The war had changed.
Wolfe knew it the moment the word CULLING burned across the vault screen. This wasn't just about leverage or power anymore.
It was about erasure.
He stood at the heart of it—marked, hunted, expendable.
And Evelyn… Evelyn had chosen to stand beside him.
---
They moved quickly.
First, Evelyn isolated the sub-network embedded in HYDRA's shadow code. Dozens of IP clusters. Timing protocols linked to financial events and boardroom movements. Wolfe's movements. It wasn't random—it was precision warfare. Designed to execute without firing a single bullet.
"You said there was a mole," Wolfe said, eyes locked on the data.
"There's more than one," Evelyn replied. "But we only need one to burn the rest."
Wolfe picked up his phone. "Conrad. Begin surveillance sweep. All departments. All personnel."
"Should I go dark?" Conrad asked.
"No," Wolfe said. "Let them watch. We want them nervous."
---
By dusk, two more HYDRA subdirectories had been decrypted.
Each one pointed to a different sector of Wolfe Global: Legal. Security. Board relations.
One name stood out.
Natalie Rusch. Chief Counsel.
Evelyn stared at the file. "I vetted her myself."
Wolfe's voice was colder than steel. "People change. Especially under pressure."
"I'll confront her," Evelyn said.
"No," Wolfe replied. "She knows you're clean. She'll lie to your face. But she can't lie to mine."
---
The confrontation was surgical.
Wolfe summoned Natalie to the executive dining suite under the pretense of discussing litigation strategy. Evelyn watched through the glass, every word recorded.
"I've trusted you for over a decade," Wolfe said. "Tell me why you've met with Rhys's fixer three times in the past two months."
Natalie blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Two of those meetings happened within twenty-four hours of internal data breaches."
She shifted. "Coincidence."
"And the encrypted transfers to an offshore account in Montenegro?"
Now she froze.
Evelyn entered the room.
"You were sloppy," she said. "That's the thing about working in shadows. Eventually, light finds you."
Natalie's face collapsed. "They said he was finished. That Wolfe was a target. They gave me a way out."
"And you took it," Wolfe said flatly.
She looked at him. "I never wanted you dead. I just wanted to survive."
Evelyn nodded to Wolfe. "We have enough. Let her go dark. And let her contacts know we're watching now."
Wolfe's gaze never wavered. "You're terminated. Effective immediately."
Natalie left in silence. A broken piece discarded from a machine that no longer had patience for weakness.
---
Back in the vault, Evelyn pulled up a final file.
Rhys Kellan's schedule.
"He's in Prague next week," she said. "Attending the Equinox Summit. Closed-door meetings. Global strategy sessions. HYDRA's full council could be there."
Wolfe turned toward her. "Then that's our chance."
"To what?"
He didn't blink. "To infiltrate the summit. Identify the architects. And burn the tower they're hiding in."
She smiled, adrenaline already sharpening her voice.
"Then we hunt."
Wolfe nodded, gaze locked to hers.
"Together."