The sky above Zurich was a pale bruise, dawn stretching weakly over the industrial skyline. Smoke still rose from the shattered remains of the Helion Systems facility, dark against the morning light. I stood across the street, wrapped in a stolen coat, the cold biting deep into my skin.
Hours had passed since the explosion. Hours since the fire swallowed everything — the servers, the proof, the answers. But there was still no sign of Adrian.
The memory of that last moment burned behind my eyes — the flash, the gunfire, the blinding smoke. I had shouted his name until my throat tore, but the alarms drowned me out. Someone had pulled me away, a guard maybe, or fate itself, dragging me through a side exit before the building began to collapse.
Now, all I had was silence.
The Broker had va
