NATES POV
The primary silhouette of St. Jude's Key was a jagged, obsidian tooth rising from the Atlantic, but it held secrets within its own geographical shadow. To the southeast, hidden by a natural limestone arch that toyed with radar signatures, lay The Shards, a cluster of smaller, private islets that served as Adrian's ultimate sanctuary.
We took the Aura, a low-profile electric launch that moved through the water with the silent, predatory grace of a ghost. There was no crew. No encrypted comms were buzzing in our ears. For the first time since the missiles had struck the northern cliffs, the air was free of the metallic tang of ozone and the heavy pressure of the "Blackwood Pulse."
