Chapter 5 - The Ghost In The Mirror
921 Words
Rain hammered against the windows of the Magnolia estate, turning the night into a restless drumbeat. Adrian stood in his office, staring at the board of names, photos, and red strings that Marco had assembled. The Viper sigil stared back at him—taunting, coiled, alive.
Marco entered without knocking.
“Adrian, the men you sent to Sector Nine… they found nothing. No bodies. No blood. The alley was cleaned.”
“Of course it was,” Adrian murmured. “A professional did it.”
Marco folded his arms. “You’re thinking about her again?”
Adrian didn’t answer. Because yes—he was thinking about her. Seraphine Vale. The woman who moved like a whisper and killed like a storm.
And the woman who had vanished after saving him.
Marco continued, “We should consider the possibility she’s playing both sides.”
“She could have killed me at the river,” Adrian replied. “She didn’t.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the right time.”
Adrian shot him a glare, but Marco simply shrugged.
Before Adrian could argue, the estate alarms blared—shrill, violent, immediate.
Red lights flashed across the hall.
Marco pulled his gun. “Intruder. East wing.”
But Adrian already knew. Something cold and electric rippled in his chest.
He whispered, “She’s here.”
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THE EAST WING
The hallway was dark except for the moonlight slicing through tall windows. Adrian moved carefully, footsteps silent against marble. Marco kept close behind.
At the end of the hall, someone stood in front of the old mirror—an antique piece Luca Moretti once claimed showed a man’s true nature.
The figure was slim, cloaked in shadow.
Marco raised his gun. “Hands up.”
But the figure didn’t move.
Adrian stepped forward. “Seraphine?”
Slowly, the woman turned.
Seraphine Vale stood there in a black combat suit, silver knives glinting at her thigh. Her face was unreadable—half shadow, half moonlight—eyes cold and dangerously beautiful.
Marco growled, “You broke into the Moretti estate. That’s a death sentence.”
Seraphine ignored him.
Her gaze fixed solely—and intensely—on Adrian.
“You need to come with me,” she said softly. “Now.”
Adrian scoffed. “You broke into my home just to kidnap me?”
“If I wanted to kidnap you,” she said, stepping closer, “you wouldn’t be conscious right now.”
Marco bristled. “Try it, sweetheart. I dare—”
Seraphine flicked her wrist.
A knife whistled past Marco’s face and lodged into the wall behind him—so close it sliced a strand of his hair.
Marco froze.
Adrian exhaled slowly. “Could you two stop trying to kill each other for five seconds?”
Seraphine closed the distance between her and Adrian.
Her voice was low, urgent.
“The man who killed your father… the one you’re looking for… he will strike tonight.”
Marco’s grip on his gun tightened. “How the hell do you know that?”
Seraphine looked at Adrian.
“Because I saw him.”
Adrian’s breath stalled.
“How? Where?”
Her jaw clenched. “Because… he used to work for the Vipers. He was one of us.”
A beat.
“And now he works for someone inside your syndicate.”
Marco cursed. “You’re saying the traitor is here? In this house?”
But Seraphine wasn’t done.
She walked to the mirror—the very one Luca Moretti once feared—and touched the cracked frame.
Then she whispered,
“He’s been watching you. Closer than you think.”
Adrian stepped beside her, his reflection fractured by the glass cracks.
“What aren’t you telling me, Seraphine?”
Her eyes softened—just for a moment.
“The man who killed your father… also killed mine.”
Adrian’s breath halted.
The air grew cold.
Seraphine turned away from the mirror and met his eyes with deadly sincerity.
“I’m not your enemy, Adrian. I’m here because we want the same thing.”
Marco muttered, “And what’s that?”
Seraphine’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Revenge.”
THE WARNING
Adrian’s mind raced.
If Seraphine was telling the truth, then the traitor wasn’t just any syndicate member.
It was someone close.
Someone trusted.
Someone dangerous.
“Tell me his name,” Adrian demanded.
Seraphine shook her head. “Not yet. He has ears everywhere. If I say it out loud, you’ll both be dead in minutes.”
Marco scoffed. “Then what are you doing here?”
She stepped closer to Adrian—so close he could feel her breath.
“I’m here,” she whispered, “because he plans to burn the Magnolia Syndicate to ash tonight.”
Adrian’s eyes widened.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Before he could react, an explosion shook the far side of the estate. Fire lit the sky through the windows.
Marco cursed loudly. “That was the east garage!”
Seraphine grabbed Adrian’s wrist.
“We don’t have time,” she said. “If you want to survive—follow me.”
Adrian hesitated only a moment.
Then he squeezed her hand back.
“Lead the way.”
Marco groaned. “I hate this. I hate this so much.”
Seraphine pulled Adrian into the hallway just as another explosion rocked the estate, sending debris raining down from the ceiling.
The war had officially begun.
And none of them were ready for what was coming.
- Writer
