Location: Hidden Compound – Black Serpent Headquarters – 06:00 AM
The walls of the debrief room were stark concrete, cold under fluorescents. Nox sat still in the chair across from the head of operations. On the screen behind her, surveillance footage looped—the last seconds of Ghost's failed escape. Open eyes. No pulse. A clean kill.
"Your results exceeded expectations," she said, tapping her stylus against the desk. "Kitefall has been dismantled. Ortega's remnants are eating each other. Ghost is terminated."
Nox didn't flinch. Just inhaled the burnt coffee in his paper cup.
"We'd like to offer you a permanent contract," she continued. "Command tier. Resources. Autonomy. You'd never need to look over your shoulder again."
He stood without answering. Laid a small envelope on the table. Inside: a single line of text.
I already live without chains.
Then he picked up the briefcase—payment, already wired—and walked out, boots echoing against the tile. No farewell. No hesitation.
Location: Spain – Coastal Town – Late Morning
The wind curled around Nox's coat as he stood barefoot on the sand, trousers rolled to his calves. Seagulls cawed overhead. He tilted his head back toward the sky, eyes half-lidded against the sunlight.
I don't know why I woke up in this story, she thought. Maybe I was rewritten. Or maybe I just broke the fourth wall and fell through.
He pulled a cigarette from the crumpled pack Leo had thrown away months ago. Lit it. Inhaled deep.
But I won't work under anyone anymore. Not in this world. Not with this second chance at choice.
He flicked the ash into the sea and watched it disappear.
Location: Leo & Ash's Dorm – Afternoon
Stacks of summer assignment papers littered the floor. Ash groaned dramatically, face pressed into a textbook.
"Why do professors assign essays during break? Are they fueled by suffering?"
Leo sat on the floor with a pen in his mouth and a half-finished paragraph in his notebook. "They want to make sure we regret having fun."
"I regret nothing," Ash said. "Except saying 'we'll do it later' in June."
They exchanged a lazy, conspiratorial glance, then both collapsed back on the floor like dying soldiers.
"You're doing my citations," Ash said.
"You still owe me tacos," Leo replied.
Peace. Ordinary. Unremarkable. And Leo clung to it like it might float.
Location: Art Gallery – Evening
Nox stood before a wall of minimalist portraits. Oil on canvas. Soft color. Sharp shadow. He tilted his head at one in particular—a faceless boy under a Ferris wheel.
He bought two: one for Leo, one for Ash.
At the counter, the clerk asked if it was a gift.
"No," he said. "It's a reminder."
Location: Airport – Private Terminal – Night
The jet engines hummed on the tarmac. Nox boarded the private plane with only one carry-on and no entourage.
No final message. No file left behind. No trace that he'd ever been there.
He reclined in the leather seat, slid the window shade halfway down, and pulled out a sketch of two boys sitting on a dorm rooftop. One with a guitar. One pointing at the stars.
He stared at it for a long moment, then tucked it away and closed his eyes.
End of Chapter 44