Chapter 7 Seven

• The words on the screen bled into the silence.
• TRUST NO ONE. NOT EVEN HER.
• Sera stared at the message until the letters blurred.
• “Elise didn’t mean that,” she whispered. “She couldn’t.”
• Lucien stepped back like the screen had struck him. “She said I’d burn the world down if I found the truth.” His voice was low. Cold. “She wasn’t wrong.”
• The air between them tightened.
• Emery holstered her weapon. “The clip was recorded two weeks after Elise faked her death. She’d just gone dark from her own handlers. She was unraveling.”
• “She didn’t look unraveling,” Sera said, throat raw. “She looked like someone who knew exactly what she was walking into.”
• “She also looked like someone who didn’t trust either of us,” Lucien added.
• Their eyes met.
• Something cracked.
• “Then tell me right now,” Sera said, stepping closer. “Are you hiding something else from me?”
• Lucien didn’t flinch. “Yes.”
• Her breath hitched.
• “But not to hurt you,” he said. “To protect you.”
• “That’s not your choice.”
• “No,” he said, voice dark. “It’s not. But I made it anyway.”
• She opened her mouth, but Emery cut in.
• “You two can self-destruct later. Right now, you need to move.”
• Lucien didn’t take his eyes off Sera. “Why?”
• “Because Elise didn’t send that message from just anywhere.” Emery tapped her comms. “She sent it from inside one of your safehouses. The one in Tribeca.”
• Lucien’s head snapped up. “That’s not possible. It’s buried.”
• “Not buried enough,” Emery said. “Mara found it. And if she hasn’t already scrubbed it Elise might still be there.”
• Sera turned to Lucien, something wild sparking in her chest. “Then let’s go.”
• But Lucien hesitated.
• Sera saw it.
• That half-second pause. That flicker of something behind his eyes.
• “You already knew,” she said. “Didn’t you?”
• He looked at her.
• Didn’t answer.
• “I saw the hesitation,” she said. “You’ve been watching that location.”
• “I didn’t know Elise was there,” he said. “But I suspected.”
• “Then why didn’t you tell me?”
• His voice went razor-sharp. “Because I didn’t want you to walk into a trap she built.”
• Sera turned away, heart pounding.
• “I don’t care,” she said. “She’s my sister. If she’s alive, I’m going.”
• Lucien’s voice dropped to something quieter. More dangerous. “And if she’s not the person you remember?”
• Sera looked back at him.
• “She’s still mine.”
• Tribeca. Forty Minutes Later.
• The safehouse was buried under a shell company, behind a forgotten art gallery. Lucien entered the codes himself, hands steady, jaw clenched.
• They stepped into darkness.
• The smell hit first.
• Dust. Sweat. Old blood.
• Emery took point, gun raised. “Clear left.”
• Sera moved down the main corridor walls covered in photos. All black and white. All faces crossed out.
• Except one.
• Hers.
• Pinned to the center of the wall, circled in red ink.
• Lucien appeared behind her. Stared.
• “That wasn’t there before,” he said.
• On the floor beneath the photo an envelope.
• Sera bent to pick it up.
• Inside: a single torn page from Elise’s old journal.
• > "If Sera finds this, it means I’m out of time.
• Don’t trust Lucien. Don’t trust Aiden.
• And if you see me again,
• Walk away."
• Sera swallowed hard. Her hands trembled.
• “Read it,” Lucien said.
• “I did.”
• “Out loud.”
• She looked at him. “You don’t trust me now?”
• He looked like he hated every word. “I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
• She opened her mouth to reply.
• but the lights above them exploded.
• A burst of heat. Flash grenades.
• Lucien pulled her down just as the far wall shattered inward.
• Mara walked through the smoke.
• Unarmed. Calm. Surgical in her silence.
• But this time… she wasn’t alone.
• A woman followed her.
• Tall. Lean. Black hood pulled low.
• But the moment Sera saw the curve of her mouth, her heart stopped.
• “Elise?”
• The woman looked up.
• And smiled.
• But it wasn’t the smile Sera remembered.
• It was colder. Emptier. Sharper.
• “Hello, little sister,” Elise said.
• And behind her, Aiden stepped into the room.
• Gun raised.
• Aimed at Lucien.
• The barrel of Aiden’s gun didn’t waver.
• Lucien didn’t move.
