The next morning came quietly, almost deceptively normal.
Linn was still half-awake when she heard a knock at the door.
It was not urgent—not an alarm, not a threat signal—just a steady, casual rhythm that felt strangely out of place in a place like this.
She hesitated for a moment before getting up and pulling the door open with a slight frown.
Sean was standing there.
All smiles.
“Rise and shine, Parallax.”
He leaned against the doorframe as though he had nowhere else to be, his tone light—far too light for someone waking her up inside a covert organization.
“We are heading out in an hour. Half of your demands are approved.”
Linn stared at him, still caught somewhere between sleep and suspicion.
“…Half?”
Sean gave a small shrug.
“That is what you are getting for now.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You are telling me skincare did not make the cut?”
A grin spread across his face, quick and satisfied.
“Absolutely not. That is exactly why I volunteered.”
She blinked.
“You volunteered?”
“Mhm.” He nodded, completely unbothered.
“Think of it as personal interest aligning with operational necessity.”
“You just want to go shopping.”
“I want to make sure you don’t commit crimes against your own skin,” Sean corrected, sounding almost offended.
“You would be surprised how many people do.”
That made her pause, just long enough to wonder whether he was serious.
She glanced past him into the hallway, half-expecting someone watching or waiting, but it was empty.
Just the low hum of a building pretending to be a tech company instead of what it actually was.
“We are really going shopping?” she asked, slower this time.
Sean nodded once.
“Jion approved it.”
That did not reassure her.
“And that means?”
Sean tilted his head slightly, as though considering how honest to be.
“It means we will not run into trouble…”
“…or we will.”
Linn groaned.
“Come on. Don’t tell me I could die even while shopping.”
For a second, Sean simply looked at her.
Then he laughed.
Not a small chuckle.
Genuine, bright laughter, as though she had said something ridiculously absurd.
“You say that like it is a special exception. That is kind of adorable.”
Linn stared at him, unimpressed.
“Tell me how ‘adorable’ fits into the fact that I could technically die anywhere, anytime.”
“Relax.” Sean waved a hand dismissively.
“If you die shopping, I will at least make sure it is at a store with good lighting.”
He stepped aside, giving her space to close the door, still amused.
“Go get ready. The mall is nearby. We will walk.”
An hour later, Linn stepped out and found Sean already waiting at the entrance of Velaris.
He was not recognizable at first glance.
Neither was she.
Both wore civilian disguises—carefully altered appearances approved by Crossline protocol.
Subtle facial adjustments, muted features, different silhouettes.
Nothing that would draw attention, yet convincing enough to withstand scrutiny.
To anyone watching, they were just another pair of people moving through the city.
Sean gave her a small nod as she approached. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Good. You followed protocol.”
He glanced over her briefly, as though checking a checklist only he could see.
Linn adjusted the collar of her disguise.
It still felt unfamiliar against her skin.
“Is this necessary?”
Sean hummed.
“Always. Public exposure equals risk exposure.”
He started walking, and she fell into step beside him.
“Even for shopping?” she added, watching the crowd around them shift and pass.
“Especially for shopping,” he replied without missing a beat.
“People are least alert when they think they are doing something normal.”
That made her look at him again.
Sean noticed and smiled faintly.
“Which is why we don’t get to be normal.”
The shopping mall was only a few blocks away, just as he had said.
They walked there without rushing, passing small shops and pedestrians going about their morning routines.
Sean kept talking as they walked, mostly about brands, skincare trends, and ingredient preferences—opinions delivered with far too much confidence for something so casual.
Linn was actually listening.
Even engaging.
“You use chemical exfoliants more than twice a week and your barrier will hate you,” Sean was saying, shaking his head as though it were a personal disappointment.
“People think glow means more products. It does not. It means restraint.”
Linn glanced at him, really looking this time.
Even under the disguise, his skin looked annoyingly flawless.
His tone suddenly shifted, almost like a mission briefing, as he scanned the storefronts ahead.
“Today, we are not wasting time on overpriced nonsense brands.”
A few steps later, he pointed at a small storefront display they passed.
“You have used that brand before, right? I’m telling you, that one is overhyped. Pretty packaging, mediocre formulation.”
