The safehouse shattered at dawn.
Explosions lit the windows like a second sunrise. Scarlet, Lune, and Kaydence barely made it to the stairwell before the eastern wing collapsed in fire.
“She found us,” Scarlet choked, coughing smoke. “Echo found us.”
Outside, chaos reigned. Crimson-clad operatives flooded the street, and in the shadows—Echo, calm as ice.
“This ends now,” she muttered, eyes locked on the skyline.
Jasper dragged Miro into the Red Crown’s underground bunker. Blood on his hands. Betrayal in his eyes.
“You sold us out,” Jasper hissed.
Miro laughed, even bleeding. “I sold her out. Big difference.”
Scarlet didn’t blink. “Where is she now?”
“Everywhere.”
Lune raised a knife, but Kaydence stopped her.
“No. Let him talk. Let him rot.”
Miro coughed blood. “Too late. You’re already out of time.”
Meanwhile — The Heir Looms
Caelum met Echo at the edge of Sector Zero. Annora stood behind him, eyes unreadable.
“She’s not going to survive this,” Echo said.
“She’s not supposed to,” Caelum replied.
Annora stepped forward. “And when she’s gone?”
Echo grinned. “We build something better. Without lies. Without love.”
Caelum nodded.
“Then let it burn.”
The Ring and the Fire
In the ruins of the Veil estate, Scarlet discovered a box hidden beneath floorboards. Inside: her father’s wedding ring, her mother’s locket, and a recording.
Kaydence played it.
It was her father’s voice.
“If you’re hearing this, you are not alone. Not anymore. But trust no one—not even yourself.”
Scarlet clenched the locket. “He knew about Echo.”
“Yeah,” Kaydence said. “But what did he do about her?”
The answer came as a gunshot rang out outside the manor.
The bullet missed—but just barely.
Lune tackled Scarlet to the ground, eyes scanning rooftops. “Sniper!”
Kaydence returned fire. Echo vanished like smoke.
“She wants to lure us,” Scarlet growled. “She wants a war.”
“She already started one,” Lune said.
In the candlelit remnants of a church, Kaydence knelt before Scarlet.
“I don’t care about empires. I care about you.”
She looked down, heart breaking.
“You’ll never have all of me,” she whispered.
He stood, cupped her face. “Then I’ll take what you give. Every scar. Every shadow.”
She kissed him like a promise she might never keep.
Echo entered the Vault.
Scarlet’s old armor. Her crown. Her insignia.
“I’m not hiding anymore,” she said to the mirror.
Then she put on the crown.
And the Black Veil was born.
The halls of the ruined cathedral echoed with the sound of worn boots and whispered fears. The stained-glass windows, once vibrant, were shattered—just like the illusions Scarlet had built her life upon. She stood beneath the altar, running her fingers over the cracks in the stone.
“They said we’d never survive the fire,” she murmured. “But look at us—we’re still breathing.”
Kaydence approached from the nave, his jacket torn, blood crusted along his jaw. “Breathing doesn’t mean we’re winning.”
She turned to face him, her voice steel. “Then let’s change that.”
Scarlet, Kaydence, Lune, and what was left of the Red Crown’s command gathered in the crypts. Jasper laid out the scattered maps while Miro—now under tight watch—offered grudging intel.
“Echo has taken control of three major Red Crown arsenals,” Jasper said. “She’s moving fast. Smarter than we thought.”
“She is me,” Scarlet reminded them. “But more ruthless.”
Miro added, “She also knows your blind spots. Emotionally. Strategically. She won’t hesitate.”
“And I will?” Scarlet asked, ice in her tone.
Miro met her gaze. “You always did.”
Meanwhile — Echo’s Rise
Echo didn’t need followers. She needed believers. And she had them.
In a dim hangar repurposed into a throne room, Echo stood before Caelum, flanked by Annora and defected Red Crown commanders.
“She’s reactive,” Echo said, pacing. “I’m inevitable.”
Caelum smiled. “Then crush her.”
“I will. But not until she sees what I see—what she gave up when she became Seina Sallow.”
Annora’s eyes flickered, but she remained silent.
Echo stopped pacing. “We start with Lune.”
Lune disappeared during a supply run.
When Scarlet returned to find her missing, her fury shook the compound.
“She knows Lune is my anchor,” she growled. “She’s drawing me out.”
Kaydence laid a hand on her shoulder. “Then let’s not play her game.”
“No,” Scarlet whispered. “We rewrite the rules.”
Echo chained Lune to a pillar deep beneath the old capital—a relic city untouched since the first syndicate war.
“You’re brave,” Echo said, voice smooth. “But you’re not her. You never were.”
Lune bled from her lip but kept her spine straight. “She still chose me.”
Echo smiled. “And that’s her greatest weakness.”
She turned to Caelum. “Stage it. Make it public. She’ll come running.”
The broadcast hit every underground terminal, every rebel channel.
Lune, on her knees, bound and bruised.
Echo’s voice: “Seina Sallow. Scarlet Veil. Whatever mask you wear—you have one chance. Come alone. Or she dies.”
Scarlet stared at the screen, rage burning cold and precise.
“She wants me to break,” she whispered. “Let’s show her what happens when I do.”