• “Elise,” Sera breathed again, louder now. “What is this?”
• Elise’s smile never reached her eyes. “A test.”
• Mara stepped forward, her stance unhurried like she’d already won. “She wanted to see who’d bleed first.”
• Lucien’s jaw locked. “She’s not in charge here.”
• “You sure about that?” Aiden’s voice cut through the room like a wire. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re outgunned, outplayed, and still trying to act like the smartest man in the room.”
• Sera couldn’t breathe.
• Her sister is alive. Standing. Breathing. But wrong. Something about her posture, her stillness… Elise had always burned hot. This woman was ice.
• “Elise,” Sera tried again. “What happened to you?”
• Her sister’s gaze flicked toward her, just briefly.
• “You did.”
• The words landed like a slap.
• Sera staggered back a step. “What the hell are you talking about?”
• “You kept digging,” Elise said. “You brought him.” She nodded toward Lucien. “You forced my hand.”
• “No,” Sera whispered. “I was trying to find you. I never stopped looking for you.”
• “And look what it cost,” Elise said. “The moment I saw your name show up on that Gala guest list, I knew it was only a matter of time.”
• Lucien’s voice was deadly calm. “If you were in control, you’d have disappeared already. But you’re still here. Talking. So what do you want?”
• Elise tilted her head.
• “I want leverage.”
• She walked toward Sera.
• Lucien moved instantly, stepping between them, blocking her path.
• Elise didn’t flinch.
• “You still think she’s yours to protect?” she asked him. “You’ve already failed one sister. Ready to do it again?”
• Lucien’s eyes darkened. “Try me.”
• That was when Mara drew the blade.
• Sera didn’t see where it came from one second her hands were empty, the next a sleek silver knife gleamed under the low lights.
• But she didn’t move toward Sera.
• She moved toward Aiden.
• One motion. Clean. Fast.
• The gun dropped.
• Blood sprayed.
• Aiden dropped to his knees, clutching his shoulder.
• Sera screamed.
• “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
• Mara turned, calm. “Elise gave an order. No witnesses.”
• “But he helped you, he helped me!”
• “No,” Elise said behind her. “He helped himself. And I no longer care who bleeds.”
• Lucien grabbed Sera’s arm. “We need to move. Now.”
• Sera wrenched away. “Not without her. She’s my sister, Lucien!”
• He looked at Elise.
• She met his eyes, and something silent passed between them.
• A memory. A threat. A warning.
• “Then ask her what she did with the list,” Lucien said coldly. “Ask her where she hid the final piece.”
• Elise blinked. Just once.
• Then, the gunfire began.
• Outside.
• Automatic.
• Mara cursed and spun toward the window. “They're early.”
• Sera looked between them. “Who’s early?”
• Lucien’s face turned to stone. “The people Elise stole the list from.”
• “Military?”
• “No,” he said. “Worse.”
• Elise pulled Sera toward her suddenly, voice low. Urgent. “Listen to me. I need you to go with him.”
• “What? No!”
• “They’ll never take me alive,” Elise said. “But you, you can still disappear.”
• “I won’t leave you!”
• “Go!”
• Lucien didn’t wait this time. He grabbed Sera around the waist, hoisted her back and pulled the pin on a flashbang.
• “Sorry, Elise,” he whispered. “She’s mine now.”
• The explosion lit the room white.
• Sera screamed, blinded.
• And when her vision cleared…
• Elise was gone.
• So was Mara.
• And Aiden was bleeding on the floor.
• Lucien didn’t stop moving. He pulled Sera down the fire exit, heart pounding, sirens howling outside, gunfire echoing from rooftops.
• As they hit the alley, she shoved him hard.
• “You drugged her,” she said, voice breaking.
• “I stunned her,” he snapped. “Big difference.”
• “You kidnapped me again.”
• “I saved your life.”
• She was shaking. Chest heaving.
• But she didn’t let go of his arm.
• Not even when the next bullet tore past them and hit the wall.
• Lucien grabbed her chin, his voice fierce. “You wanted answers? You’re about to get them. But after this there’s no going back.”
• Sera’s eyes burned.
• “Then stop holding back.”
• Lucien leaned in.
• His mouth brushed hers. Just once.
• Then he said, “Don’t ask me to choose between you and the truth.”
• Because next time, I might not pick you.