The night air over Vienna felt heavier than the nights Amira had crossed before—thick, sharp, almost metallic. As she moved through the narrow alley leading to Vass's outer compound, she felt each breath hit the back of her throat like cold smoke.
Every instinct she had screamed that this place wasn't meant for people like her.
It was meant to swallow intruders.
To erase them.
But she kept walking.
The Regent's map rested in her pocket.
The encrypted key card was hidden beneath her sleeve.
And every step she took whispered a single name.
Leonardo.
She reached a small clearing between the industrial buildings. Motion sensors blinked faintly on the rooftop ahead—steady, predatory, like waiting eyes.
She crouched behind a rusted metal crate, observing the compound.
It wasn't a fortress.
It was worse.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
The kind of quiet designed by someone who knew fear better than comfort.
The walls were steel. The guards weren't visible, but she could sense them. Every shadow moved wrong. Every silence carried tension. A place engineered by someone who didn't trust anything—not even the sound of his own breath.
Moritz Vass.
A myth. A ghost. A weapon in human skin.
And Leonardo was inside.
Her pulse tightened.
She checked the encrypted card again. The Regent had said it only gave access to one entry—one door Vass never bothered to change because nobody outside the inner circle knew it existed.
But The Regent wasn't "outside."
Not in this world.
Not ever.
Amira inhaled slowly and stepped from the shadows.
⸻
The Side Door
The entry was hidden behind a stack of shipping pallets. She slid one aside, revealing a small steel panel that didn't match the wall—too smooth, too recent.
A reader blinked red.
She pressed the card to it.
For two seconds, nothing.
Then—
Beep.
Green.
Her heart thudded.
She slipped inside.
The corridor was narrow, lit by a dim strip of light that hummed faintly. Every sound felt amplified—the soft echo of her footsteps, her own breathing, even her heartbeat.
At the far end of the hall, faint voices drifted.
One of them was unmistakable.
Leonardo.
Amira froze.
The sound of his voice—low, controlled, a little tired—hit her like a wound that reopened just by being touched.
She moved forward.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Every nerve on fire.
As she approached, the voices sharpened.
"…you came alone?" Vass asked.
Leonardo answered. "You know I did."
"You shouldn't have."
A pause.
"I came to end this," Leonardo said.
Amira gripped the wall.
His tone—steady but strained—didn't sound like a man negotiating. It sounded like a man bargaining with his own life.
Vass spoke again.
Calm. Cold. Amused.
"And what will you offer me in exchange for your freedom, Leo?"
Freedom?
Amira's muscles tightened.
Leonardo had come here not for strategy, not for alliance—
but for release.
From what?
From who?
Vass continued, voice almost bored.
"You're worth plenty. Your father trained you well. Your mind, your skills, your loyalty—"
"I'm not loyal to you," Leonardo cut in.
Vass chuckled. "No. But you're loyal to your grief."
The silence after that line cut through Amira like a blade.
Leonardo didn't speak.
Not a word.
And that silence told her everything.
Vass knew about the brother.
He knew the wound.
He knew exactly where to twist.
⸻
Amira walked closer until she reached an open doorway. She leaned just enough to see inside.
A large room.
Minimal lights.
Two chairs, one table, shadowed walls.
Leonardo sat facing Vass.
He hadn't seen her.
Vass sat with perfect stillness—tall, lean, with eyes that didn't blink enough. He looked like a man who didn't breathe unless it benefited him.
Leonardo looked tired.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Soul-deep.
He held his hands loosely in front of him, but Amira could see tension in his shoulders—coiled, contained, like someone holding back a storm.
She stepped inside quietly.
But Vass didn't miss it.
He lifted his head slightly.
Without surprise.
Without alarm.
He just smiled.
"I was wondering," Vass said, "how long you'd hover in the hall."
Leonardo's head snapped around.
His eyes widened when he saw her.
"Amira—"
She shook her head once.
"I'm not leaving you here."
His expression changed—fear, anger, relief, disbelief—all blending into one raw flash.
"Amira, you shouldn't—"
"Shouldn't what?" she said softly. "Follow you into the fire you keep walking into alone?"
Vass stretched his legs out casually.
"Oh good," he murmured. "A lovers' argument. I adore watching people bleed through words."
Leonardo stood so fast his chair scraped across the floor.
"Don't touch her," he snapped.
Vass blinked lazily.
"I didn't."
"You will."
Vass leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"You think I hurt people for sport, Leo. But I don't. I hurt people when I have to. Or when they're useful."
