CHAPTER 10 The Woman Who Could Burn the Circle #2
Mercer shouted, “NO!”
A submenu appeared.
**TERMINATE CUSTODIAN SYSTEM**
**TERMINATE ARCHIVE NETWORK**
**TERMINATE CIRCLE AUTHORITY**
Silence.
Dante looked at Sofia.
“That seems useful.”
Elena stared.
“This can’t be real.”
Carlo whispered, “The founder protocol.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Sofia asked.
Carlo looked stunned.
“I heard rumors.”
“About what?”
“The original Circle charter.”
Dante frowned.
“Explain.”
“The organization was built with an emergency dissolution mechanism.”
“Why?”
“Because its founders were paranoid enough to fear their own successors.”
Sofia almost laughed.
“Finally, sensible criminals.”
Dante gave her a look.
“Rare breed.”
Carlo continued.
“The Custodian can dissolve legal, financial, and operational authority across the Circle.”
Elena stared at the menu.
“That would erase their command structure.”
“Yes.”
“Accounts?”
“Freeze.”
“Shell companies?”
“Expose ownership.”
“Safe houses?”
“Unlock records.”
“Members?”
“Identity lists release internally.”
Dante’s eyes sharpened.
“To whom?”
“Potentially every law enforcement and intelligence partner tagged in the system.”
Sofia felt her pulse race.
This was it.
Not running.
Not hiding.
An ending.
“Then we terminate.”
Mercer laughed.
Everyone looked at him.
He was smiling again.
That frightened Sofia.
“What?”
she asked.
Mercer’s smile widened.
“Do it.”
Dante’s expression hardened.
“You were just begging her not to.”
“I changed my mind.”
“No.”
Sofia looked at the console.
Trap.
Again.
Always.
“What happens if I terminate?”
Carlo looked uncertain.
Mercer said nothing.
Sofia moved closer to him.
“What happens?”
He smiled.
“Freedom.”
Dante hit him.
Not hard enough to knock him unconscious.
Hard enough to erase the smile.
Sofia sighed.
“I said no torture.”
“That was punctuation.”
“Dante.”
“Fine.”
Mercer spat blood.
“You think the Circle is the disease.”
Sofia stared.
“It isn’t?”
“No.”
“What is?”
He looked at Dante.
“Men like him.”
Dante seemed unimpressed.
Mercer continued.
“Politicians. cartels. dynasties. billionaires. intelligence agencies.”
His gaze moved around the archive.
“The Circle didn’t create power.”
“No.”
“It organized it.”
Sofia understood.
“If we destroy the Circle, the people remain.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Mercer smiled.
“They stop cooperating.”
Dante’s face changed.
War.
Sofia saw it.
“What happens?”
Mercer leaned back against the wall.
“Every alliance maintained through Circle arbitration collapses.”
Carlo whispered, “Jesus.”
Mercer continued.
“Territories disputed.”
“Markets destabilized.”
“Family agreements voided.”
“Blackmail protections gone.”
Dante’s voice was flat.
“How many wars?”
Mercer looked at him.
“Enough.”
Sofia turned toward her mother.
“Is he lying?”
Elena looked sick.
“No.”
“Then the Circle is holding everything together.”
“In some places.”
“Through threats.”
“Yes.”
“Still.”
“Yes.”
Sofia stared at the terminate option.
Destroying evil should have been simple.
But nothing was simple.
Not this.
Not power.
Not family.
Dante stood beside her.
“What do you want to do?”
She looked at him.
No instruction.
No command.
Just a question.
“I don’t know.”
“That is acceptable.”
“It doesn’t feel acceptable.”
“It is.”
Sofia looked at the archive.
“What would you do?”
Dante hesitated.
She noticed.
“You can answer.”
“I would not terminate today.”
“Why?”
“Because Mercer wants chaos.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“He manipulated us into opening the archive.”
“Yes.”
“And now he suddenly encourages destruction.”
“Yes.”
“So destruction helps him.”
“Possibly.”
Sofia looked at Mercer.
He smiled faintly.
Dante continued.
“I would take control first.”
Sofia laughed softly.
“That is a very Dante answer.”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“But I would learn what I’m destroying before I destroy it.”
She nodded slowly.
That made sense.
Disturbingly.
Elena approached.
“The Circle Council will know a new Custodian has authenticated.”
“How long?”
“Minutes.”
“And they can reach us?”
“Not directly.”
Dante looked around.
“They’ll come physically.”
“Yes.”
Sofia’s stomach tightened.
“How many?”
Elena did not answer.
Dante checked his weapon.
“Enough.”
Of course.
Then the console chimed.
A new notification.
**CUSTODIAN MESSAGE QUEUE: 17**
Sofia stared.
“Messages?”
Elena looked confused.
“Open it.”
Dante immediately said, “Wait.”
Sofia looked at him.
He caught himself.
“Suggestion.”
She smiled faintly.
“Better.”
He sighed.
“Could be malware.”
“Inside their own system?”
“People are creative.”
Carlo nodded.
“He’s right.”
Sofia opened the queue.
Seventeen messages appeared.
All sent within the last minute.
Some from names.
Some codes.
One subject appeared repeatedly.
**WE RECOGNIZE THE CUSTODIAN.**
Another:
**REQUESTING IMMUNITY.**
Another:
**WE WILL COOPERATE.**
Dante almost laughed.
“Rats.”
Sofia scrolled.
The Circle was already fracturing.
People were terrified.
Not of Dante.
Of her.
That realization felt strange.
She did not like it.
Then one message appeared at the bottom.
No sender.
No code.
Only:
**DO NOT TRUST ELENA VESCARI.**
Sofia froze.
Dante saw.
“What?”
She opened it.
One sentence.
**SHE ORDERED THE DEATH OF MARCO MORETTI.**
Silence.
Dante stopped breathing.
Elena went pale.
Sofia slowly looked at her mother.
“No.”
Elena did not answer.
Dante’s face emptied of emotion.
That terrified Sofia.
“Tell me it’s false.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Dante stepped forward.
“Tell me.”
“I can explain.”
The words were fatal.
Dante drew his gun.
Sofia moved between them.
“Dante.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“She killed my brother.”
“We don’t know that.”
Elena whispered, “I gave the order.”
Everything stopped.
Dante stared.
Sofia felt him become something colder than rage.
“Why?”
His voice barely existed.
Elena looked at him.
“Marco was going to expose the Circle.”
Dante raised the gun.
Sofia stood directly in front of him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“If you kill her now, you lose the answer.”
“I heard the answer.”
“No.”
She held his gaze.
“You heard the act.”
Dante’s jaw clenched.
“You don’t know the reason.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do.”
His eyes flashed.
“My brother is dead.”
“I know.”
“You don’t.”
The words hit.
Sofia flinched.
Dante immediately looked regretful.
But grief had already taken over.
“He was twenty-seven.”
His voice broke slightly.
The first crack.
“He had a wife.”
Sofia’s chest tightened.
“I know.”
“A daughter.”
“I know.”
“They buried him in a closed coffin.”
Sofia felt tears rise.
Dante looked past her at Elena.
“And she gave the order.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Dante raised the gun again.
Sofia did not move.
“Then shoot through me.”
His eyes snapped toward her.
“What?”