The silence of the Swiss Alps was not peaceful; it was a physical weight, a white shroud that buried the screams of the mountain under a layer of indifferent frost.
Lila stood at the edge of the extraction zone, her fingers white-knuckled around the silver locket. Behind her, the Eiger groaned, a dying giant settling into its final grave. The explosion had been internal, a silent vacuum that had collapsed the Crèche into a singularity of ash and crushed titanium. There was no fire. There was only the void Ethan had left behind.
"Ma'am, we have to move. The Swiss military has picked up the seismic signature. In ten minutes, this peak will be swarming with black-ops and international investigators." Marcus’s voice was a gravelly rasp, his hand firm on her shoulder. He looked older, the lin