His gaze slid to Amira.
"And you, little ghost, are very useful."
Amira met his stare.
"You know exactly why I came."
Vass's lips curved.
"Of course. You think you can pull Leonardo away from the place he crawled back to."
Leonardo exhaled sharply. "I didn't crawl—"
"You did," Vass said simply. "Men who lose everything always crawl."
Amira stepped closer to Leonardo until she was almost touching his arm.
He didn't move away.
"This isn't a negotiation," she said. "I'm taking him with me."
Vass looked amused. "Are you, now?"
"Yes," Amira said.
Leonardo turned to her, eyes full of warning.
Fear.
Love.
"Amira… you don't understand who you're talking to."
"I don't need to understand him," she replied. "I understand you."
His jaw clenched.
"Please," he whispered tightly, "listen to me. You need to leave."
"No."
Vass laughed softly.
"Oh, this is delightful. She doesn't bend, Leo. That must bother you."
Leonardo's voice dropped a pitch. "Stop."
"I won't," Vass said. "Because I see it now—the thing you've been hiding. She isn't your weakness."
He stood.
"She's your edge."
Leonardo stiffened. "You stay away from her—"
Vass approached Amira, steps slow, deliberate.
Leonardo moved, but Vass lifted a hand, not touching her, just hovering a breath from her cheek.
Close enough to be a threat.
Close enough to test her reaction.
Amira didn't flinch.
Not even when his voice dropped to a whisper.
"I see why he broke rules for you."
Leonardo grabbed Vass's wrist and jerked it away violently.
"Touch her again," Leonardo said, "and I'll end you."
Vass smiled faintly but didn't resist.
"You can't kill me."
Leonardo didn't blink. "Watch me."
Amira stepped between them before the tension snapped fully into violence.
"Enough," she said.
Both men stared at her.
She looked at Leonardo.
"You came here to trade something. What was it?"
He swallowed.
His silence answered her.
He'd come to give up something.
Himself.
"What did you promise him?" she pressed.
Leonardo's voice cracked slightly.
"My place in the Syndicate. The last leverage I had. The last secret I stole. All of it."
Amira's chest tightened painfully.
"Why?"
Leonardo's eyes softened in a way that terrified her.
"Because they weren't coming for me next, Amira."
A pause.
"They were coming for you."
Her breath vanished.
Vass folded his arms.
"Well," he said, "now that the truth is out—shall we finish the deal?"
Amira turned sharply.
"There is no deal."
Vass tilted his head. "You say that as if you matter."
"I do," she said calmly.
Vass blinked.
Not because of her tone.
Because of what she said next.
"You want leverage? Here it is: The Regent sent me."
For the first time, Moritz Vass's expression broke.
Just slightly.
But enough.
He went still.
Leonardo froze, eyes snapping to hers.
"What?" he whispered.
Amira didn't look away from Vass.
"You heard me. The Regent sent me. And he knows you're meeting Leonardo. He knows you want to claim him. And he knows you're planning to use him."
A small silence followed.
Then Vass slowly exhaled.
"So the old king still watches," he murmured.
Leonardo hissed, "How did he find out?"
Amira answered, "He never lost sight of you."
Leonardo looked stunned.
Vass looked… intrigued.
And then he smiled.
"Oh, this changes everything," Vass said. "If The Regent is watching, then I can't kill either of you tonight. Unfortunate. I had such a beautiful plan."
Amira stayed very still.
"So what now?"
Vass walked slowly toward the table and poured himself a drink.
"Now," he said calmly, "you both leave my compound before I get annoyed enough to ignore politics."
Leonardo tensed. "You're letting us go?"
"No," Vass corrected. "I am delaying the inevitable." He pointed toward the door. "Go. Before I decide your love story is boring."
Leonardo grabbed Amira's hand.
And didn't let go.
They backed out of the room.
And as the door shut, Vass murmured softly:
"Run, little ghosts. Because I won't offer mercy twice."
Outside the compound, the air felt lighter.
But Leonardo's hand still gripping hers trembled faintly.
She squeezed it.
"Take me with you," she said.
He closed his eyes.
"You shouldn't love me."
"I do."
"You shouldn't follow me."
"I will."
He breathed out shakily.
Then he opened his eyes.
"Then you need to know the truth."
A pause.
"All of it."
Amira nodded.
"Tell me."
And Leonardo whispered the words that would reshape everything:
"The Syndicate didn't kill my brother."
Amira froze.
Leonardo's voice cracked.
"I did."