The hallway was painted in blinding white light. The sirens wailed like a scream without end, bouncing off sterile walls and echoing through Aria's skull.
Julian staggered beside her, still weak, still bleeding.
And Damon stood at the end of the corridor, gun aimed, gaze unflinching.
"I should've killed you the day I met you," Aria spat, her voice raw with betrayal.
Damon gave a small, almost pitying smile. "No, sweetheart. You should've listened when I told you to stop digging."
Julian's arm tightened around her. Not protectively—warning her.
He knew. He always had.
"Step aside," Julian growled, low and deadly. "Or I'll finish what Echo started."
Damon cocked the pistol. "You think they still let you hold that title after you ran? You're obsolete, Julian. They've replaced you ten times over. Better, cleaner, emotionless."
His gaze flicked to Aria. "But her? She's new. She's raw. And she's got her father's instincts."
"Her father built a nightmare," Julian bit out.
"Yes. And she's the only one who can finish it."
Aria's blood went cold. "What are you talking about?"
"You think you were just a loose end?" Damon stepped closer. "You're the last key. The final asset. The one who's not supposed to exist."
Julian's breath hitched. "No—"
"Oh, he never told you?" Damon laughed. "You're not just his daughter, Aria. You're the contingency. Your father embedded something in your DNA. A biometric cipher, linked to Echo's last vault."
Julian's voice was pure steel. "Get behind me."
But Aria didn't move. She felt the truth coiling like poison.
"He didn't just train you," she whispered to Julian. "He used me."
Julian's jaw locked. "I didn't know."
"Did you?"
"I swear it."
Damon raised the gun.
"I don't want to kill you, Aria. But they will if you don't come with me. Unlock the vault, and this all ends."
"No," she said.
He sighed. "Then this ends differently."
The shot rang out.
Julian moved first.
Aria screamed.
But Damon collapsed to the floor, blood blooming from his shoulder, gun spinning out of his hand.
Behind him stood Severin, holding a still-smoking pistol.
"Took you long enough," Julian grunted.
"I had to make sure you weren't stupid enough to die in here," she said coldly.
Aria's legs gave out, but Julian caught her.
Severin knelt beside Damon, who groaned and tried to crawl.
"You always did overestimate your charm," she muttered.
Aria looked at her. "You followed me."
"No. I followed him." She nodded to Julian. "He's more useful alive. And now that your little blood code is out in the open—things just got worse."
Damon coughed. "You'll never make it out."
Julian raised his gun. "We'll see."
But Aria stepped in front of him.
"Let me."
Julian hesitated. Then lowered his weapon.
Aria picked up Damon's pistol.
His eyes widened.
"Aria—don't do this."
She looked him straight in the eye.
"You were supposed to be my ally. My father's friend."
"I was. Until I realized the only way to survive was to serve them."
"They killed him," she said quietly. "And you helped."
Damon said nothing.
She pulled the trigger.
Once.
No hesitation.
No regret.
And then she dropped the gun.
Julian wrapped his arms around her, steadying her as her body trembled.
"I had to," she whispered.
"I know."
Severin was already moving.
"We have five minutes before backup arrives. I suggest we finish what we came for."
—
The vault was buried under ten layers of biometric and psychological encryption. It recognized only one key—Aria.
As she placed her hand on the scanner, the interface lit up in a soft blue glow.
"Voice confirmation," the system requested.
Aria looked at Julian.
He nodded once. "Say your name."
She whispered, "Aria Laurent."
The scanner pulsed. The floor trembled.
A door slid open, revealing a chamber of glass, steel, and light.
Inside: files. Footage. Records of every Echo operation. Names. Agents. Secrets meant to stay buried.
But more than that—there were profiles of others.
Others like Julian.
Others like her.
"I wasn't the only one," Aria breathed.
"No," Severin said. "But you might be the last."
Julian opened a metal drawer and found a single chip. Marked with the same symbol that had haunted him for years: E.
"This is it," he said.
Aria's pulse pounded.
"This could expose everything."
Severin nodded. "And it will. But once we leave, they'll never stop coming for you."
Aria met Julian's eyes.
"I don't care."
His hand brushed hers.
"I do."
—
They barely made it out before the alarms caught up.
Three bodies fell before they reached the exit. Aria didn't stop to look. Julian shielded her from the worst of it, but she'd stopped pretending she wasn't part of this now.
She was Echo.
Not trained.
Not conditioned.
But chosen.
When they hit the runway, Severin turned.
"This is where I disappear."
Julian held out the drive. "You sure you don't want to be part of the ending?"
"I'm not built for endings," Severin said. "But burn it well."
Then she was gone.
—
They flew to Iceland—neutral territory, a staging ground.
Aria sat beside Julian in silence, her head against his shoulder, her mind fractured and buzzing.
"Why didn't you tell me what you suspected?" she asked quietly.
"I wasn't sure. And I didn't want it to be true."
She looked at him. "And now?"
He brushed his thumb along her cheek.
"Now I just want you safe."
"You think that's possible?"
"No," he admitted. "But I'll kill every last one of them trying."
Aria's mouth curved in a ghost of a smile.
"That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me."
He leaned in.
"This is not a love story, Aria."
She looked into his eyes.
"It is now."