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Chapter 2: Echoes and Shadows
The safehouse wasn’t on any map. It sat behind an overgrown field, wrapped in thorns and dust, and locked beneath a fingerprint scanner that hadn’t been touched in over a year.
Inside, the power still worked.
So did the satellite terminal.
Jax sat at the desk, fingers hovering above a keyboard he swore he’d never use again.
Sienna stood behind him, arms folded. “You sure we’re not walking into a trap?”
“Always,” Jax said.
He entered his old ID.
The system hesitated.
Then opened.
Lines of code. Rows of blinking red. One message repeating across the top in digital whisper:
CASSIAN OFFLINE
PHASE TWO ACTIVE
AWAKEN ALL
Sienna leaned forward. “Phase Two?”
Jax’s jaw clenched. “This isn’t about control anymore.”
She frowned. “Then what?”
He s
