The lodge was a ruin.
Walls blown open. Floors splintered. Smoke still drifting through the broken windows.
But the silence was worse than the destruction.
Too quiet.
Too heavy.
Too full of things Emma didn't want to face.
She bandaged her wounded arm tightly, ignoring the sting.
Darrick watched her with worry etched into his features.
"Emma… talk to me. What happened?"
She didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Not yet.
Adrian slammed a new magazine into his rifle. "If Liam is alive, Victor has been planning this for years. This wasn't an accident. This was a setup."
Emma's jaw tightened. "Victor doesn't plan. He manipulates."
Darrick stepped closer.
"Emma… Liam—your brother—he's really—"
"I saw his face," she snapped, voice cracking. "It was him."
Silence.
Sam and James flashed through her mind.
How could she tell them?
How could she explain that the brother they mourned… now hunted them?
Darrick touched her arm gently.
"Tell us what happened."
Emma took a shaky breath.
---
••• What She Saw
"He didn't speak at first," she whispered. "He just fought. Like a stranger. Like I was just another target."
Adrian leaned against the shattered wall, listening intently.
"Then he called me by name."
Darrick swallowed hard.
"And he didn't… recognize you?"
"Oh, he recognized me," Emma said bitterly. "He just didn't care."
She clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms.
"He told me Victor saved him. That he became the Syndicate's 'Captain.' That I should've stayed a civilian."
Adrian muttered something too low to hear—rage, maybe.
Darrick stepped even closer.
"Emma… I'm so sorry."
She looked at him, a storm behind her eyes.
"Don't be. I'm not done with him."
---
••• Adrian's Revelation
Adrian took a deep breath.
"Emma… I need to tell you something."
She turned to him sharply.
"What?"
Adrian hesitated—something uncharacteristic for him.
"When I worked for the Syndicate… before I defected… Liam had a codename."
Emma froze.
"A codename?"
Adrian nodded. "Ghostblade."
Emma's blood went cold.
"That was the man Victor used for the dirtiest operations… disappearances… executions… intelligence wipes."
Emma felt sick.
"You're saying my brother became Victor's personal assassin?"
Adrian's expression turned grim.
"Not just assassin. He was Victor's favorite."
Emma backed into the wall.
Her breathing sped up.
Darrick reached toward her but she raised her hand.
"I'm fine," she lied.
Adrian stepped forward.
"There's more."
Emma glared. "Say it."
Adrian sighed.
"Victor didn't just find Liam."
Emma's heartbeat hammered.
"He recruited him years before his 'death.' Behind your family's back. Liam was already working with the Syndicate when he disappeared."
Emma's world tilted.
Darrick whispered, "Emma… sit down—"
"No."
Her voice was sharp, shaking with rage she barely contained.
"You're telling me," Emma said slowly, each word trembling,
"that Liam wasn't forced?
He wasn't captured?
He chose Victor?"
Adrian didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Emma laughed once—a broken, bitter sound.
"Of course he did."
She pressed a hand against her eyes, fighting tears.
"He always hated being powerless. Always wanted to be strong. Strong enough to protect us."
She looked at Adrian sharply.
"He thought Victor could give him that strength."
Adrian nodded silently.
"And instead," Emma whispered,
"He lost himself."
---
••• The Message Emma Didn't Expect
A faint buzz broke the tension.
Darrick's phone.
He looked at the screen—and went pale.
"It's… it's from Liam."
Emma snatched the phone immediately.
The message was simple.
Cold.
> "Meet me at the river bridge. Alone.
I won't warn you twice."
Darrick grabbed her wrist.
"Emma, you're not going alone—"
"Yes," she said, voice low and steady. "I am."
"Emma—"
"He's my brother," she said, eyes burning.
"My blood."
"My past."
"My mistake."
"My responsibility."
Adrian stepped forward. "This is exactly what he wants."
"I don't care."
Darrick's voice cracked.
"Emma… he might kill you."
She stepped toward the door.
"He's welcome to try."
---
••• A New Kind of War
As she walked into the forest, Emma whispered to herself:
"Liam… I'm not the same scared kid you left behind."
She tightened the grip on her knives.
"And if you're standing with Victor—"
She breathed in slowly.
Her eyes hardened into steel.
"—then I'll cut you down myself."
Behind her, Adrian muttered:
"This is the beginning of a civil war."
Darrick watched her disappear into the trees, fear twisting in his chest.
Because Emma wasn't just walking toward a meeting.
She was walking toward a truth that could either save her…
…or destroy her completely.
---