The morning sun over the empire's capital was cold, filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass of Maximilian's executive office. After a night of destructive madness and raw obsession, the Titan had returned to his throne. He sat behind his obsidian desk, impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit, the scent of expensive sandalwood masking the lingering metallic tang of last night's wreckage.
He was the picture of corporate perfection—until his private, encrypted phone vibrated.
It wasn't a business associate. It was the Head of the Global Hunters' Syndicate.
"Speak," Maximilian commanded, his voice as sharp as a diamond blade.
"The net is cast, Mr. Maximilian," the voice on the other end was gravelly, seasoned by decades of dark work. "My primary team is already mobilized. But for a target of her caliber, I've taken the liberty of activating our sleeper cells across the borders. From the icy peaks of the North to the desert outposts—every hunter under my payroll is now looking for silver hair and ice-blue eyes."
A ghost of a smile, thin and lethal, played on Maximilian's lips. He leaned back in his leather chair, watching the tiny dust motes dance in a stray beam of sunlight. It was the smile of a cat that had finally trapped the mouse in a room with no doors.
"You understand the rules, Silas," Maximilian said, his tone dropping an octave, becoming dangerously soft. "She is the only thing in this world that matters. I don't want her tracked like a common criminal. I want her surrounded. I want her to feel the air getting tighter, the world getting smaller, until the only place left for her to breathe is in my arms."
"We understand, Sir. The international units are coordinated. We are simply waiting for your final signal to initiate the active sweep of the Northern Valleys."
Maximilian looked out at the city below him—his city, his world. He could almost feel Violet's heartbeat through the distance, a frantic rhythm he intended to own.
"Initiate," he whispered, the word carrying the weight of a death sentence and a marriage vow all at once. "Bring my Queen home. And Silas... tell the men if they scare her too much, I'll personally ensure they never see the sun again."
He ended the call, the silence of the office returning, heavy and suffocating. The hunt hadn't just begun; it had become an international crusade.