SHADOW QUEEN: THE RISE OF JENNA BROOKS.Chapter 6: Crossroads
513 Words
The drive was locked behind layers of firewalls and kill-switches, but Null tore through them like silk. Jenna stood over her shoulder, arms crossed, a storm brewing behind her eyes.
And then they saw it.
Not just numbers or account transfers. Not just dirty deals or corrupt contracts.
This was deeper.
Names. Faces. Meetings.
A hidden council. Seven members. Untouchable. Untraceable. They called themselves The Veil—a clandestine syndicate that pulled the strings of New Avalon’s politics, law enforcement, media… and even the underworld.
And at the heart of it: Vargo. Not just a crime lord. He was the enforcer for the council—its executioner in the shadows.
And Mira Kale? She wasn’t just a puppet. She was groomed—her career sculpted by The Veil, her betrayal of Jenna just one move in a game far older and colder than either of them realized.
The city wasn’t just broken. It was owned.
Jenna felt the ground shift beneath her. For years, she’d believed she was crawling out of a pit. But now she realized—there was no ground at all. Only layers of lies.
“You’ve got enough to blow this whole thing wide open,” Bones said, reviewing the files with a grim face. “Names like these? They’ll burn.”
“Or bury me first,” Jenna replied.
She stood at a crossroads.
Option one:
Release the files. Expose The Veil. Watch the city erupt in chaos. She’d be hunted. Branded a terrorist. But maybe—just maybe—truth would survive the fire.
Option two:
Say nothing. Use the information. Infiltrate deeper. Climb the ladder until she was close enough to tear them down from the inside—piece by piece.
“Both paths come with blood,” Bones said. “But only one lets you keep your soul intact.”
Jenna stared at the screen. The images of the council flickered—seven kings and queens playing god with people’s lives.
She saw Mira there, smiling. Polished. Untouchable.
She clenched her fists.
“I don’t need to keep my soul,” Jenna whispered. “I just need to make sure they don’t sleep at night.”
A long silence followed.
“Then what’s the play?” Null asked.
Jenna looked out the window—New Avalon’s skyline glittered like a crown of lies.
“We don’t blow the whistle,” she said slowly. “Not yet.”
“We become the storm. We make them trust us, fear us, depend on us. Then, when they finally let us in…”
She turned back, eyes burning with purpose.
“We tear the whole house down—brick by brick.”
The war wasn’t coming.
She was.
- Writer
