The black SUV skidded to a stop outside an unmarked estate tucked into the Tavara highlands — surrounded by nature, protected by design. Steel gates opened silently as Damien drove through, Nora in the passenger seat, still catching her breath.
The estate was not listed anywhere. Not on maps. Not in legal documents. But it existed — like Damien — in the shadows of power.
Nora stared at the sprawling mansion ahead, its walls built with bulletproof glass and reinforced concrete, shielded by signal jammers and infrared towers.
"You own this?" she asked, voice low.
"One of twelve," Damien replied casually, cutting the engine. "Tavara's just a convenience."
She turned toward him, scanning his face. "You disappeared for four years. Now you're back, throwing smoke bombs and dragging me into a fortress. Why?"
Damien didn't answer immediately. He opened the door and stepped out. Nora followed, her shoes crunching against gravel.
Inside, the house was a blend of sleek minimalism and military-grade technology. One wall was a live feed of global stock indices and international news. Another displayed encrypted transactions and shifting geopolitical heat zones.
It looked more like a command center than a home.
"You're not just wealthy," Nora murmured. "You're…"
"A ghost with a crown," Damien said, removing his coat. "I own shares in seventeen major defense contractors, control silent votes in five central banks, and hold veto power in a trade alliance that doesn't officially exist. But none of that stopped them from coming after you."
He turned to her, suddenly serious. "They're testing Epoch again. And they want you alive — until they don't."
She stepped back, spine stiffening. "You think they'll use me to restart it?"
"I think they already are. Your files were accessed, your lab infiltrated, and now a sniper tried to erase you. It's not coincidence, Nora. It's war."
She exhaled sharply. "And where do you come in, Damien? Billionaire savior? Market king turned soldier?"
"No," he said coldly. "I'm a man who's lost enough to know when the world's about to burn. And I won't let them take you."
Something in his voice shook her defenses. That edge — the same one he'd had when they first met on a war field, surrounded by blood and broken things, with only adrenaline holding them together.
"You built all this to hide?"
"No," Damien said. "To control. The Order moves in shadows — but I move the shadows themselves. They don't know how deep my hands go."
He moved to a biometric safe built into the wall. With a scan of his eye and palm, it clicked open to reveal a black case.
He tossed it on the table. Inside: two burner phones, fake passports, and a vial of glowing blue serum.
Nora's eyes widened. "Is that…"
Damien nodded. "The original Epoch prototype. Stabilized."
"That's impossible. The base compound decayed under all conditions."
"I restructured it. With someone's help."
Nora's breath caught. "Who?"
He held her gaze. "You, Nora. Before you were forced to shut it down, your AI backups created a duplicate trail — hidden in a dummy project. I recovered it two years ago."
She staggered back, stunned. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you weren't safe. And now you're less so than ever."
The silence stretched.
Damien walked over, gently taking her hand.
"I don't want to use you," he said. "I want to protect you. But I also need your mind, your skill… because they're getting bolder. They've begun human trials. The next phase is weaponization."
Nora nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the glowing vial.
"Then we need to burn them first."