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H argen

The mountain road winds through shadows and uncertainty, each mile carrying me toward a choice I never thought I’d make. My thoughts are a clusterfuck of chaos that I’ve been struggling to make sense of.

They’re going to kill our daughter.

The words that have shattered everything I thought I knew about my life. About loss. About the woman I loved and the future we never had.

Except we did have a future. We have a daughter.

The Aurora Collective’s outpost emerges from the wilderness like something carved from the mountain itself.

Mining equipment rusts in scattered heaps around the approach road, their skeletal frames creating false history against the mountainside.

Camouflage, I realize—deliberate deception that makes the casual observer see abandonment where a fortress waits underground.

I pull up at the checkpoint, waiting for a uniformed guard to emerge from the reinforced booth.

“This is a secured area, sir,” he says, his tone professionally neutral but his hand resting casually near his sidearm.

“I’m here to see Viktor.” I meet his flat stare.

“That so?” A dark eyebrow lifts beneath a steel-gray beret. “And who might you be… sir?”

“Hargen Cole.” I pause. “Of the Rossewyn line.” It’s a stretch, but not untrue—the distant heritage that made me suitable as Lila’s handler.

“The witch handler.” His eyes widen a fraction. “Didn’t expect you back.”

“Yet here I am.” I hold his stare.

He looks at me for a moment, then gives a nod and steps back, waving me through the checkpoint. I catch his curious glance in my rearview mirror as I drive toward the main complex.

The compound reveals itself as far more sophisticated than the mining facade suggests. Clean buildings nestled into the mountainside. Personnel moving with purpose between structures. This is what careful organization and hidden funding can accomplish.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” a voice stops me short as I step out of my vehicle.

“Zoe?” I recognize the witch who’d helped facilitate our escape just days ago.

“In the flesh,” she says, setting a hand on her hip. “What brings you back? I already gave you one ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. Don’t expect another.”

“I need to speak to Viktor. Is he around?”

She purses her lips, then gives a nod. “Not sure he’ll see you, though.”

“Can you smooth the path?” I give her what I hope is an endearing smile. Not my forte, but it’s worth a try.

“Sure thing.” She glances down a short hallway nearby, then back at me. “But I’m not making any promises.”

“I know you’ll win him over.”

She gives a snort, then heads down the hall and knocks on one of the doors before stepping in. A minute later, she’s back.

“He’ll see you.” She glances back at his door. “Just don’t… rattle his cage.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Viktor’s office occupies a corner of the main building, its reinforced windows offering commanding views of the approach roads. I find him standing with three of the operatives I recall from my previous time here.

“Tabitha, Samien, Otto,” he looks from one to the other, “we’ll continue this when I’m done here.”

“No problem,” says Otto, shooting a look my way. The three leave the office, Tabitha’s pale eyes sharp against her dusky skin as she gives me a curious glance as they pass.

“Pretty ballsy, I’ll give you that,” she murmurs beneath her breath.

Viktor’s expression shows his displeasure clearly—jaw tight, brow furrowed with frustration.

“You, Lila, and Talon ignored direct orders.” He’s clearly pissed off. “You could have compromised everything we’ve built.”

The reprimand stings. He’s talking about our unauthorized mission to help Lila reach her daughter Elena. Viktor had wanted to wait, to approach the Craven family through proper channels. We’d gone anyway.

“Viktor, I know you’re angry—”

“The public exposure of dragons, the delicate political situation, the risk to the Collective’s mission.” He turns, finally facing me. The scarred landscape of his face shows every year of the war he’s fought. “Did any of that matter when you decided to play hero?”

My throat tightens. “You’re right. We should have waited for your authorization. But when it comes to getting between a woman like Lila Rossewyn and her daughter…” I leave the sentence hanging.

He scrubs a hand over his face and heaves a breath. “Yes. There’s that.” He tilts his head, narrowing his good eye at me. “Is that what you came back to tell me? That she’s found her daughter?”

“She has,” I tell him. “But there’s something else. Something that affects the Collective.” I prepare to unveil the story I’ve been crafting since deciding to make the trip here. I need Viktor to have a reason to help me back in there.

His expression shifts, picking up the urgency in my voice. “What?”

“I’ve received intelligence about Syndicate operations. They’re planning something against the Rossewyn bloodlines. And from what I can piece together, the Aurora Collective is also being targeted.”

Viktor goes completely still. “What kind of intelligence?”

“The kind that suggests systematic elimination. Not just Lila and Elena, but anyone connected to the bloodline.” I lean forward, letting desperation bleed through my control.

“My connection to Lila through the Rossewyn heritage makes me a target, too. But more than that—they’re moving against your organization.

This isn’t random harassment. It’s coordinated. ”

“Source?”

“Encrypted communication. Untraceable,” I say. “Someone with access to high-level Syndicate intelligence is trying to warn us.”

Viktor considers me for a moment. “Why would they approach you?”

