A New Threat Emerges

Ethan Blackwood sat at the edge of his bed, staring at the fresh bandages wrapped around his arm. The wound throbbed—a reminder of how close they had come to not making it out alive.

He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his unkempt hair. The safe house was quiet, too quiet. After two days of debriefings, stitches, and restless sleep, he still couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut.

They had won. But it didn’t feel like victory.

A soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.

Izzy stood in the doorway, dressed in loose sweats, her arm still in a sling. Her dark eyes were unreadable.

“You’re awake,” she said.

“Barely,” Ethan muttered. “What’s up?”

She hesitated, then stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Her expression was tense.

“Sarah just got word from her FBI contacts.” Izzy took a slow breath. “Kane’s body wasn’t found in the wreckage.”

Ethan wasn’t surprised. “Of course it wasn’t.”

“He’s out there, Ethan.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “And you know he’s not done.”

Ethan clenched his jaw. “No. He’s not.”

The Wolf in the Dark

Somewhere in Moscow…

Victor Kane stood before a massive digital screen, the city’s lights glowing through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him.

On the screen, lines of encrypted code scrolled rapidly. A new algorithm—an evolution of his original project.

A masked woman sat at a sleek desk, typing furiously. “The data is intact. We can rebuild.”

Kane smirked. “No. We can improve.”

He turned to the other figure in the room—the same man who had met him on the jet two days earlier.

“I assume your people are ready?” Kane asked.

The man nodded. “Everything is in place. We begin the trials immediately.”

Kane swirled his glass of scotch. “Then let’s remind the world who truly controls it.”

The Message

Back at the safe house, Ethan and Sarah sat across from each other, coffee steaming between them.

“I checked all channels,” Sarah said. “Interpol, CIA, MI6—no one has a trace of Kane. It’s like he vanished.”

“He didn’t vanish,” Ethan said darkly. “He’s regrouping.”

Sarah’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen and froze.

“What?” Ethan asked.

Wordlessly, she turned the screen toward him.

It was an email.

No sender. No traceable source. Just one line of text:

“The Phoenix always rises.”

Ethan’s blood ran cold.

Kane was back.

And this time, he wasn’t just playing defense.

He was coming for them.