PROLOGUE
The man screamed only once.
It echoed through the abandoned cathedral before silence swallowed it whole.
A single candle flickered on the altar, casting long shadows across the blood-stained floor. Seven antique clocks lined the stone wall behind it, each frozen at a different hour.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
None of them moved.
The man dropped to his knees, clutching his bleeding side. His expensive suit was torn, his breathing ragged. Fear real, desperate fear filled his eyes as he stared at the figure standing in the darkness.
"You don't have to do this," he whispered.
The figure stepped into the candlelight.
A black leather glove.
A silver ring engraved with a serpent eating its own tail.
And a voice as calm as winter.
"I made a promise."
The man's lips trembled.
"You promised we'd all be safe."
"I lied."
The figure drew a crimson envelope from inside a coat.
On its front was a single symbol burned into the paper.
A black rose.
Inside was a list.
Seven names.
The first name had already been crossed out in red ink.
The second...
Belonged to the man kneeling on the floor.
"No..." he gasped, shaking his head. "Please..."
"You had twenty years to tell the truth."
"I was protecting my family!"
"You were protecting yourself."
The gloved hand raised a silenced pistol.
The man's breathing turned frantic.
"You'll never find the others," he cried. "The Covenant will destroy you before"
A muffled gunshot cut him off.
His body collapsed onto the cold stone floor.
The second name was crossed out.
Only five remained.
The figure folded the list neatly and slipped it back into the envelope.
Then a phone buzzed.
A message flashed across the screen.
Target Three has no idea she's connected to the Covenant.
The figure stared at the message for a long moment before typing a reply.
She will soon.
Miles away, across the glittering skyline of Blackridge City, Elena Brooks sat in a crowded café, laughing with her best friend over a cup of coffee.
She had no idea that somewhere in the city, her photograph had just been pinned to a wall beside six others.
Or that every decision she made from this moment forward would drag her into a war older than she was.
A war between monsters wearing tailored suits...
And a devil who intended to keep his last promise.
The game had already begun.
