January 1, 2026 – Waukegan Sterling Mansion – Main Hall Time: 12:15 a.m.
My eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. The metallic, bitter taste filling my lungs pulled me down a little more with every breath. The gas canister Asher had thrown wasn't just smoke; it was a nerve agent that paralyzed the nervous system.
Boots echoed through the darkness. Shouts, radio static... And that voice.
"Don't move! Hands up!"
Natalia. I would have recognized that trembling yet unyielding authority in her voice among thousands.
When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry. I vaguely saw Sterling's motionless body lying in the middle of the room and Luca already slipping out the back door like a shadow. Natalia appeared through the smoke, a torch-like weapon in her hand. The barrel was pointed directly at me, behind the table.
"Get out! Now!"
I tried to sit up, but my legs were like jelly. "Natalia..." I whispered. No sound came out, only a bloody gurgle.
When Natalia came to my side, the flashlight hit the "Adrian Vane" mask on my face. She paused for a moment. Our eyes met. In that moment, under that hazy light, I saw the terrible dilemma in Natalia's eyes. Standing before her was a dead man wanted by Chicago and a mysterious suspect wanted by the police.
"Fuck..." Natalia muttered, lowering her gun slightly. "Michael, what are you doing here?"
A voice called from outside. "Detective Reyes! Are you in there? Backup is coming!"
Natalia glanced quickly at the door, then at me. "If they find you here, I can't save you. I'll have to put you in jail myself."
"Sterling..." I said, pointing to the man on the floor. "You need to take him. Asher... he was here."
Natalia went to Sterling, checked his pulse. "He's alive but in bad shape. Look, Michael, you need to get out of here now! There's a door from the back kitchen to the woods. Get the hell out of here before SWAT gets in!"
Natalia turned her back to me and yelled toward the door: "All clear! I found Sterling! First aid team, come here!"
This was the last chance she gave me.
Time: 02:30
Waukegan Forest Road – Safe House (The Hideout)
Every muscle in my body ached. I took off my wet clothes and threw them aside. This old hunting lodge, rented to me by the Alchemist, was now my only refuge in the world. I looked in the mirror. The bruises on my face, Sterling's blood, and Natalia's last look...
The door opened slowly. Ivy entered, carrying a laptop and a bottle of whiskey. "Looks like your party ended a bit noisily, Hale," she said, taking a sip of whiskey and offering me some.
I drank it hard. The alcohol burning my throat cleared my mind. "Where's Sterling?"
"In the hospital. In the most heavily guarded room at the police station. Natalia is keeping watch over him," Ivy said. She sat down at the table and turned on her computer. "But that's not the real bombshell. I found footage of Asher Burke leaving the mansion. It was taken from a distance, a drone recording."
She turned the screen toward me. A black SUV was emerging from a hidden path in the woods. A hand peeking out the rear window... holding an hourglass.
"Ivy," I said, my eyes glued to the screen. "Why are you here? Why are you taking such risks? You don't take on guys like Luca D'Angelo and Asher Burke just for a headline. What's your game?"
Ivy paused. The usual mocking look in her eyes faded for a moment. She slammed the whiskey bottle down on the table. "You know it's not for that bullshit thing called justice, right, Michael? My father was one of Chicago's most honest prosecutors. Until Asher Burke got into his 'collection'."
"What happened?"
"Asher framed my father with a fake bribery case. He couldn't put him in jail, but he took his honor. The day my father realized he couldn't live without it, he put a bullet in his head. I made a vow that day, Michael. I will burn every piece of Asher's collection, one by one. You... you're just my pawn. I'm using you because you have nothing left to lose."
I laughed. It was a bitter, dry laugh. "Great. At least we're honest. Let's keep using each other then, Ivy. Because Luca is next."
Time: 05:00
Luca's Secret Hideout – Cicero
Luca D'Angelo pressed the ice pack in his hand against his swollen eye. He had narrowly escaped that gas attack in Waukegan, but his charisma was in tatters.
"That Hale bastard is alive," Luca said to Enzo beside him. "And Asher... that bastard played us. He sent us after Sterling so he could clean up without getting his hands dirty."
"What are we going to do, boss?"
Luca stood up, tearing off his bloodstained shirt. "We're going to fight, Enzo. But this time, not by the rules. Michael Hale has a weakness. Elara. You'll find that girl. If Michael wants to turn from a ghost into flesh and blood, he'll have to hear his sister's screams."
Luca grabbed the knife on the table and threw it at Michael's photo on the wall. "Let's see what dead men do when their sisters die."