Linn stopped for half a second, eyes widening slightly as she looked at the display.
“You are telling me I have wasted my money on that?”
Sean did not even hesitate.
“Mostly.”
They walked a few more steps in a comfortable rhythm, leaving just enough silence for her thoughts to drift.
Then something clicked.
Linn tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing as she looked at him again.
“Wait. That reminds me. I ran into someone last night.”
Sean glanced at her, curious but relaxed.
“One of yours. Flicker.”
His brows lifted just a fraction.
“You did? Then I guess he wrapped up his assignment.”
A brief look of recognition crossed his face.
“That would be Soren.”
Linn repeated the name quietly, more to herself than to him.
“…Soren.”
“Stealth operative. The team’s eyes on the ground. Close-range tracking, real-time observation, and assassination when required.” A faint smile tugged at his lips.
“Not the most talkative, but he gets the job done.”
Linn looked ahead, remembering the scene from last night.
“That sounds about right.”
A brief pause settled between them before she spoke again.
“So that is what—six of you?”
“Seven.”
“Seven?”
“We don’t usually include Helix in day-to-day headcounts. He is not always around. You will only see him when he decides it matters.”
He gave a small shrug before continuing.
“Helix is our tactical commander. If Jion runs the board, Helix decides how the pieces move.”
Linn absorbed that, eyes narrowing slightly.
“So this guy is above all of you?”
“Not above,” he corrected.
The name lingered in her mind longer than it should have, settling somewhere she could not quite place.
Helix.
Sean glanced at her briefly before returning his gaze to the road ahead.
“He was the one who drugged you during the chase.”
Linn froze.
“What—”
The word barely left her lips when something sharp flickered at the edge of her vision.
A faint, steady red light fixed precisely on Sean’s forehead.
Her body moved before her mind could catch up.
She shoved Sean hard to the side just as a muted shot cracked through the air.
The sound was dull and compressed, but lethal all the same.
The bullet sliced past where Sean’s head had been a second earlier, striking somewhere behind them with a harsh, splintering impact.
Sean stumbled, catching himself mid-step.
His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before instinct snapped back into place.
“What is happening?” Linn’s pulse spiked, her chest tightening as the world blurred into noise.
“Are you being targeted?”
“More like you,” he muttered, already scanning the surroundings.
Another suppressed shot came.
Sean grabbed her arm.
“Move!”
They cut across the street, weaving past pedestrians who had not even registered the suppressed shot.
Another muffled crack split the air, closer this time.
Sean veered sharply, dragging her into a narrow side path.
“Where?”
Linn immediately understood, forcing herself to think past the panic.
“It has to be from above. To the east.”
Sean immediately turned toward the eastern block, pulling her along.
But she yanked her arm free, hard enough to break his momentum.
They stopped.
“Are we really going after them? Would it not be safer to just run?”
“You already figured out where it came from. So what does that tell you?”
A beat.
“If we don’t take them out, we’re just waiting to get hit.”
She stared toward the east as though whatever waited there might bite if they got any closer.
Then—
Another suppressed shot cut through the air.
Sean was already moving before Linn could second-guess herself again, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward.
They reached an abandoned warehouse within minutes, its entrance yawning open as though it had been waiting for them.
Linn’s eyes darted around the open doorway as they neared the entrance.
“Are we not going to call for backup? We are not prepared—”
“I am,” Sean cut in immediately.
His hand slid into his jacket, drawing his gun in one smooth motion while his other hand pressed against his earpiece.
His gaze never left the building.
“Lucifer. Hostile presence suspected. Entry commencing.”
A brief burst of static came through before a calm voice acknowledged the request.
Sean looked at her.
“Earpiece.”
It was not a suggestion.
It was an instruction.
Linn hesitated, then touched her own earpiece awkwardly, as though she were not used to having it there.
“I don’t have any weapon with me,” she admitted quickly.
“And I don’t know how to use any of them. Maybe I should just stay out here. I might slow you down.”
Sean’s expression did not change, but his grip tightened slightly around his weapon.
“You are already involved. There is no ‘out here’ anymore.”
Then, quieter and more controlled: “You don’t get to choose to be unprepared in a live zone.”