Chapter 80
The sun began to dip behind the majestic, jagged peaks of the mountains, painting the vast Big Sky country in brilliant, fiery hues of crimson and gold. The ranch was bathed in a warm, peaceful twilight.
Cole sat on the porch swing, his arm wrapped securely around Ava, watching the stars slowly begin to appear in the darkening sky. The crickets chirped a steady, comforting rhythm.
"Do you ever miss it?" Ava asked softly, her voice barely a whisper in the quiet evening.
"Miss what?" Cole asked, looking down at her.
"The action. The adrenaline," Ava clarified, her hazel eyes searching his face. "You were the best in the world at what you did, Cole. Do you ever feel like this is... too quiet?"
Cole looked out at the dark tree line, his tactical mind automatically scanning for threats, an ingrained habit he would likely never break. But his heart was entirely at rest.
"I spent my entire life preparing for the worst-case scenario, Ava," Cole murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "I lived in the violence because I believed it was the only way to survive. But this... this is what I was fighting for. I don't miss the dark. I prefer the quiet."
Ava smiled, closing her eyes and leaning deeper into his embrace. "I love you, Cole."
"I love you, Ava," Cole replied, the words a fierce, unbreakable vow.
Inside the house, the lights were warm and inviting. Sarah was reading a book on the sofa, and Nora was fast asleep in her bed, her white bunny tucked safely beside her.
The ghosts of the Vanguard, of Lazarus, of the shadow syndicates were completely, permanently banished. The world moved on, oblivious to the man who had saved it from the brink of apocalypse.
But as the night settled over the Montana wilderness, deep within the heavily fortified, subterranean bunker beneath the guest house, a single, isolated analog terminal suddenly blinked to life.
It wasn't connected to the internet. It wasn't linked to any satellite. It was an archaic, localized frequency designed by Ethan Vance years ago, a fail-safe meant only to receive a specific, impossibly encrypted signal.
The heavy glass screen illuminated in the dark, casting a faint green glow across the empty concrete room.
A single line of text slowly decoded across the monitor.
The wolves are dead. The throne is empty. Await instructions.
May you like
The screen went black.
The war for the old world was over. But as the silent, unseen message vanished into the dark, the true game for the future had only just begun.
