to eliminate us."
The new boss didn't plan to blow up the building. He aimed to turn the most secure penthouse in Europe into a gas chamber.
"Aria," Dante said calmly. He approached his sister, who was frozen in fear. He held her face in his hands. "Nyx will open the emergency ventilation duct behind the server bank. It's a tight fit, but it leads to a sealed maintenance shaft. You will go in there, and you will not make a sound. Do you understand?"
"No! I'm not leaving you!" she cried.
"That was not a request," he said firmly. "Nyx. Get her out."
15:00, 14:59, 13:58.
"Boss, he's locked the ventilation systems too!" Nyx exclaimed, her voice cracking. "I can't override him!"
"Nyx," Dante said softly, his voice low. "I want you to open a channel. A direct, one-on-one link. Hijack his connection. Can you do that?"
"I can try," she said, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "He's arrogant. He left his own back door open. I'm in!"
"Put me on," Dante ordered. He stood in the center of the room, the pistol held loosely at his side, a king in his throne room, ready for a challenge. He looked at the main screen, at the pulsing Ouroboros.
05:00, 04:00, 03:00.
"Well?" the new boss's voice crackled to life, filled with amused impatience. "Have you come to a decision, Mr. Moretti? My men are getting bored."
02:00, 01:00, 00:00.
The clock hit zero. The screen flashed red, and a deafening alarm began to blare.
"Primary fire suppression system activated. Evacuate. Evacuate."
A low hiss filled the room, the sound of the inert gas starting to flood the sealed floor.
Dante simply smiled, a cold, terrifying smile devoid of humor.
"I have," he declared, his voice booming through the speaker, a challenge to the man on the other end. "You want my queen? You want my kingdom? You'll have to come take them."
He raised his pistol and fired a single shot, blowing out the speaker console. The connection cut off.
The lights went out. The emergency fixtures, the comms—everything was dark. We were plunged into suffocating blackness, with the Ouroboros symbol glowing angrily on the screens. The hissing grew louder, a sound of certain, silent death.
We were trapped, outnumbered, the air being stolen from our lungs, and the enemy was at the gates. The siege had begun.