Shadow Reckoning

Lauren met them at a safe house downtown, a small, dimly lit apartment filled with case files and surveillance footage. She looked exhausted, her usually neat ponytail slightly disheveled.

Shade wasted no time. "Tell me everything."

Lauren tossed a folder onto the table. "The Architect was an urban legend for years. No one ever saw them, no one ever heard their voice. But they controlled half the city's criminal networks like a puppeteer pulling strings."

Jade flipped through the photos. "Then what happened?"

Lauren leaned back, rubbing her temples. "Three years ago, they vanished. No explanation. Some people thought they were dead. Others thought they just moved on."

Shade stared at the blurry surveillance photos. No clear face. No identity. Just a ghost pulling the strings from the shadows.

And now they were back.

Jade tapped one of the photos. "Who's this?"

A grainy image of a woman, late 20s, dark hair, sharp eyes.

Lauren exhaled. "That's Selene Vale. The Architect's second-in-command. And now? She's the one making moves."

Shade's eyes darkened. "Where is she now?"

Lauren smirked. "Funny you should ask."

She slid another photo across the table.

It was of a high-class nightclub.

The Obsidian Lounge.

"She'll be there tonight."

Jade grinned. "Guess we're going clubbing."