Chapter 8 - The Architect’s DaughterSophia wanted to shoot Damien Vale.
Unfortunately, she had handed Julian her gun.
That was either the smartest decision she had ever made or the stupidest.
At the moment, she had not decided.
“Sit.”
Damien gestured toward the chair.
“No.”
“Silas said you were stubborn.”
“My father apparently says a lot of things about me to psychopaths.”
Damien smiled faintly.
“You think I’m a psychopath?”
“You put a bomb on an elderly violin teacher.”
“She disabled it.”
“I disabled it.”
“Exactly.”
Sophia stared at him.
“A test.”
“Yes.”
“You could have killed her.”
“No.”
“You could have killed Thomas.”
“No.”
“You burned his church.”
“It was insured.”
Sophia almost laughed at the absurdity.
“You’re insane.”
“Possibly.”
Damien moved another chess piece.
“But Arthur Sterling is the only person I actually killed.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur was Ninth Circle.”
Sophia stopped.
“No.”
“He joined Marcus years before the coup. Marcus believed he was stealing Julian’s empire. In reality, he was being financed.”
“By you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To force Julian to lose his money.”
Sophia stared.
Damien’s calmness was infuriating.
“You orchestrated Marcus.”
“Marcus orchestrated himself. I merely opened doors.”
“And when Julian lost everything?”
“He became better.”
Sophia’s blood ran cold.
Damien had been watching.
The entire time.
“You engineered us.”
“I created pressure.”
“You tried to kill Julian.”
“No. Marcus did.”
“You hired the mercenaries at the Spire.”
“Arthur hired them using funds I provided.”
“That distinction only matters to cowards and lawyers.”
Damien smiled.
“Silas said you would say something like that.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“Stop using my father like he is your friend.”
A door opened behind Damien.
Silas walked in.
Alive.
Uninjured.
Sophia forgot how to breathe.
Her father wore gray trousers and a black shirt.
No rifle.
No wounds.
No chains.
Nothing.
“Soph.”
She punched him.
Hard.
Silas staggered.
Damien actually laughed.
Silas touched his jaw.
“I deserved that.”
Sophia punched him again.
“That one too.”
Then she grabbed his shirt.
“You let me think you were captured.”
“I needed you to—”
Third punch.
Silas raised both hands.
“Okay.”
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears.
“You lied about being dead for ten years.”
“I know.”
“You came back for five minutes.”
“I know.”
“Then you disappeared and joined the man hunting me.”
“I did not join him.”
“Explain.”
Silas looked at Damien.
Damien left the room without argument.
Sophia noticed that.
Power recognized power.
Silas sat.
“Fifteen years ago, I helped destroy the Ninth Circle.”
“That part I know.”
“We killed Lucien Vale. Damien survived.”
“Thomas saved him.”
“Yes.”
“Then you found him.”
“Four years later.”
Sophia stared.
“You didn’t kill him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he came to me.”
Silas leaned forward.
“Damien had spent four years finding the surviving branches of his father’s network. He showed me something terrifying.”
“What?”
“The Circle was bigger than Lucien.”
Sophia’s anger quieted enough for curiosity.
“Governments used it. Corporations used it. Criminals used it. Destroying the headquarters had done nothing. We had cut off one head.”
“Hydra.”
“Exactly.”
“So you worked with Damien.”
“Against the network.”
“For eleven years.”
“Yes.”
Sophia laughed bitterly.
“And you couldn’t call?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the people we were hunting knew about you.”
Silas looked ashamed.
“The moment I contacted you, you became leverage.”
“I became leverage anyway.”
“Yes.”
“For Julian.”
Silas studied her.
“That was the variable I didn’t anticipate.”
Sophia folded her arms.
“Damien calls me failure Six.”
“I know.”
“He says love is the failure.”
Silas looked down.
“For me, it was.”
The anger softened despite herself.
“My mother?”
Silas rarely spoke about her.
Sophia had been nine when Marianne Vane died in what she had been told was a traffic accident.
Silas said quietly, “Your mother was killed because of me.”
Sophia went still.
“What?”
“The accident was staged.”
Her knees weakened.
“You told me—”
“I lied.”
She turned away.
The room blurred.
“My whole life.”
“Sophia.”
“My entire life is built on your lies.”
“I wanted you safe.”
“Stop saying that.”
She spun back.
“You trained me to detect lies while making sure the biggest liar I knew was you.”
Silas had no defense.
He simply nodded.
“You’re right.”
The elevator doors opened behind Sophia.
Julian came through holding her Glock.
Elena followed.
