Chapter 44

The syndicate’s Queen.

The snow fell in silence outside the black tower.

Inside, the woman only known as Dr. Aveline stood at the glass wall her reflection crisp and sharp in the frostbitten light. Her white blonde hair was pinned back with surgical precision. Not a strand out of place.

On the screen before her, Claire’s image flickered sheathed in armor, radiant controlled fury.

“She’s stable,” said the man beside her. “The activation didn’t break her.”

No, she said softly. It completed her.

She turned to face him. Have the other subjects been located?

“We have signals from three. All dormant. Still locked under Duarte code.”

And subject A01?

“Awake. Evolving.” She smiled.

The Phoenix project isn’t dead. She whispered. It’s just wearing a crown now.

Back in Edenfall, I stood in the underground vault where it all began.

The first lab. The testing room. The steel cradle I grew up in.

I haven’t been able to return here since the day Gabriel died.

But I feel something was calling me back. Something I didn’t trust.

Damian’s voice echoed softly beside me. “Why here?”

I stared at the cradle. Because I need to remember what I am.

He didn’t respond. He hated this place. But he followed me anyway.

I reached for the wall panel and activated the vault’s central node.

A holographic blueprint rose from the center. Phoenix symbol pulsing. Codes twisted into spiral lights.

Suddenly, a name flashed on the screen.

Dr. Aveline. Primary architect.

My breath caught.

Damian stepped forward. “Who the hell is that?”

She worked for Gabriel. One of the lead geneticists. She disappeared after the fall of the syndicate lab.

The screen pulsed again.

Subject A01 successfully transitioned to phase two. Remote monitoring is active.

My stomach turned cold.

Someone’s watching me.

Damian clenched his fist. “From where?”

My voice went hollow. I don’t know. But they’ve been watching me since the activation. Since Gabriel’s death.

I turned with fury rising in my throat.

I’m not free. I’m still part of someone’s program.

“No,” Damian said. “You’re not.”

I met his eyes.

“You are not their subject. You’re not a number, Claire. You’re mine. And I’ll burn every last one of them before they get their hands on you again.”

Lara sat I the war room with Varek, going through intercepted files.

“We found a signal,” Varek said. “Encrypted, but routed through a high-satellite channel used only by the Phoenix satellite.”

Lara looked up. “There are no active Phoenix satellites.”

“Exactly.”

Varek pushed forward a grainy image.

A snowy tower. Hidden in the northern cliffs of Livarex. And abandoned syndicate territory.

Lara’s eyes narrowed. “If they’re there…”

“We hit first,” Varek said.

“Not yet.”

She leaned back, trying to think fast.

“If they are watching Claire, then we let them.”

Varek looked at her like she was insane.

“We don’t warn her,” she continued. “We feed them misinformation. Lure them out. Make them think we’re weak.”

“And if they don’t come for her?”

Lara’s voice dropped cold. “Then we show them why you don’t hunt the devil’s bride.”

I didn’t sleep. I haven’t. Not since the name Aveline appeared.

It hunted me like smoke under my skin. Worse. I started seeing things.

In the mirror, my eyes would flicker gold without reason.

And when I touched a metal, it hummed.

My blood began to run hotter than it should. And sometimes when I blinked…

I could see numbers scrolling behind my eyelids.

Lines of code. Pulsing. Alive.

I told no one. Not even Damian.

Because I was afraid of what they’d say to me. That I was no longer just a woman. That I was a program.

And worse?

I might be enjoying it.

On the cliffs of Livarex, Dr. Aveline stood before a chamber.

Inside was a man with Claire’s eyes. Not brother. Not clone. Something in between.

Subject B04, she said. The counterpart.

Her assistant watched in silence.

When we made her, she continued. We knew she’d outgrow the others. Her files said she’d imprint emotionally. That’s why she latched onto Damian.

“And the failsafe?” Failed. She replied.

But no matter. We will bring her back another way.

She pressed her hand to the glass.

She was born in fire. She’ll return to it.

Back in Edenfall, I stood on the tower balcony, wind whipping my hair.

Damian found me there, holding the red Phoenix chip Lara had thought destroyed.

“You kept it,” he said.

I lied to Lara. “Why?”

Because if they come for me, I want to know exactly how far I have fallen.

He stepped forward. “You’re not falling.”

I turned to him, eyes wild.

I’m changing Damian. And if it ends badly…if I become something else…

“Then I’ll still love you.”

I shook my head. No, you’ll have to stop me.

“I won’t.” Then you’ll die.

He cupped my face, voice low and furious.

“Then I’ll die in love, not fear.”

The next morning, a messenger arrived at the gates.

A white envelope. No name. No seal.

Inside, one sentence.

“We made you, Claire..And we are coming to claim what’s ours.”

I read it once. Twice.

I looked at Damian. It’s time. I whispered.

“For what?” He asked.

I looked up, and in my eyes, there was no fear.

Only war.

To show them I don’t belong to anyone.