NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH

The Inheritance

Slade's gun didn't waver.

His finger remained on the trigger, pressure steady. The muzzle aimed at the center of Jax's chest. But his mind was somewhere else entirely, spinning through the impossible revelation.

His father.

The Minotaur.

The man who had raised him. Taught him to throw a punch. Showed him how to clean a pistol. Told him bedtime stories about justice and doing the right thing.

That man was a monster.

Or maybe that man had never existed. Maybe the father Slade remembered was a mask, worn for twenty-four years before being discarded.

Jax watched him from the leather chair, calm as a stone. He took another sip of whiskey. The glass clinked softly against his teeth.

"You're processing," Jax said. "That's good. It means you're still thinking. The moment you stop thinking, you're dead."

"Shut up."

"Or what? You'll shoot me?" Jax set down the glass. "You could. I'm unarmed. No guards in this room. You could put a bullet in my head and walk out of here. But then you'd never know the full truth."

"I know enough."

"Do you? You know your father is the Minotaur. You know he's been running games for decades. But you don't know why. You don't know what he's been building. And you don't know the real purpose of this game." Jax leaned forward. "This was never about punishment, Slade. It was never about torture. It was about succession. Your father is dying. He has maybe a year left. And he needs someone to take his place."

The words hit Slade like a physical blow.

"Dying?"

"Cancer. Stage four. He's been fighting it for two years. He kept it secret because the Society would have used it against him. But now he's running out of time." Jax's voice softened. "He wanted to prepare you. He wanted you to be strong enough, smart enough, and ruthless enough to survive the world he built."

Slade's hand trembled. The gun wavered.

"I don't want his world."

"It doesn't matter what you want. The world is already yours. The Society knows about you. The members know you exist. Some of them are afraid of you. Some of them want to kill you. And some of them want to use you." Jax stood up slowly. "The only way to survive is to take control. That's what your father is trying to teach you."

"By putting me through hell?"

"By showing you what hell looks like so you can build something better."

The phone in Slade's pocket buzzed. He ignored it.

Then it buzzed again. And again.

He pulled it out. A video call. Unknown number.

He answered.

A face appeared on the screen. Older. Worn. Pale. The same gray eyes Slade saw every time he looked in the mirror.

Zane Crowe.

"Hello, son," the voice said. Weak. Tired. But still familiar.

Slade's throat closed. He couldn't speak.

Zane smiled. It was a sad smile. "I know you have a thousand questions. I know you're angry. I know you want to kill me. But please—just listen. For five minutes."

Slade nodded.

"I joined the Society twenty-four years ago. I thought I could destroy it from the inside. I was young. Arrogant. I didn't realize how deep the corruption went. The Society isn't just a group of rich people gambling on death. It's a system. A machine. It's been running for over a hundred years. Kings, politicians, generals—they've all been part of it. They use the games to control power, to eliminate enemies, to test potential leaders."

Zane paused to cough. His face contorted with pain.

"When I realized I couldn't destroy the machine, I decided to change it. I became the Minotaur. I started running my own games. Games that targeted Society members. Games that exposed their secrets. I've been dismantling the Society one member at a time for twenty years. But the cancer... it's faster than I am."

"You should have told me," Slade said. His voice was hoarse.

"I couldn't. If the Society knew you were important to me, they would have used you. So I stayed away. I watched from the shadows. I sent Ember to prepare you. I set up the game to test you." Zane's eyes glistened. "And you passed every test, Slade. You saved Ember. You eliminated Rios. You turned Sloane. You even confronted Jax. That's more than most candidates ever achieve."

"I don't want to be a candidate."

"I know. But you're the only one who can finish what I started. The Society is fracturing. There's a power vacuum. If we don't fill it, someone worse will. Someone who will use the machine to cause real suffering." Zane leaned closer to the camera. "I'm not asking you to become a monster. I'm asking you to become a leader. A protector. The man I always knew you could be."

Slade was silent for a long moment.

Then he said: "Where are you?"

