***
The screen froze on Roman Vale's smug face, the ocean glimmering behind him like a cruel backdrop. His voice still echoed in my ears:
> "Everyone you love dies."
I stared at the television, pulse thudding so loud I couldn't hear anything else. Jace was beside me, jaw locked, fists clenched at his sides. He didn't say anything.
He didn't have to.
Because that wasn't a threat.
It was a promise.
***
7:32 A.M. – Safehouse War Room
Theo slammed his laptop shut, sending coffee splashing across the table. "We triggered something," he said, panic bleeding into his usually calm voice. "The leak hit a nerve. Roman's activating a purge."
"A purge?" I asked, stomach turning.
Theo nodded grimly. "Everyone who ever worked under the Crows. Every loose end. They're going dark—or being eliminated."
Jace leaned forward. "Then we have to get ahead of him."
"We can't outrun Roman," Theo muttered. "But we can corner him."
My gaze snapped to him. "How?"
Theo opened another file and turned the screen toward us. A black-and-white image loaded. An island. Small. Remote. But not empty.
"That's where Roman is hiding. It's called Vireos. A private estate he's owned since the eighties. Off-grid. No official record of it anywhere. Not even on military satellites. But he's there."
I exhaled shakily. "Then that's where we end this."
Jace reached over, squeezed my hand. "No matter what happens... we finish it."
***
9:05 A.M. – The Decision
Ivy stirred in the guest room, still groggy but stable. My mom lay quietly in bed, eyes open, watching me from the doorway.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" she said softly.
I walked in and knelt beside her. "He won't stop. Not until he's erased everything and everyone we love. I have to go."
She brushed her fingers through my hair. "You're so much like your father."
I stiffened, uncertain.
She smiled, bittersweet. "The good parts, Leah. The ones that made him try to stop all this."
Tears burned behind my eyes. "He programmed me into the encryption. My blood, Mom."
"I know," she whispered. "He told me. He said if something happened to him… you'd be the one to finish what he started."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I hoped you'd never have to be part of this world."
But I was.
Now I was the world they feared.
***
Later That Afternoon – Jet to Vireos
Jace, Theo, and I boarded a black-chartered jet with false IDs and satellite jammers. It wasn't an army—but it was enough. Enough to die trying if we had to.
Jace sat beside me, fingers laced through mine. "Are you scared?"
I looked at him. "Terrified."
He leaned in, brushing his lips against my cheek. "Good. Fear means you have something to lose."
"I have you to lose."
His grip tightened. "Then let's make sure you don't."
***
Vireos Island – Nightfall
The place was hell carved into paradise. Palm trees swayed like sirens, whispering lies in the wind. The estate stood at the island's core—a fortress dressed as a mansion.
Guards with military-grade weapons patrolled the perimeter.
Theo tapped into the cameras from the woods. "Roman's hosting a gathering. Old backers. They think he's celebrating. They don't know this is his final play."
Jace checked his gear. "They won't know anything once we're inside."
I grabbed my handgun, my custom blade, and the last flash drive of data Theo recovered from Roman's servers. Inside it: names, dates, recordings.
The entire Crows history.
All it needed was one key to unlock—
Me.
***
Inside the Mansion – 11:02 P.M.
We slipped through a maintenance corridor, dressed as staff. Theo fed us camera feeds in our earpieces.
"Roman's in the atrium. Surrounded. Thirty people. You'll never get close."
"I don't want close," I whispered. "I want loud."
We made it to the balcony above the atrium.
Roman stood below, wine in hand, laughing as a violinist played some orchestral lie.
Until the screen behind him lit up.
I inserted the flash drive into the control panel.
My blood began the upload.
My encryption unlocked the vault.
And Roman's sins bled across every screen in the room.
Videos. Files. Audio.
The parties.
The drugs.
The deaths.
His guests screamed.
One woman fainted.
Someone drew a gun.
Chaos erupted.
Roman turned—and looked up.
Straight at me.
***
His face didn't shift. Not a flicker. Just a slow, cold smile.
He raised a hand—and every guard in the room turned their weapons toward the balcony.
"We have to move," Theo barked. "Now!"
But I couldn't. I was frozen.
Until Jace grabbed my wrist. "Jump."
"What?"
"Trust me."
And before I could argue—he yanked me over the balcony rail.
We fell.
Hard.
Through a fabric canopy.
Hit the ground.
Jace rolled, pulled me with him, and we ran.
Bullets flew past us, shattering glass, screaming through the air.
Theo's voice shouted through the comms, "South tunnel, now!"
We reached the emergency exit as a bomb detonated somewhere in the atrium. Smoke swallowed the screams.
Roman's empire was collapsing from the inside.
But Roman?
He wasn't dead.
Not yet.
***
We bolted down the tunnel, the heat of fire at our backs, alarms howling.
Jace turned to me, breath ragged. "If we lose each other, you keep going. You hear me?"
"No," I gasped. "We finish this together."
We emerged onto the cliffside.
And Roman was waiting.
Gun drawn.
Face bloody.
Smile still in place.
"Bravo," he said, voice like ash. "You are your father's daughter."
He raised the weapon.
Jace moved to shield me—
Bang.
***
Silence.
But it wasn't Jace who fell.
It was Roman.
A bullet clean through the chest.
Behind him—
Theo.
Gun in hand.
Hands shaking.
Eyes wide.
"I… I told you I'd protect you," he whispered.
And Roman Vale collapsed.
The last verse, ended.
***
The Morning After – On the Beach
The sun rose slow and golden.
We sat in the sand, watching the waves erase the footprints of the night before.
I leaned against Jace, my head on his shoulder. "It's over."
"Not yet," he said. "But it's close."
Theo handed me the last data chip—burned, encrypted, but intact.
"You ready to tell the world?" he asked.
I nodded.
"It's time."
***
Six Hours Later
I posted it all.
Every secret. Every file. Every buried truth.
My face.
My name.
My story.
The news exploded.
Roman Vale dead.
The Crows dismantled.
Whistleblowers emerging from the shadows.
And me?
Leah Grayson.
The key.
The curse.
The girl who fell for her stepbrother—and found out he was the only one who would ever keep her alive.
***
Jace wrapped his arms around me in the safehouse, pulling me into bed. His voice low against my skin.
"I think I'm addicted to you," he murmured.
I smiled. "Funny… I was just thinking the same thing."
Then—
A knock at the door.
Theo appeared, pale.
"Turn on the news."
We did.
And what we saw?
Froze my blood.
SAVANNAH LANGFORD…
ESCAPED CUSTODY.
"Welcome to the sequel," I whispered.