The city had barely begun to heal from the chaos Damien left behind, yet Alexander already sensed another storm brewing one that wasn’t measured by weather or violence, but by precision. Every move Damien made now felt deliberate, methodical, like a grandmaster baiting his opponent across a board of lives and loyalties.

Alexander leaned over the edge of his mahogany desk, the glow from his monitors washing his face in cold light. Rows of surveillance footage, financial reports, intercepted ...