Elias Thorne POV
The ceiling didn't just fall; it screamed as it tore away from the steel beams. A giant chunk of concrete, the size of a car, was dropping straight toward Madam Vera. She was frozen, her eyes wide as she looked up at her death. I didn't think about my secret identity. I didn't think about being "Elias Thorne," the low-level nobody. My body just reacted.
I lunged forward, my boots skidding on the glass-covered floor. I grabbed Vera around the waist and tackled her across the room. We rolled together just as the concrete smashed into the floor. The sound was like a bomb going off. Dust filled the air, thick and gray, making it impossible to see or breathe.
I pulled my shirt over my nose and mouth. My ribs felt like they were being poked by hot knives. Every time I moved, the pain reminded me of the mountain clinic and the fire. But I couldn't stop.
"Are you okay?" I coughed, looking down at the Director.
Madam Vera was shaking, but she wasn't hurt. She looked at me, then she looked at the spot where she had been standing. The concrete had crushed her desk into splinters. Then, she looked at my hands. I was still holding her with the grip of a soldier—firm, steady, and ready to move again.
"You move like lightning," she whispered. Her voice was thin, but her eyes were sharp. She wasn't looking at me like a boss looks at a guard anymore. She was looking at me like a scientist looks at a mystery.
"I got lucky," I grunted, letting go of her and standing up. I tried to slouch my shoulders again. I tried to look like the tired, scarred man I was supposed to be. "I saw it falling. Just a reflex."
"No," Vera said. She stood up and brushed the gray dust off her black dress. She didn't look scared anymore. She looked intense. "That wasn't luck. I've seen thousands of soldiers, Thorne. I've seen world-class athletes. None of them move like that. That was a 'Black Raven' move. I saw the way you tucked your shoulder. That's Special Forces DNA."
My heart hammered against my ribs. I had been too fast. I had been too good. The "Ghost" inside me had saved her life, but he might have just ended my mission.
"I don't know what a Black Raven is," I lied. I turned away from her and started kicking through the rubble, looking for a way out. "We need to move. The building is unstable. The General's missiles aren't going to stop until this place is flat."
"The missiles stopped," Vera said. She pointed to a small, flickering screen on the wall that was still working. It showed the sky outside. The helicopters were circling, but they weren't firing. "He's not trying to kill me. He's trying to scare me. He wants something inside this building, and he thinks the explosion gave his men a chance to sneak in."
Suddenly, the lights in the room turned red. A loud, buzzing alarm started to ring.
"Security breach. Level 4," a computer voice said.
"They're here," I whispered.
I reached into the rubble and found my old Beretta. It was covered in dust, but it was still heavy and solid. I checked the magazine. Six bullets left. I had to make them count.
"Thorne, listen to me," Vera said, stepping closer. She grabbed my arm. Her hand was cold. "I know who you are. Maybe not your name, but I know what you are. You're a ghost from the Karsak Valley. You're one of the men Sterling tried to erase. Am I right?"
I didn't answer. I just watched the door.
"If you want the General," Vera whispered, "I can give him to you. But I need to know I can trust the man behind that mask. I need to know you won't turn on me."
"I only turn on people who betray their own," I said. It was the closest thing to the truth I could give her.
The door to the office hissed open. I raised my gun, but it wasn't the Hounds. It was a group of Aegis recruits. They looked terrified. Their black suits were torn, and their faces were covered in soot. Among them was Miller. He looked like he had been crying. He saw me and his eyes turned into slits of hate.
"Madam Director!" Miller shouted, running toward Vera. "We have to get you to the bunker! This freak, Thorne... he probably led them here! He's the reason we're being attacked!"
Miller pointed his gun at me. The other recruits looked confused. They didn't know who to believe. They had seen me beat the record in the Kill-Box, but Miller was their captain.
"Lower your weapon, Miller," Vera commanded. Her voice was like a whip.
"But Ma'am! He's a mole! I checked his records again. Elias Thorne doesn't exist! He's a fake!"
I looked at Miller. He was jealous. He was small-minded. He couldn't stand that a "nobody" was better than him. He was the perfect tool for the General.
"Miller," I said, my voice low. "If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have made it through the door. Put the gun down before you hurt yourself."
"You think you're so tough?" Miller screamed. He was shaking. "Let's see how tough you are when"
A soft thump sounded from the ceiling. A small, black cylinder dropped into the middle of the group.
"SMOKE!" I yelled.
I lunged for Vera again, pulling her behind a heavy steel filing cabinet. The cylinder exploded, but it wasn't smoke. It was a high-frequency sound wave. It felt like someone had driven a nail into my brain. The recruits screamed, dropping their guns and clutching their ears. Miller fell to his knees, his nose starting to bleed.