"I can't tell you. Not yet. The Society is hunting me. If they find me, I'm dead. And so are you." Zane's eyes hardened. "But if you want to find me, you'll have to earn it. Complete the game. Take control of the Society. Then come find me."

"How do I take control of the Society?"

"By eliminating the current members. One by one. Some you'll have to kill. Others you can turn. But all of them must be neutralized. That's the only way to break the machine."

Zane coughed again. Blood appeared on his lips.

"I'm sorry, son. I have to go. They're tracking this call." A tear rolled down his cheek. "I love you. I always have. And I'm proud of you."

The call ended.

Slade stared at the blank screen. His hands were shaking.

Jax moved closer, placing a hand on Slade's shoulder. "He's telling the truth. Every word."

Slade shrugged off the hand. "You knew. All this time, you knew my father was alive. You knew he was the Minotaur. And you didn't tell me."

"Because he asked me not to. Because he was protecting you."

"Protecting me?" Slade laughed. It was a hollow, bitter sound. "He put a bomb under a chair and told me to choose between cutting the red wire or the blue wire. He made me destroy a man's life. He forced me to confront the woman who was spying on me. He made me choose between my best friend and an assassin. And he's been watching the whole time—betting on me like I'm a horse in a race."

"Because that's how the game works. You can't learn to win unless you lose sometimes. And you haven't lost yet."

"I lost Mira."

"No. That wasn't your fault. That was Kane's choice. And before you say anything, your father had nothing to do with that. Mira was a casualty of the system. The Society was using Glass Table. They set up the mission. They intended to kill her. Your father was trying to save her, but he was too late."

The weight of the words crushed Slade's chest.

He stumbled backward, hitting the wall. His gun lowered.

"Jax... I need a minute."

"Take all the time you need. But remember: the game doesn't stop. The fifth circle is still active. You need to find your father before the Society does."

Slade slid down the wall, sitting on the cold floor. He buried his face in his hands.

The world had shifted. Everything he knew was a lie. His father. His career. His purpose. All of it had been orchestrated by a dying man who thought he was doing the right thing.

And now Slade had to decide: would he continue the game? Would he become the Minotaur?

Or would he walk away and let the machine consume everything he loved?

He thought about Ember. About Kane. About Sloane. About the people who had trusted him, even when they had no reason to.

He thought about his mother, who had died believing her husband was dead.

He thought about Mira, whose death had been a lie wrapped in a tragedy.

And he thought about his father, alone and dying, fighting a war that had no end.

Slade stood up.

"I'm not going to become the Minotaur," he said. "Not the way he wants me to. I'm not going to play his game. I'm going to end it."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"By destroying the Society from the outside. The way he should have done twenty-four years ago."

"You don't have the resources."

"I'll find them."

"And if you fail?"

"Then I die trying." Slade walked to the door. "Tell my father I'm coming for him. And tell him I'm not going to save his legacy. I'm going to burn it to the ground."

---

Outside, the sun was high. The compound's guards were still unconscious. Kane was waiting by the SUV.

Slade got in.

Kane looked at him. "What happened?"

"I found out who the Minotaur is."

"Who?"

"My father. He's alive. He's been running the game the whole time."

Kane's face went pale. "That's... that's not possible."

"It's possible. It's happening. And now I have to decide what to do about it."

Kane was silent for a moment. Then he said: "Are you going to kill him?"

"I don't know."

They drove in silence for an hour.

Slade's phone buzzed.

**Unknown:** The game continues. The fifth circle is still active. Your target: Zane Crowe. Find him before the Society does. Or watch him die.

**Unknown:** Tick tock.

Slade stared at the message. Then he typed a response.

**Slade:** Why are you still playing this game? I know who you are.

**Unknown:** Do you? I'm not the person you think I am. Your father is the Minotaur. But he's not the only one. There are others. And they don't want you to succeed.

**Unknown:** The game isn't over, Slade. It's just beginning.

Slade slammed his phone against the dashboard.

The screen cracked.

But the messages kept coming.