The rain came down in knives.
Not soft. Not cleansing.
Sharp, vicious, meant to carve flesh from bone.
Nathaniel stood at the edge of the safehouse roof, the storm soaking him through, blood still seeping from the stitches at his ribs. The city lights blurred below him, an ocean of chaos.
Behind him, Alfreda read the file over and over until the pages blurred.
Lorena Black—her mother.
The woman they all thought was dead.
The woman who built the Widowmakers from bone and betrayal.
The woman Alfreda now shared blood with.
She crushed the file in her fists, a scream clawing at her throat, but no sound came out. She had fought her entire life to be different, to be better. And it turned out—
She was born a monster.
Downstairs, Celeste pressed her palms flat against the cold glass of the safehouse window.
"You're pacing," Ezra said from behind her, wincing as he bandaged his own wounds.
"She's out there," Celeste whispered. "Lorena. And she's going to tear everything apart."
Ezra sat heavily in a chair. "Let her."
Celeste turned, furious. "You don't get it. The Widowmakers aren't just criminals. They're tied to governments. Corporations. Law enforcement. If Lorena flips the Vault's blackmail, she can bring down entire countries."
Ezra wiped blood from his mouth. "Maybe they deserve it."
Celeste's eyes were ice. "And what about us? What happens to us?"
He didn't answer.
Because they both knew the truth: there would be no survivors.
Later that night, Alfreda found Nathaniel on the roof.
"You should be inside," she said softly.
He didn't turn. "I can't breathe in there."
She crossed to him, standing shoulder to shoulder, the rain washing away her fear. For a moment, neither spoke.
Finally, Nathaniel said, "She lied to us all."
Alfreda closed her eyes. "She lied to me before I was even born."
Nathaniel turned, his face hollow. "I opened the Vault, Alfreda. I let the monster out."
"No," she whispered. "Your father did."
He gave a bitter laugh. "And now we get to clean up their mess with blood and regret."
A pause.
Then Nathaniel said what terrified them both.
"We have to kill her."
Alfreda didn't argue.
Elsewhere…
Lorena stood at the center of an ancient Widowmaker estate, deep in the forests outside Vienna.
The loyalists knelt before her—hundreds of them, marked with serpent tattoos.
"You have been abandoned," Lorena said, voice cold as a blade. "Your leaders sold your futures for their own safety. But I offer you a new kingdom. A kingdom built not on secrets—"
She raised her hands.
"—but on power."
They roared their allegiance.
Behind her, screens blinked to life.
Every dirty deal. Every unsanctioned murder. Every betrayal the Vault had buried.
She would weaponize them all.
And when she was finished, the world would fall to its knees before the Widowmakers once more.
At the safehouse…
Celeste broke into Nathaniel's room without knocking.
"I know where she's going next," she said.
Nathaniel sat up, grimacing. "Where?"
Celeste tossed a folder onto the bed.
"The Widowmaker Summit. In Prague. Every surviving faction leader will be there in two nights. She plans to kill them all—and crown herself Queen."
Nathaniel's eyes hardened. "Then we kill her first."
Celeste hesitated. "It's not that simple. Half the factions are loyal to her now. If we walk into that room, it's suicide."
Alfreda stepped through the doorway. She was dressed in black from throat to boot, a pistol tucked against her hip.
"We're not walking in," she said.
"We're burning it to the ground."
The plan was madness.
Infiltrate the summit.
Turn Lorena's loyalists against her.
Destroy the Vault once and for all.
And if they had to die to do it?
So be it.
Nathaniel gripped Alfreda's hand as they prepared to leave. "You ready?"
She squeezed back, fierce. "Born ready."
Celeste loaded her weapons with a grim smile. "Let's bring hell to their doorstep."
Ezra just muttered, "Remind me why I'm following you lunatics again?"
"Because you're a Widowmaker," Celeste said. "Whether you want to be or not."
And with that, they disappeared into the storm.