Through the red emergency lights, I saw them. Four men dropped from the ceiling on ropes. They were wearing silent, high-tech suits that looked like they were made of shadows. These weren't the Hounds. These were the "Reapers" the General's personal assassins.
They didn't use loud guns. They used small, silent darts. Within seconds, the recruits were on the floor, unconscious. Only Miller was left standing, looking around wildly.
One of the Reapers walked up to Miller. He didn't shoot him. He handed him a small, glowing device.
"Where is she?" the Reaper asked. His voice was deep and metallic.
Miller pointed directly at the filing cabinet where I was hiding with Vera. "She's right there! Just like I promised! Now give me the codes! Give me my promotion!"
My blood ran cold. Miller had sold us out. He wasn't just a bully; he was a traitor. He had made a deal with the General to give up the Director in exchange for power.
Vera looked at me, her eyes filled with shock. She had trusted Miller for years.
"Stay here," I whispered to her.
I didn't have a flash-bang. I didn't have a high-tech suit. I just had my old gun and the anger that had been growing in me for a year.
I stepped out from behind the cabinet. The Reapers turned their heads in perfect unison. They looked like robots.
"Thorne," Miller sneered, hiding behind the assassins. "Meet the real professionals. You're just a relic. A ghost that forgot to stay dead."
"The thing about ghosts, Miller," I said, "is that you can't kill them twice."
I fired. Bang. The first Reaper's mask shattered. He went down.
The other three moved with incredible speed. They didn't fire back; they rushed me. They wanted to take me alive. They wanted to take me back to the General for interrogation.
I dropped my gun it was empty anyway and met the first one with a flying knee to the chest. I felt his armor crack. I grabbed his arm and used him as a shield as the second Reaper tried to stab me with a glowing blade.
It was a dance of death in the dark. I was move for move, strike for strike. My scars felt like they were on fire. My muscles were screaming. But for the first time in a year, I felt like Silas Vane again. I was the God of War, and these men were in my temple.
I finished the last Reaper with a neck-snap that echoed through the silent room. I stood over the bodies, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I looked at Miller.
He was backed against the wall, the glowing device shaking in his hand.
"Stay back!" Miller yelled. "I'll activate it! I'll blow this whole floor to pieces!"
"Do it," I said, walking toward him. "See if I care."
Miller's eyes went wide. He realized I wasn't joking. I didn't care about the explosion. I only cared about him.
I was five feet away when the monitor on the wall changed. The map of the building disappeared. Instead, a face filled the screen.
It was General Marcus Sterling.
He looked exactly the same. The same perfect hair. The same cold, blue eyes. He was sitting in a comfortable chair, holding a glass of water.
"Major Vane," the General said. His voice was smooth, like silk over a dagger. "I must say, I am impressed. Most men would have stayed in that ravine and died quietly. But you... you always were my most stubborn student."
I stopped. I looked at the screen. My heart felt like it was going to burst.
"General," I growled.
"Don't be so angry, Silas," Sterling said with a small smile. "I'm calling to give you a choice. You see, Miller is holding a detonator, but he's a coward. He won't push it. But I will."
The General held up a small remote.
"In thirty seconds, the Aegis building will be erased," Sterling said. "Unless, of course, you give me what I want. The hard drive you found in the forest. The one you've been hiding."
"I don't have it," I said.
"I know you don't," the General replied. "But the girl does. Maya Lin. We found her, Silas. She's in the back of my helicopter right now."
The camera shifted. I saw Maya. She was tied to a chair, her glasses broken, her face bruised. She looked at the camera, her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't do it, Silas!" she screamed. "Don't give it to him!"
"You have ten seconds, Major," the General said, his thumb hovering over the button. "The girl, or the Director? Who do you save today?"
I looked at Vera. I looked at the screen. I looked at the detonator in Miller's hand.
The clock on the wall started to count down.
10... 9... 8...
My mind was racing. I had a plan, but it was a one-in-a-million shot. I looked at Miller and saw the fear in his eyes. He didn't want to die.
"Miller!" I yelled. "The General is going to kill you too! He doesn't need witnesses!"
Miller looked at the screen, then at the detonator.
7... 6... 5...
"He's lying, Miller! He's going to blow the building with you inside!"
Miller looked at the General. "Sir? You said I was getting a promotion!"
The General didn't even look at him. He just kept his eyes on me.
4... 3... 2...
I lunged for Miller, but not to kill him. I lunged for the device.
The General's thumb pressed down.
The world didn't explode. Instead, every light in the city went out.