Smoke clung to the walls like ghosts that wouldn't leave.
The man in the doorway stepped through the haze, his tailored coat barely dusted by ash, his presence impossibly calm in the middle of the inferno. Eyes like obsidian, smile sharp as broken glass.
Lilly's gun rose. Her pulse didn't. "I should've known you weren't dead."
He smirked. "You almost sounded disappointed."
"Disgusted, actually," she fired back.
Sam stood shoulder to shoulder with her, jaw clenched, finger twitching near the trigger. "You must be the bastard who trained Ava to lie like breathing and be annoying as hell."
"Oh, sweet Sam," he cooed, stepping closer, ignoring the guns aimed at his head like they were children's toys. "I didn't train her to lie. I trained her to survive. It's not my fault she confused the two."
From the corner, Ava groaned. She was sitting up now, blood still on her temple, voice hoarse. "Don't listen to him. He'll twist everything. That's what he does."
"Still bitter, Ava?" he mused, cocking his head. "You should be thanking me. Without me, there is no you. No ghost agent. No rogue femme fatale."
Lilly took a step forward, fury radiating off her like wildfire. "Without you, Alyx would still be alive."
That silenced him.
Only for a moment.
Then he smiled, slow and sinister. "Alyx was always too curious. Like you. Couldn't help but dig where it was dangerous."
Lilly's breath hitched—then her finger tightened.
BANG.
The bullet kissed the wall beside his head.
"I don't miss twice," Lilly hissed.
The man's smirk vanished. "You're out of time, girls. That breaker panel? That name? It's not just a lead. It's a death sentence. You go there; you sign your own execution orders."
"Then hand me the pen," Sam growled.
A siren wailed in the distance. Reinforcements were coming.
He gave them a final, bone-chilling smile. "This is your last chance. Run. Hide. Or bury each other like the last team I sent down this road."
And with that, he vanished back into the smoke.
Gone.
Like a nightmare that promised to return.
Sam turned to Lilly, eyes blazing. "We go tonight."
Lilly nodded. "We end it tonight."
And Ava? Still bloody. Still watching. Still silent.
But something flickered in her gaze. Regret, maybe a sliver of redemption.
Or maybe just another lie.