The next day, the conference room was packed.

Zayden was at the head of the table, with Aylin next to him, along with Azalea, Liam, Leo, Reyes, Charles, and William, who looked stronger today.

On the video screens were:

- Alexander, his face visible, but his voice was distorted with a modulator. Only Aylin’s face was visible to him. The others wore voice-changing masks, hiding their identities, and their voices were scrambled. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

- Sarah, visible and using voice modulation.

- Selina, calling from a café in Manhattan, surrounded by background noise for cover.

Zayden had decided that only Aylin would show her face to Alexander since Alpha already knew her. The rest of the team stayed anonymous.

If things went wrong and Alexander got compromised, their identities would still be safe.

Aylin had insisted on this approach. "He already knows me. Use that."

Zayden had reluctantly agreed.

Now they were all together.

Ready to plan for war.

"Is everyone here?" Zayden’s voice sounded all glitchy and robotic.

Everyone nodded around the room.

On the screen, Alexander nodded. Sarah nodded too. Selina gave a thumbs-up.

"Awesome," Zayden said. "Let’s dive in. We’ve got three days. Three days to pull off the biggest strike this city has ever seen. Three days to wipe out Alpha Dark and Maksim Karza completely."

He brought up a map on the main screen with red marks for targets.

"Here’s what we’re aiming for," Zayden explained. "First up, we hit the main trafficking spot for Alpha, the warehouse at Pier 12, where fifteen girls are being held. Second, we go after the weapons stash in Brooklyn owned by Maksim. Third, we’ll target the Silk Flame Consortium, which is the hub of the global trafficking ring. Fourth, we’re hitting the Serena Girls Hotel, the so-called hostel where girls are getting mistreated under the guise of safety. And last, we go after Alpha and Maksim themselves."

Liam leaned in. "That’s five strikes at the same time."

"Six," Azalea corrected. "We’re also taking down Alpha’s financial setup. We’ll freeze his accounts and seize his cash. He won’t even realize we’re coming until it’s too late."

Leo whistled softly. "That’s ambitious."

"Necessary," Zayden replied. "If we hit one place, the rest will scatter. We have to take them all out at once to overwhelm them and give them no chance to respond."

Reyes spoke up. "What’s the plan for personnel?"

"I’m bringing in outside teams," Zayden said. "Partners who want Maksim gone, alliances with families he’s betrayed and business folks he’s ripped off. We’ll have enough people."

Charles asked, "And what about Alpha?"

Sarah’s voice came through the speakers. "Alpha is more paranoid than ever. He knows something’s up but doesn’t have a clue what. I can feed him false info to keep him looking the other way."

"Good," Zayden said. "Alexander, what can you help us with?"

Alexander’s voice came back distorted. "I’ve got security codes for the Silk Flame building, guard schedules, and weak spots in his defenses. But—" he hesitated, "—he has a panic room that’s reinforced. If he gets in there, you’re not getting him out."

"Then we make sure he doesn’t get in," Aylin said.

Zayden nodded. "Aylin will hack into the Silk Flame network to shut down their systems and trap them inside."

Aylin opened her laptop. "I’ll need about fifteen to twenty minutes. Once I’m in, I can lock all the doors, turn off every camera, and disable every alarm. They’ll be blind and stuck."

"Azalea and I will handle Alpha’s backup systems," Liam said. "We’ll mess with his financial networks and communication lines, shutting down his encrypted messaging service and cutting off his ability to call for help."

Azalea nodded. "I’ve been keeping track of his network for months. I know every node and server. We can take it all down in under ten minutes."

Leo spoke up. "My team is hitting the Serena Hotel. We’ll rescue every girl and shut down the whole operation, arresting everyone involved."

"Reyes’s team will back you up," Zayden added. "Make sure no one gets away."

Reyes nodded. "We’ll be ready."

William cleared his throat. "The warehouse is our main target. There are fifteen girls inside. I’ve got some tools and formulas I haven’t mentioned before."

"Sounds good," Zayden replied. "Charles, you handle that extraction. Layla is in there and will signal when it’s safe to move. Get those girls out safely."