Cross behind her.
Victor remained above.
Julian immediately went to Sophia.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He looked at Silas.
“What did you do?”
Silas sighed.
“Hello, Julian.”
“Wrong answer.”
Julian handed Sophia her gun.
Silas looked at him approvingly.
“You trust her with a weapon while she’s angry.”
“I’m more afraid of making her angrier.”
“Smart.”
Sophia shot the chessboard.
Pieces exploded across the floor.
Silas nodded.
“Fair.”
Damien returned.
“Are we finished?”
Sophia pointed the gun at him.
“No.”
Julian gently touched the barrel.
“Maybe after he talks.”
Damien looked at the destroyed chessboard.
“I liked that set.”
“Send me a bill.”
“Your boyfriend is broke.”
Julian frowned.
“I am recovering.”
Despite everything, Sophia almost smiled.
Then Damien became serious.
“The countdown was never a kill list.”
“What was it?”
“A recruitment test.”
“For me?”
“For all of you.”
Julian laughed.
“You have an unusual human resources department.”
Damien ignored him.
“The Ninth Circle has a new leader.”
“I thought you were the leader.”
“No.”
“Who?”
Damien looked at Elena.
Her face changed.
“Impossible.”
Silas answered.
“Lucien Vale.”
Damien’s father.
Sophia stared.
“You said he died.”
“We believed he did.”
Damien’s expression became colder.
“He survived.”
“How?”
“Body double.”
Silas continued.
“For fifteen years, Lucien has rebuilt quietly. He now controls pieces of intelligence services in five countries, private military companies, financial institutions, criminal organizations.”
Julian folded his arms.
“And you expect us to save the world.”
“No,” Damien said.
“We expect you to save yourselves.”
A screen turned on.
Photographs appeared.
Victor.
Evelyn.
Thomas.
Employees at the Obsidian Room.
Julian’s remaining captains.
People Sophia knew.
Hundreds.
Then one final image.
A satellite photograph of Manhattan.
Marked locations.
Power stations.
Bridges.
Hospitals.
Water infrastructure.
Sophia understood.
“Terror attack.”
Silas shook his head.
“Takeover.”
“Explain.”
“Lucien doesn’t want to destroy New York. He wants to prove he can shut it down.”
Damien touched the screen.
“Forty-eight hours from now, the Ninth Circle plans to disable key systems for ninety minutes.”
Julian frowned.
“Ninety minutes?”
“Enough to cause panic.”
Silas continued.
“Then politicians backed by Lucien will offer emergency solutions. Private security. Emergency powers. New contracts.”
Sophia stared.
“He creates the disaster and sells the cure.”
“Yes.”
Julian whispered, “That’s not crime.”
“No,” Elena said. “That’s government.”
Damien looked at Sophia.
“We need the Blackwood network.”
“What network? Marcus destroyed half of it.”
“The docks. Transportation. street intelligence. People who notice strange trucks and unfamiliar faces.”
Then Damien looked at Julian.
“And we need someone criminals will listen to.”
Julian considered him.
“You spent months destroying my organization so you could ask me to help?”
“I removed corrupt pieces.”
“You arrogant bastard.”
“Yes.”
Julian stepped forward.
Sophia grabbed his arm.
“Later.”
Damien continued.
“And we need Sophia.”
“For?”
Silas answered.
“To kill me.”
Sophia turned.
“What?”
Silas looked directly at his daughter.
“Lucien believes I am the only person who knows his identity.”
“But we all know now.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Silas’s expression hardened.
“So I become bait.”
Sophia shook her head.
“No.”
“If Lucien thinks you killed me and took my files, he will come for you personally.”
“No.”
“Soph—”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“I already buried you once.”
Silas stood.
“And that is why he will believe it.”
Julian watched her.
The tactic was sound.
Sophia hated that.
Damien placed a weapon on the table.
Blank-firing pistol.
Blood packs.
A staged execution.
Sophia looked at her father.
“You planned this before I arrived.”
“Yes.”
“Of course you did.”
Silas smiled sadly.
“I’m the Architect.”
Sophia picked up the gun.
“You’re also a terrible father.”
“That too.”
Hours later, the Ninth Circle intercepted a video.
Sophia Vane stood in a concrete room.
Silas knelt before her.
She aimed a pistol at his chest.
“You should have stayed dead.”
She fired twice.
Silas collapsed.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Sophia walked away.
The video ended.
Across the world, Lucien Vale watched.
For the first time in fifteen years, he smiled.
May you like
Then he gave one command.
“Bring me the daughter.”
