She was wearing it.

Zayn pressed his phone to his chest and let out a sigh he didn’t realize he was holding in.

"She’s wearing the ring," he said to the empty room.

And he couldn’t stop grinning.

He had no idea how quickly everything was about to change.

*****

The next morning came way too fast.

Zayden was in his office, staring at the encrypted message he’d sent to Ghost Net the day before. The reply had shown up in just two hours, just like Aylin said it would.

One word: Agreed.

Now it was time to make things happen.

Aylin was at the desk, typing away as she nailed down the final location details. Reyes was by the window, tablet in hand, going over the security stuff. Liam leaned against the wall, arms crossed, keeping a close eye on everything.

Leo was assigned to handle the perimeter team. They’d have guards at every possible exit and entrance. Nothing was going to go wrong. They wouldn’t let it.

"The warehouse at Pier 47," Aylin said without glancing up. "It’s empty, out of the way, and we control all the access points."

"Perfect," Zayden replied. "Send out the location. One hour before the meeting, as we agreed."

Aylin typed quickly and hit send. "Done."

Reyes looked up from his tablet. "Security is set: twelve guards in total. Four on the roof, four at ground-level exits, and four mobile inside. All masked, armed, and loyal."

"Good," Zayden said. "And the masks?"

Liam pointed to the table where four identical black masks were ready. They covered the whole face, the kind Hazard King wore to all meetings to hide his identity.

"Everyone has to wear one," Zayden confirmed. "No one shows their face until I give the order."

Aylin stood up and picked up one of the masks. Turning it over in her hands, she asked, "You really think she’ll show up alone?"

"She will if she wants this meeting to go down," Zayden said. "I made it clear in the message. She either comes alone with proof or she doesn’t come at all."

"And what if she ignores the instructions?" Reyes asked.

"Then we bail," Zayden replied without hesitation. "We take off, disappear, and Ghost Net won’t get another shot."

Liam pushed off the wall. "What about her figuring out Aylin is Lunel? That threat is still there."

"Let her try to blow Lunel’s cover," Zayden said, his voice cold. "She’ll learn pretty fast what happens when you mess with someone under Hazard King’s protection."

Aylin looked at him, warmth and determination in her eyes. "You can be pretty intimidating when you say stuff like that."

"Good," Zayden replied.

Aylin said, "But she’s your sister."

Zayden replied, "Yeah, she’s my sister, but that doesn’t mean she can do anything that puts you in harm’s way."

Reyes cleared his throat. "We should discuss what happens when she figures out who we really are."

"Liam pointed out, "She already knows Aylin is Lunel," which is half the secret."

"But she has no clue I’m Hazard King," Zayden explained. "She thinks HK is just some faceless crime lord. When I take off this mask, and she realizes I’m her brother..." He trailed off.

"She’ll be totally shocked," Aylin finished.

"And hopefully, she’ll get it," Liam added. "She wanted to meet HK to take down Alpha. When she realizes HK is Zayden, and we’re all on the same team..."

"She’s definitely going to have questions," Reyes said. "A lot of questions."

"We’ll answer what we can," Zayden said. "But first, we need to figure out what she knows, what proof she’s got, and what her actual plan is."

Aylin put the mask down. "Do you think she has any idea about Emma?"

"I really don’t think so," Zayden said. "If she did, she would have mentioned it in her message as leverage."

"Good," Aylin said quietly. "The fewer people who know about Emma, the safer she is."

Zayden glanced at his watch. "We’re leaving in twenty minutes. Everyone, gear up."

*****

The warehouse at Pier 47 was as secluded as Aylin had promised

Three black SUVs rolled up to the building just as the sun was setting. The light was fading, and shadows stretched across the empty lot.

Zayden stepped out of the lead vehicle, already wearing his mask. The black fabric covered his entire face, leaving just his blue eyes visible through the narrow slits.

Aylin got out next, also masked. Then came Reyes, followed by Liam.

Behind them, eight guards climbed out of the other vehicles, all masked, armed, and quiet.

"Positions," Zayden told them quietly.