Charles nodded seriously. "Got it."

Selina’s voice came through the speaker. "What about me?"

Everyone glanced at the screen.

"You’re getting out," Zayden said. "Victor will pull you out six hours before we move. You need to disappear. Maksim can’t know you’re gone until it’s too late."

"And if he catches on?"

"Victor will deal with it," Azalea said flatly.

A hush fell over the group.

Finally, Selina said, "Got it."

Zayden pulled up another map. "Maksim will be at his penthouse. I’ll take care of him myself."

"You’re going after Maksim personally?" Liam asked.

"Yeah."

"That’s risky," Reyes pointed out.

"Pretty much everything here is risky," Zayden replied. "But Maksim is my target. He’s been a problem for way too long. This ends now."

Aylin squeezed his hand under the table.

Alexander’s voice broke the tension. "What’s the deal with Alpha?"

"Me too," Zayden said. "Once Aylin shuts down his network and his whole setup starts falling apart, I’ll be there. And I’m going to finish him off."

Sarah spoke slowly. "If you take out Alpha, there will be fallout. He knows people, politicians, judges, who will start asking questions."

"Let them ask," Zayden replied. "By the time they figure it out, Alpha Dark will just be a bad memory."

William leaned back. "This is war."

"This has always been a war," Zayden corrected. "We’re just finally fighting back."

Leo asked, "What’s the plan?"

"The auction is in two days. We strike tomorrow night. While Alpha is busy getting ready for the sale, we’ll go after him."

Azalea jumped in, "Two days from now."

"Exactly."

Liam said, "That doesn’t give us a lot of time to plan."

"It’s enough," Zayden insisted. "We’ve been gearing up for this for months; we just didn’t know it. Every single mission has brought us to this point."

Charles asked, "And after? When Alpha and Maksim are out of the picture?"

Zayden was quiet for a moment. "We rebuild. We make sure this doesn’t happen again. And we wrap up any loose ends."

Everyone knew what he meant: Selina. Alexander. Justice.

Aylin spoke up, "If anyone has a problem with this plan, say something now. Once we’re in, there’s no turning back."

Silence.

Then Leo said, "I’m in."

Reyes added, "Count me in."

Charles declared, "I’m in."

Azalea chimed in, "For sure, I’m in."

Liam asserted, "Let’s put an end to this."

William stated, "For everyone they’ve hurt. I’m in."

On the screen, Sarah commented, "I’ll give you everything you need. I’m in."

Selina simply said, "In."

After a long pause, Alexander finally said, "I’m in."

Zayden looked around the table at his crew, his family, his team, his army.

"Alright, we’ve made our call. Two days. We gear up. We figure things out. We map out every little thing. And then—" A cold grin spread across his face, "—we take them down."

Aylin pulled up a detailed blueprint. "Silk Flame Consortium security setup. Twelve guards. Four stories. One safe room."

Azalea added the financial info. "Front businesses. Shell companies. Money trails that all point back to Alpha."

Liam chimed in with the comms info. "Encrypted channels. Backup systems. Everything he needs to keep things running."

They spent hours going over everything and covering all bases. By the end of the meeting, they had a complete battle plan ready to go.

Zayden stood up. "Everyone knows what to do. Any questions?"

None.

"Good. Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll do one last practice run. And then—" He looked around at everyone, "—we’re going to war."

The screens shut down one by one.

Alexander. Sarah. Selina.

The room cleared out, leaving just Zayden and Aylin.

She leaned into him. "Two days."

"Two days," he agreed.

"Are we ready?"

Zayden pulled her in tighter. "We have to be."

*****

In the warehouse, Layla sat with her blindfold in place.

Two days.

She could keep them safe for just two more days.

She had to.

*****

At the Serena Hotel, girls were sleeping in tight spaces, clueless that in two days, freedom was on the way.

*****

In his penthouse, Alpha stared at the reports.

Something didn’t feel right.

He could sense it.

But he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Not yet.

*****

In Maksim’s penthouse, Selina was packing a bag tucked away in her closet.

Just in case.

Two days.

And then she’d either be free.

Or dead.

Either way, it would all be over.