Chapter Five: Fire in the Blood
443 Words
The initial betrayal did not come from the Syndicate.
It came from within.
⸻
Juno was the one to uncover it.
A disparity.
Small. Almost invisible.
However, she was intimately familiar with Kade's methodology.
"Someone's skimming," she remarked, throwing a data sheet on the table.
Kade looked at it.
Numbers did not lie.
But they did.
"Who?" he enquired.
Juno hesitated.
That was enough to tell him everything.❻
"Say it." ⸻
"…Drex."
The name hit like a bullet.
Drex was more than an operative.
He had been present from the start.
among the first to accept Kade's vision.
Among the first to risk all. ⸻
Kade responded, "Bring him in."
⸻
Drex was precisely where they had anticipated him to be.
not sprinting.
Not concealing.
Waiting. ⸻
As he entered the room, Kade remarked, "That's interesting."
Drex reclined in his seat, seemed at ease.
"I assumed you would come on your own."
⸻
Silent yet prepared, Juno stood at the door.
⸻
Kade remarked, "You've been stealing."
No rage.
Just the truth.
⸻
Drex gave a small smile.
"Not pilfering."
A pause.
"Surviving."
Kade moved closer.
"Explain."
⸻
Drex's expression changed somewhat.
"Do you really think this ends well?" he enquired. "You think you can take down the Syndicate and just… replace it?"
Kade did not respond.
⸻
"They're bigger than you," Drex added. "Stronger. More connected. "You're creating something impressive, but it's still fragile."
A heartbeat.
"So I made a contingency."
⸻
Juno's voice cut in. "By selling us out?"
⸻
Drex shakes his head.
"No."
He looked at Kade.
"I made a deal." ⸻
Silence. ❻
"With who?" Kade asked.
⸻
Drex maintained his gaze.
"The Chairman."
The entire space froze.
⸻
With his revolver drawn and pointed directly at Drex's head, Juno took the lead.
She declared bluntly, "You're dead."
Kade, however, remained still.
didn't respond.
He questioned, "What did you give him?"
⸻
Drex took a swallow.
"It's not your name."
A pause.
"But sufficient."
⸻
Kade only needed to hear that. ⸻
He moved to the front.
slowly.
purposefully. ⸻
Kade remarked, "You were there at the beginning."
He spoke in a composed tone.
Too serene. ⸻
Drex gave a nod.
"I was."
⸻
"And you decided on this."
“I chose to live.”
Kade studied him for a long moment.
Then—
He nodded once.
“Fair.”
The gunshot echoed through the room.
Juno didn’t flinch.
But she watched Kade carefully.
Because that wasn’t just execution.
That was transformation.
Whatever hesitation he had left—
Whatever humanity was still soft inside him—
It just hardened into something else.
And that something was dangerous.
- Writer