“Because they trust me?” I shrug. I can’t go into too much detail about a resource that doesn’t exist in the way I’m presenting it. “I need to go back.”

He blinks in surprise. “Into Syndicate territory?”

I nod. “I don’t see any other way to find out what they’re up to.”

“This could be bait. A trap to draw you back in.”

“It could be.” I fold my arms. “But we won’t know unless I go in there. And if they’re planning something major, we need to know about it.”

“And you want to infiltrate them.”

“I want to stop them from killing my family. Lila and Elena will be targets.” The words come out roughly, but they’re true enough.

“My time as Lila’s handler gave me insights into their operations.

Connections I can exploit. If someone inside is willing to provide intelligence, I need to make contact. ”

Viktor moves to his desk, fingers drumming against the surface. “Even if your intelligence is accurate, walking back into Syndicate territory is suicide. They know you defected. They know you helped extract Lila.”

“Unless I convince them I was manipulated. Coerced.” I spread my hands. “Magic can be used for influence. They’ll believe I was compromised, especially if I bring them something valuable.”

“Such as?”

“Information about Aurora operations. The Heartstone’s location. Intelligence on the Rossewyn bloodline.” I pause. “Carefully crafted intelligence that serves our purposes while appearing to serve theirs.”

Viktor studies me for a long moment. Then he activates his terminal, pulling up files I don’t recognize.

“There’s been something bothering Aurora intelligence,” he says. “A figure within the Syndicate hierarchy. Someone calling themselves the Shadowhand.”

“Never heard of them.”

“Most people haven’t. They operate in the shadows of the Ivory League—the Syndicate’s inner circle of purebloods.” Viktor pulls up operational reports. “Officially, this Shadowhand advocates for the most extreme policies. Elimination of mixed bloodlines, forced sterilization, public executions.”

My blood chills. “And unofficially?”

“That’s what we need to find out.” He gestures to the screen. “Look at this. A purification raid last month—seven mixed-blood targets identified for exile. When officials arrived, the targets had vanished.”

“Incompetence?”

“Once, maybe. But it’s happened three times in the past year.

Always the same pattern. The Shadowhand classifies the operation, the targets disappear.

” Viktor’s expression hardens. “Either we’re dealing with the most incompetent extremist in Syndicate history, or someone is playing a very dangerous double game. ”

I consider what he’s telling me.

Someone with access to classified information. Someone with the authority to redirect operations. Someone protecting mixed bloodlines from within the most extremist faction of the Syndicate.

“You want me to investigate this Shadowhand?”

He observes me silently for a moment. “Here’s my offer, Hargen. I’ll provide cover for your infiltration—false intelligence to make your defection credible, communication protocols, extraction methods. But in exchange, you identify the Shadowhand. Find out their real agenda.”

“And if I locate the source of my intelligence about the Rossewyn threats?”

“Then you extract them along with the intelligence on the Shadowhand.” Viktor’s expression softens slightly. “I’m not heartless, Hargen. If someone is trying to save lives by feeding us information, they deserve protection.”

The deal makes sense. Viktor gets his intelligence on a potential double agent, I get my chance to find Vanya and our daughter. Win-win, except for the part where I’ll be walking back into the heart of an organization that wants me dead.

“What do you think of my cover story?” I voice my concern. “Plausible?”

“Magical coercion during your defection.” He mulls this over. “You were influenced, manipulated into helping Lila escape, but you’ve broken free. You have intelligence on the Rossewyn bloodline, the Heartstone, Aurora operations—enough to make your return valuable to them.”

I nod. The Syndicate knows I have a connection to the Rossewyn line through distant heritage. They’ll want that intelligence.

“Could work,” he says. “I’ll get Zoe to put some magical traces on you,” he adds. “Something that looks like the after-effects of an enchantment.”

“Good idea,” I say. “Timeline?”

“Three weeks maximum. After that, Aurora extracts you whether you’re ready or not.” Viktor stands, moving to a secure cabinet. “I’ll have everything prepared within forty-eight hours. Communication devices, false intelligence packages, extraction protocols.”

“Viktor.” I stop him as he reaches for the cabinet. “Thank you for trusting me with this. After what we just pulled with Lila, you’d be justified in cutting me loose.”

He pauses, hand on the cabinet door. “Hargen, for years, you chose to protect someone you cared about, even though it meant giving yourself to the Syndicate. Lila Rossewyn wouldn’t have made it without you.

That tells me something about your character.

” He looks back at me. “Besides, if this Shadowhand is really protecting mixed bloodlines, we need to know who they are before the Syndicate figures it out.”

We shake hands—his grip firm, steady, carrying trust I hope I can live up to.

“Find the Shadowhand, Hargen. And if your intelligence source is legitimate, bring them home.”

As I prepare to leave, staring at Vanya’s message on my phone screen, one truth cuts through every doubt: I’m coming, Vanya. Wherever you are, whatever danger threatens our daughter, I’m coming.