21 Four Months
Jace
We’re in his office tonight, the air thick with the low hum of the monitors. Maps bleed red across the screens—the Guild’s trade routes, their intercepted communications, coded shipments with Lucian Ashthorne’s signature stamped all over them.
Gideon stands at the head of the table, arms crossed, eyes gleaming with something between pride and possession. He doesn’t have to tell me what he’s thinking. I already know. He’s always wanted me here.
And now, finally, I am.
“Efficient work today,” he says, voice smooth. “You’ve got a mind for this. Calculated. Ruthless. It seems your mother was right all along, you do take after me. I’ll admit I had my doubts but you’ve proven me wrong.”
The praise feels like a hot knife.
I nod anyway. “You taught me well.”
He studies me for a long moment, then gestures to the screens. “Do you see it, Jace? The Guild’s collapse isn’t a matter of force—it’s psychology. Take the right piece off the board, and the rest lose direction.”
His gaze lingers on one of the images. A grainy surveillance still.
“Isobel Ashthorne was that piece,” he continues. “Lucian built his empire on loyalty. She was his greatest illusion—proof that he could save what was destroyed.”
He walks closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. His grip tightens.
“She’s the reminder that everyone has a weakness.” He chuckles, “Well, except for us.” He studies me, searching for cracks. “Does it unsettle you? Seeing her like this?”
“No.”
“Good.” His hand lingers a second longer before he pulls it away. “Sympathy is a weakness we don’t afford ourselves. You understand that now.”
I nod again. “Yes.”
His smile is satisfied yet terrifying. “Then maybe you’re finally ready.”
He turns away, the sound of his lighter flicking open breaking the silence. The glow catches on the edge of his profile, haloing the devil in gold.
“Cameras are looping.” Noah’s voice knocks me out of my thoughts. The night sky is littered with stars above me on the empty rooftop.
“North corridor clear. Three guards in the east hall. I can take two before they sound the alarm.” Luca’s voice comes through next.
“Copy.” I reply as my phone buzzes against my leg. I pull it out, checking around me.
Gideon: Raven to take flight.
I slide it back in my pocket. I can hear his voice echoing in my head. Control isn’t power, Jace. Timing is.
“Ready to breach?” Luca asks.
“Clear.” Noah says.
I clench my fist tight around my gun, “Hold position. I’m seeing movement outside.”
“Where?” I can almost hear Noah typing furiously on his end.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
“False alarm. Prepare to breach. On my count.”
“Copy.”
“Copy.”
I wait.
“Br—”
Doors slam open and a car flies out from between them. I shoot at the car half-heartedly.
“They’re getting away!” Noah yells in my ear.
Luca curses and I hear him grunting.
An explosion on the far side shakes the building. Smoke billows up as fire starts to burn and alarms blare loudly.
“Get clear. We need to move,” I bark into the coms.
“Copy,” Luca grunts.
I move through the night like the ghost that I am. The weapon I was trained to be. When I make it back to the van, Noah is pacing outside, and Luca is running up from the opposite direction.
“What the fuck happened there?” Noah looks between us.
Luca storms up to me, shoving me back hard enough that my boots scrape on the concrete.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Noah watches. I don’t say anything.
Luca’s voice rises, I can see the tremble in his shoulders. “You called late! Again. That’s the third mission we’ve botched in the last week, Jace. Third. We used to run ops blindfolded and now we can’t even get through five minutes without something going to shit.”
His eyes are wild, his breath fogs in front of his face.
“And she’s gone because of it!”
Noah stiffens. I meet Luca’s glare with my own. “Don’t bring her into this.”
“Fuck you. Don’t tell me what to do. You were supposed to protect her.
But you had to fall and dislocate your shoulder.
” His voice cracks. “And ever since that night, you’ve been different.
You disappear for hours, sometimes days.
And no one knows where the hell you go. You don’t talk to us, you barely even fucking look at us. ”
“Drop it.”
Noah places a hand on Luca’s shoulder right as he opens his mouth.