The guards immediately scattered. Four headed up the fire escape to take positions on the roof, while four more spread out around the perimeter.

Zayden, Aylin, Reyes, and Liam walked into the warehouse.

Inside, the place was huge, empty, with concrete floors, metal beams, and dusty windows high up that let in the last bits of sunlight.

In the center of the floor, someone had arranged two chairs facing each other across a metal table.

"Dramatic," Liam muttered.

"Effective," Reyes countered.

Zayden moved to stand near the table but did not sit. Aylin positioned herself to his right, slightly behind him. Reyes stood to his left, while Liam remained near the door.

They waited.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Fifteen minutes went by.

Suddenly, the sound of a vehicle outside broke the silence. The engine cut off, followed by a car door closing.

Footsteps approached.

The warehouse door swung open.

A figure stepped inside.

They were masked, their full face covered, just like the others. Dressed in dark, loose-fitting clothing that obscured their body shape, a voice modulator was visible at their throat.

The figure walked in alone.

Stopping about twenty feet away, they spoke. "Hazard King," the modulated voice said, sounding mechanical and genderless.

"Ghost Net," Zayden replied, his voice steady and cold.

"You wanted this meeting on your terms. I am here, alone, as you commanded." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"So I see," Zayden replied.

The figure looked around slowly, taking in the sight of Aylin, Reyes, Liam, and the empty warehouse. "You brought an army."

"I brought security," Zayden corrected. "You threatened someone under my protection. Did you expect me to come alone?"

There was a pause. Then the figure replied, "Fair point."

The figure stepped up. "So, I guess the woman to your right is Lunel."

Aylin stayed quiet.

"She doesn’t say much, does she?" the modulated voice said.

"She talks when it matters," Zayden replied. "You wanted to meet. You said you needed help taking down Alpha Dark. I’m all ears. So, what’s your story?"

The figure dug into a jacket pocket.

Right away, everyone in the warehouse got tense, hands moving toward their weapons.

"Take it slow," Zayden warned.

The figure paused, then moved carefully, pulling out a USB stick and lifting it up.

"Got some evidence," the voice stated. "Everything I know about Alpha Dark: his real identity, his surgery schedule, his financial stuff, the addresses of three safe houses, the names of people on his payroll, dirt on Maksim Karza, and information about his trafficking network that even Lunel didn’t find three years ago."

Aylin straightened up a bit at that, pretending the news was new for her.

The figure noticed and said. "Yeah, I know about the trafficking network you took down. Nice work, by the way. But you only scratched the surface. Alpha rebuilt, bigger and worse than before."

"And now you want our help to bring it all down," Zayden said.

"Exactly."

"Why’s that?"

"Because he needs to be stopped. He’s hurt too many people. Somebody has to take action."

"Sounds personal," Zayden observed.

There was a long pause. Then the figure admitted, "Yeah. It is personal."

Zayden stepped closer. "Take off your mask."

The figure froze. "No."

"Take it off," Zayden insisted. "You know who I am, or you think you do. You definitely know Lunel. If we’re going to work together, we do it without any masks."

"That wasn’t part of the deal."

"I’m changing the deal," Zayden said firmly. "Remove the mask. Now."

The figure didn’t budge.

Zayden reached up and easily pulled off his mask in one go.

The figure jumped back, surprised.

Standing there in the dim light of the warehouse was Zayden Cole Virelli, completely visible.

"Hello, Zaria," Zayden said softly.

The figure took another step back. "What? How—" the modulated voice crackled.

Behind Zayden, Aylin took off her mask, then Reyes, and finally Liam.

One by one, the four inside removed their masks too.

All familiar faces.

All people, Azalea recognized.

The figure stood frozen, clearly trying to wrap her head around what was happening.

Zayden stepped closer. "You should’ve known better, Azalea. I’ve known since you sent that first message. Did you honestly think I wouldn’t catch the Ghost Net encryption signature? Did you think I wouldn’t figure out who was causing trouble for Lunel?"

For a long moment, nothing happened.

Then, slowly, the figure reached up and took off her mask and voice changer.