Beneath His Protection

CHAPTER 13 – The Fire Beneath Athens (Part 1)

CHAPTER 13 – The Fire Beneath Athens (Part 1)

The night in Athens was thick with heat and memory. From the rooftop of the old neoclassical building in Plaka, the Parthenon loomed like a sentinel in the darkness — ancient and unmoved, a monument to secrets, to blood, to forgotten power.

Dante stood at the edge, eyes scanning the shadows below. The city pulsed beneath them, full of stories and danger. Behind him, Christina sat on an old stone bench, her fingers clenched tight around a thick envelope — the one Athina had handed her an hour earlier. Inside were old photos, half-burnt documents, and a letter from her father.

“He knew they were coming,” Christina murmured, voice tight with disbelief. “The Serpents were only the beginning. He was preparing for something bigger. For them.”

Dante didn’t look back. “I Skies.”

The name had the weight of myth — or nightmare.

An elusive syndicate whispered about in black markets and encrypted chatter. From Istanbul to Moscow, Beirut to Singapore — I Skies had no face, no flag. Only reach. Their mark? Precision. Poison. Puppeteers of chaos. Unlike the Serpents, they didn’t just want control.

They wanted collapse.

“They’ll come for us now,” he said quietly. “Especially if they know you’re still alive.”

A soft rustle behind them. Athina stepped into the moonlight, her long coat trailing like a shadow. She looked older than she had earlier — not in years, but in weight. Her eyes carried something ancient, something Greek and unbroken.

“They already know,” she said simply.

Christina looked up, startled. “How? How can you be sure?”

Athina moved closer, holding up a small black device. “Because one of them tried to contact me this morning. They used an old frequency — one only used for ghost protocols. Your father built that line. Only three people ever had access.”

She let the silence hang before adding: “One of them was me.”

Dante turned sharply. “And the other two?”

Athina’s mouth twisted. “Your father. And someone named Giorgos.”

Christina felt the blood drain from her face. “No. No, he saved us. He gave Dante the safe house. He helped me when I was alone in New York.”

Athina stepped closer. “And he also sent a coded message to the Serpents the night before you were taken at the docks.”

Christina’s knees buckled. “He…?”

Dante caught her instinctively, arms wrapping tight around her waist.

“Are you sure?” he asked Athina, voice steel.

“I’m sure.”

Silence fell — thick and heavy. The city lights blinked far below like a heartbeat. Christina clenched the envelope in her hands, anger rising through the shock.

“Then we go after him,” she whispered.

Athina nodded. “Yes. But not yet. There’s more you need to know.”

She led them inside the rooftop apartment — an ancient, fortified space lined with weapons, surveillance monitors, and walls of dusty books. The place smelled of incense and iron.

“This used to be your father’s sanctuary,” Athina said to Christina. “Long before New York. Before the war with the Serpents even began. He called it Kryptí Krýpsi — the Hidden Shelter.”

A shiver crawled up Christina’s spine. The room pulsed with echoes. Her father had walked these same floors. Had looked out at this same city with the same fire in his chest.

Athina tapped a monitor and a satellite image appeared — the port of Piraeus. Dozens of red dots lit up on one dock.

“The I Skies shipment arrives in 72 hours. Weapons, data drives, prototypes. But not for sale. They’re assembling something.” She zoomed in on a container marked with a black trident. “They call it To Mavro Stígos — the Black Sting.”

Dante narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Athina admitted. “But if your father was right… it’s designed to end more than just cities.”

Christina moved forward. “Then we stop it.”

A slow smile curled on Athina’s lips. “Good. Because I’ve already set a plan in motion.”

⸻

Just as the words left her mouth, the building shook — subtly, then violently.

Christina froze. “What was that?”

Dante grabbed his gun. “Not an earthquake.”

Athina turned to a security panel, fingers flying across keys. Her face blanched.

“They found us.”

Christina’s eyes widened. “Who?”

Athina looked straight at her. “Not I Skies. Worse.”

Suddenly, a shadow moved across the far monitor — a figure stepping into the alley outside the safe house, cloaked in black, face hidden beneath a mirrored helmet.

Athina whispered, “He shouldn’t be alive.”

Dante clenched his jaw. “Who is he?”

She didn’t answer.