“Where do you go?” Noah presses.
I exhale through my nose. “I said, drop it.”
“No.” Luca gets right in my face again. “You don’t get to shut us out. I’m done with that. You’re not the only one who’s worried about her, the only one who misses her. We lost her, too. So fucking tell us what’s going on.”
I stare at him, unblinking.
“Stay out of it.”
Luca’s voice lowers, his eyes narrowing. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m handling it.”
“Handling what?” Noah asks.
“Doesn’t concern you.”
“The hell it doesn’t,” Luca snaps. “You think we’re fucking idiots? Missions fail, you vanish, you’re cold as ice, and now you want us to believe you’re just ‘handling it’?”
I turn away from them. “Move out.”
I open the driver’s door to the van and get in. I turn and see Luca and Noah haven’t moved.
“No, not until you tell us what’s going on.” Luca crosses his arms, planting his feet.
I run my hand down my face, exhaling hard.
“It’s too dangerous to know.” My voice is quiet.
“Dangerous how?” Noah takes a step forward.
“Just keep your distance, follow orders. Don’t ask questions.”
Luca rushes to the car and grabs the door before I can pull it shut. “You can’t expect us to just—”
“You’re going to have to trust me,” I cut in. “Or walk away.”
Luca’s jaw works, anger and confusion twisting in his eyes. I can see the two battling, trying to see which will come out on top. Luca hesitantly steps back, and I shut the door.
True to my nature as of late, I slip away to Gideon’s office. It’s quiet. Forcing me to hear the sound of my own heartbeat. Dim lights. He’s at his desk reading a file. He doesn’t look up when I enter.
He never does, not until he’s ready.
I stand in front of his desk, hands behind my back, and wait.
“Mission report,” his voice is smooth.
“Failed.”
“Your assessment?”
“Unavoidable.”
He looks up, a faint smile on his face.
“Good.” He leans back in his chair, studying me.
“Any questions raised?”
“Luca questioned my call, Noah stayed neutral.”
Gideon’s lips curve, “Luca has always been a passionate one. And Noah... has always been a follower.” His eyes move to his screen.
I don’t respond or react. My silence is expected, appropriate for the role I’m supposed to play.
“How did you feel about it?” Gideon steeples his fingers.
“I don’t feel anything. I did what needed to be done.”
“Did you hesitate?”
The air shifts. He’s testing me again.
“No.”
He nods, pleased.
“Good.” He stands, moving around the desk to stand in front of me. “Keep your team close. Distrust makes men sloppy. I need you sharp.”
“Understood.” I turn to leave, but Gideon’s voice stops me.
“Jace.”
I turn and face him. His eyes track me with that slow study, like he’s evaluating a weapon he just finished sharpening. Hell, he probably is.
“There’s something else. A matter of...trust.”
He presses a button on his desk.
One of the monitors shifts to a live feed of a cargo port—cranes towering, floodlights cutting through the fog, shipping containers stacked high.
“Our supplier from the East is arriving tomorrow night. He’s bringing in a rather significant shipment.”
I nod.
“This shipment is the backbone of our next phase. The Guild won’t survive it.”
“Understood.”
“The supplier has only trusted me. For years, he refused to speak with anyone else. But I’m sending you.”
I blink. His gaze sharpens, searching my face for the slightest crack.
“You’ve earned it. Your performance on tonight’s mission… the precision, the decisiveness…” He claps his hands together. “Finally.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, you’re welcome.” His smile grows. “Live up to it.”
He walks back to the screens, tapping a container on the feed.
“You’ll go in my place, negotiate face-to-face, and oversee the entire transfer. This is no simple assignment. This is a demonstration. A show of faith.” He turns his head, eyes glinting.
“You’re ready to take on more. It’s time you became involved in the business you’ll one day inherit.”
“Yes, father. I’m honored.”
He nods, satisfied, “I knew you would be.” He sits back in his chair and waves his hand dismissively.
With every step, the darkness in my chest expands.