The converted factory hummed with the quiet energy of people who believed they were building something that mattered. Rook walked through the main operations floor, his eyes scanning the monitors, the maps, the faces of the people who'd chosen to follow him into this new chapter.
The alliance with Zara and Dimitri was holding, but it was fragile—a patchwork of trust built on the shared recognition that the old ways were dead and something new had to take their place. Kruger was recovering, his network in shambles. Petrov and Mikhail were still circling each other, their rivalry threatening to spill over into open conflict at any moment.
And somewhere in the shadows, the old guard was still waiting.
Rook's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out without breaking stride. "Yeah."
