An eerie and thick silence prevailed in the underground safehouse — a silence too jarring that it distracted Natalie from the furious thumping of red code across the screens on her workstation with warnings flashing faster than she could even read them.
"System breach detected," the AI voice repeated monotonously, like a broken record.
Natalie worked her fingers briskly over the keyboard. "Iris found us! She's breaking through AshNet's firewall."
Ethan leaned over her shoulder. "Cut the signal."
"I can't," she replied, "She's bypassing every defense Jace set up."
Swearing softly, Jace cursed under his breath. "She's not just attacking — she's learning. Every block we put out there, she's rewriting it in seconds. That's... impossible."
With his jaw locked tight, Ethan said, "Not impossible. It's Iris."
Within a moment the lights cut out, the only illumination now the glow of the monitors. Blackness engulfed the screen, and a moment later it was back again, showing a live feed.
Iris — calm, graceful, her eyes sharp as knives.
"Good evening, Phoenix," she said softly, "And goodnight, Miss Hart."
The feed died.
Natalie froze. "She's coming."
Ethan squeezed her hand. "Move. Now."
They ran through the tunnels beneath the city, which were heavily smoke-filled due to the generators shorting out. Footsteps thundered right behind them — sharp, precise, deadly.
Ethan recognized that cadence immediately.
"Ghost," he whispered.
Natalie's eyes opened wide. "He's here?"
"He never misses," Ethan declared. "We can't fight him straight on."
As they hid behind a collapsed pillar, a silenced shot tore into the concrete just inches from Ethan's face. Dust began to rain.
Natalie presented her pistol. "We can't just keep running."
Ethan grabbed her wrist. "We're not running." He started dragging her on. "We're setting a trap."
He took her farther in — in a stretch of fifty-year-old subway tunnels. Rusty rails ran in between the dirt while broken lights flickered weakly above.
On dropping his bag, Ethan pulled out two small explosives and wired them along the wall. "If Ghost wants us, he will — on our terms."
"Do you thing this will stop him?" Natalie crouched beside him.
"No," Ethan said. "But it'll slow him down."
Something behind them sounded — footsteps, closer this time. It quickened Ethan's heartbeat.
"Get behind that pillar," he whispered. "Wait for my signal."
She hesitated. "Ethan—"
"Go!"
She ran and dodged a bullet where she'd been standing. The shot sounded almost gentle with the silencer, but each one was delivered with unerring intent.
Ethan dove for cover, heart racing. His view in the darkness was limited, but he saw it — the faintest reflection, a hint of red: a rifle scope glaring.
He smirked. "Got you."
He pressed the detonator.
The tunnel exploded in a furious roar of fire and smoke. Metal shrieked as the walls convulsed. Ethan covered his face from the blast.
Once the dust settled, coughing a bit, he turned to survey the scene. "Did it work?"
A soft click answered — that of the hammer being pulled back on a gun.
Ghost strolled out of the smoke, somehow unharmed. His mask gleamed beneath the flickering lights in there, black and smooth, a perfect living death's face.
"Of course it didn't work," Ethan muttered.
Ghost fired. Ethan rolled aside, bullets sparking against the rail. He rolled behind a half-fallen pillar and blindly returned fire.
"Keep moving!" he shouted to Natalie.
"I'm trying!" she screamed, scrambling through the smoke.
Ghost's shots were still tracing her — closer and closer.
Ethan was now out of ammo, but he grabbed a flailing chunk of metal and charged. He swung hard, clanging it against Ghost's rifle, knocking it from his grasp.
For the first time, Ghost hesitated. He then reached toward a concealed knife.
Ethan barely parried. The blade traced a line on his forearm, hot blood splattering to the floor.
Through clenched teeth, he clawed at Ghost's ribs with a punch, then drove a knee into his chest. Ghost didn't so much as flinch.
It was like striking a machine, one wholly devoid of warmth or humanity.
"You don't even breathe, do you?" Ethan hissed.
Ghost grabbed him by the throat, lifting him slightly off the ground. "She wants her message delivered," his voice low to the point of being spectral — the first time Ethan had ever heard him speak.
"Tell her yourself," Ethan growled, slamming down the detonator for the second charge.
The explosion ripped through the tunnel again. Both men were flung backward. Ethan hit the ground hard, his vision spinning.
He blinked through the smoke to find that Ghost had vanished.
Natalie hurried over. "Ethan! Are you-"
"I'm fine," he gasped. "Go. Before he comes back."
They staggered through the tunnel until they reached the old train platform. Broken signs littered the ground along with debris, glows of faint orange from a dying fire.
"I've got eyes on you. You're almost out," Jace's voice crackled through the radio.
"Patch us a route," Ethan ordered.
"Already on it," Jace confirmed. "And Ethan…you're not gonna like what I found."
"What now?"
"The hit list Iris sent out — it's not just Natalie. She's targeting the Reborn network. Every single operative. Simultaneously."
Natalie's face went pale. "She wants to wipe us out."
Ethan slammed a fist against the wall. "Not this time."
They reached a ladder up to the surface, rain falling through the broken grate overhead. While helping Natalie climb, Ethan felt the ring on his finger pulse again — faint, but warm, and alive.
He looked down at it. The engraving across the surface glowed faintly for the first time as new letters appeared, words he hadn't seen before.
"The Phoenix Rises Twice."
He narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"
Natalie looked down from the ladder. "What?"
"Nothing," he said. "Just keep moving."
By the time they got out, the city looked even worse-Paulini patrol drones searched the skies, holographic billboards announced Iris's voice across every street.
"To the people of Eastbridge," she said, calm and perfect. "Your safety is my command. Obey and you shall be protected. Resist and you will burn."
Natalie murmured, "She is turning the city into her army."
Ethan's eyes hardened. "Then it's time to light a different kind of fire."
He took out his radio. "Jace, get every Reborn operative on the line. I don't care where they are. Tonight, we hit back. All of us."
Jace hesitated. "Ethan, are you sure? She's watching everything."
"Then she'll see what a real Phoenix looks like," Ethan said.
He turned toward Natalie. "We start with Ghost. He's the key to finding Iris's core. If we take him down, we can trace her signal and end this."
Natalie nodded. "Then we find him before he finds me."
Far away, in a dimly lit room filled with monitors, Ghost sat at a table, removing his mask for the first time. The scars beneath it told stories of pain and betrayal.
Iris's hologram flickered above the table.
"You failed," she said simply.
"I didn't miss," Ghost replied coldly. "You stopped me."
"I gave you a target, not a choice," she said. "Next time, finish it."
He looked up, eyes sharp and burning. "What if I refuse?"
Iris smiled faintly. "Then I'll find someone who won't."
The screen went dark.
Ghost stared at his reflection. Half man, half weapon. He whispered, "Maybe it's time the weapon turned on its master."