The warehouse felt different in the morning light.
Dust floated in the air. Sunlight streamed through high windows. Nine people slept on cots, wrapped in blankets. They looked small. Broken. But Aria knew they were not broken. They were resting. Healing. Getting ready to fight.
She sat at a metal table with Vivienne. Coffee steamed between them. Neither of them slept.
"He is coming," Vivienne said.
"I know."
"Lucas. He will be here in an hour." Vivienne's voice was careful. "Can we trust him?"
Aria thought about the question. In her first life, Lucas had destroyed her. He had taken her company. Her money. Her future. He had let her die on a glass table while he walked away.
But that Lucas did not know about Victor. That Lucas did not know Marcus was murdered. That Lucas was just a weapon in someone else's game.
"I do not know," Aria said. "But we need him. He knows Victor's secrets. His plans. His weaknesses."
"And after we win?"
Aria looked at the nine people sleeping. At Elena, who had been a prisoner for two years. At the others, who had lost everything.
"After we win," she said slowly, "we deal with Lucas. One war at a time."
Lucas Arrives
He came alone.
No suit. No fancy car. Just jeans and a black jacket. His face was pale. His eyes were red. He looked like a man who had not slept in days.
Aria met him at the door.
"You came," she said.
"You asked."
"I did not ask. You offered."
Lucas nodded slowly. "Marcus is dead because of me. Because I did not see what Victor was. Because I was too busy trying to be powerful." His voice cracked. "I killed him. Not with my hands. But I killed him."
Aria looked at him. Really looked. This was not the man who betrayed her. This was a younger man. A broken man. A man who had just lost his father.
"Marcus's death is not your fault," she said. "Victor killed him. Victor chose to kill him. Not you."
Lucas looked up. His gray eyes were wet. "How can you be kind to me? After what I did to you? In your first life?"
Aria was quiet for a moment. Then she said: "Because that you is not this you. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I am not going to punish you for something you have not done."
She stepped back. Let him in.
"Come. There is work to do."
The Meeting
Everyone gathered in the main room. The nine returned souls sat in a circle. Vivienne stood by the window. Kai was there too, with his strange compass and his quiet eyes.
Lucas walked into the middle of the circle. He looked at the faces watching him. People he had hurt. People Victor had hurt. People who had every reason to hate him.
"I am Lucas Greyson," he said. His voice was steady now. "I worked with Victor Kane for three years. I did not know what he was doing. I did not want to know. I was blind because it was easier to be blind."
He looked at Elena. At the scars on her arms from the machines Victor used.
"Victor killed my teacher. Marcus Webb. The man who raised me when my own father would not. He killed him to protect his secrets. To protect himself."
He turned to Aria. "I know I do not deserve your trust. I know I hurt you in another life. But I am asking for a chance. Not to be forgiven. To fight. To make sure Victor never hurts anyone again."
Silence filled the room.
Elena stood up. Her face was hard. "You worked with him. You helped him."
"I did." Lucas did not look away. "I helped him. I did not know what he was doing. But I helped him. And I will spend the rest of my life making up for it."
Elena stared at him for a long moment. Then she nodded slowly. "Okay. But if you betray us"
"I will not."
She sat down.
Aria stepped forward. "Lucas is in now. He knows Victor's building. His security. His people. He knows where Victor is weak."
She looked at Lucas. "Show us."
The Weakness
Lucas pulled out a tablet. He opened a map of Victor's building.
"Victor has many guards," he said. "Many cameras. Many locks. But there is one door he does not watch. One door he thinks no one knows about."
He pointed to a small room on the map. A room Aria had not seen before.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Victor's safe room. Not for hiding. For storing. He keeps everything there. Files. Videos. Records of everything he has done. Every person he has taken. Every death he caused."
Vivienne leaned forward. "You know the code?"
"I know the door exists. I do not know the code. But I know someone who does." Lucas looked up. "Victor's assistant. A woman named Sloane. She has been with him for ten years. She knows everything. And she hates him."
"How do you know she hates him?"
"Because last year, Victor fired her sister. The sister was sick. Cancer. She lost her health insurance. She died three months later." Lucas's voice was cold. "Sloane has been waiting for a chance to hurt Victor. We give her that chance. She gives us the code."
Aria looked at Vivienne. Vivienne nodded slowly.
"It could work," Vivienne said. "But we need to move fast. Victor knows we have the nine. He knows Lucas is gone. He will be angry. He will be scared. And scared men do stupid things."
"We move tonight," Aria said. "Lucas, you find Sloane. Get her to talk. Vivienne, you get the van ready. Kai, you watch Victor's building. Tell us when he leaves."
She looked at Elena and the others. "The rest of you rest. You will need your strength."
Elena stood up. "We are not sitting out. We have been in cages for too long. We want to fight."
The others stood too. Nine faces. Nine warriors.
Aria smiled. "Then get ready. Tonight, we take the first real step. Tonight, we show Victor Kane that his secrets are not safe. Tonight, we start the war."
The Plan
Hours passed. The sun set. The city lit up like a circuit board.
Lucas left to find Sloane. Vivienne prepared the van. Kai watched the screens.
Aria sat with Elena. They talked about the old lives. The deaths. The returns. Elena had been a firefighter. She died saving a child from a burning building. She woke up three days later in her own bed, confused, scared, alone.
"Victor found me after two weeks," Elena said. "He said he wanted to help me. He said he understood. He said I was special." Her voice got hard. "He lied."
"Yes," Aria said. "He lied."
"But you did not." Elena looked at her. "You came for us. You risked your life for people you did not know."
"You are my people now," Aria said. "All of you. We fight together. We win together. Or we fall together."
Elena smiled. "Then let us make sure we win."
The Message
At 9 PM, Lucas called.
"Sloane is in," he said. "She gave me the code. She also gave me something else."
"What?"
"A message. For you." Lucas's voice was strange. "Victor knows about the warehouse. He is coming tonight. In one hour."
Aria's blood ran cold. "How does he know?"
"I do not know. But Sloane says he is bringing everyone. All his guards. All his weapons. He wants to end this before it starts."
Aria looked at the warehouse. At the nine people resting. At the thin walls and the one door.
"Then we do not wait for him," she said. "We hit him first. Tonight. Now. Before he gets here."
She hung up and stood.
"Everyone up!" she shouted. "Victor is coming. We move now. Grab what you can. We are going to his building. Tonight, we take everything he has."
The warehouse exploded into action. People grabbing bags. Checking weapons. Putting on shoes.
Elena ran to Aria. "What is the plan?"
Aria smiled. It was the smile of a woman who had nothing left to lose.
"We go through the front door," she said.
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:
Aria leads her army straight into Victor's building. But Victor is waiting. A trap is set. Someone on Aria's side is not who they seem. And when the guns go off, one person will not walk out alive.