Page 53 of Whispers in the Quarter

Alex’s struggles grow weaker as Ethan leans close, whispering something we can’t hear. Whatever it is makes Alex’s eyes go wide with real fear—perhaps the first genuine emotion I’ve ever seen from him.

When it’s over, when Alex lies bleeding and bound, Ethan straightens slowly. His movements are different now—smoother, deadlier, like he’s finally comfortable in his own skin. He looks directly at our hiding spot, and his eyes... God, his eyes hold something beautiful and terrible.

“You can come out now, Ghost. All of you.”

I step out first, Jazz and Lucas flanking me like dark angels. Ethan watches our approach with those changed eyes—no, not changed. Honest. Like he’s finally stopped pretending they were ever anything but predator’s eyes.

“Well,” Lucas practically purrs, circling Ethan with clinical fascination. “I must say, the results far exceeded my experimental parameters. Though perhaps that’s because there was nothing to change, just something to... unleash.”

“You knew,” I realize, watching Ethan track Lucas’s movement with that new deadly grace. “You knew what he really was.”

“Of course he knew,” Ethan’s voice carries an edge of dark amusement. “Our brilliant doctor has a particular talent for seeing the monsters hiding behind masks of righteousness. Don’t you, Lucas?”

Lucas’s giggle borders on hysteria. “Oh, my Saint, you have no idea how long I’ve waited to see this. The perfect fusion of law and chaos, justice and vengeance.” He runs a finger down Ethan’s bloody arm. “Absolutely exquisite.”

“If you’re quite finished admiring your handiwork,” Jazz interrupts, nudging Alex with his foot, “we should probably deal with this situation.”

Alex coughs wetly. “You have no idea what you’re doing. The organization?—”

“Is being dismantled as we speak,” Ethan cuts him off. “Every piece of evidence I’ve collected over the years, every connection I traced while playing the righteous agent, it’s all being executed now. Your empire is falling, Alex. I just needed to stop pretending I cared about doing it legally.”

“And what about her?” Alex’s eyes fix on me. “Your precious ghost? Going to arrest her too, now that you’ve embraced your darkness?”

Ethan moves with that new deadly grace, crouching beside my former mentor. “You still don’t understand what’s happening here, do you? I’m not going to arrest anyone.” His smile holds echoes of Lucas’s brilliant madness. “I’m joining them.”

“You’re joining—” Alex’s laugh turns into a wet cough. “The righteous FBI agent, the scientist who can’t decide if he’s brilliant or insane, a jazz musician with too many connections, and my little shadow? What a fascinating team you’ll make.”

“Family,” Jazz corrects, and something in his tone makes us all look at him. “We’re becoming a family, you sadistic bastard. Something you wouldn’t understand.”

A crash from outside—Ethan’s team finally breaching the perimeter. But the sound of helicopter blades tells me Alex planned for this. He always had an escape route.

“As entertaining as this has been,” Alex shifts, and I recognize the movement too late.

“Down!” I scream, but the flash grenade is already sailing through the air.

The world goes white, then black. By the time my vision clears, Alex is gone. The sound of the helicopter fades into the distance.

“Damn it!” Ethan moves to pursue, but Lucas catches his arm.

“Let him go, my Saint.” His voice carries that manic certainty. “This is just the beginning of a much more interesting experiment.”

“He’ll come back,” I say, picking myself up off the concrete. “He never could let go of things he considered his.”

“Good.” Ethan’s smile is terrifying in its beauty. “Let him come. Let him see exactly what hislittle shadowhas built.” He looks between us—musician, scientist, vigilante. “Let him learn what happens when the monsters he tried to control decide to hunt together.”

Jazz moves to the window, watching Alex’s helicopter disappear into the dawn. “So what now, sugar? All of us together... that’s gonna make one hell of a complicated song.”

“Now?” Lucas laughs, that brilliant madness dancing in his eyes. “Now we become something new. Something beautiful and dangerous and perfectly balanced.”

“Now,” Ethan says, that predator’s grace flowing through every movement as he pulls me close, “we stop pretending we’re anything but what we are.”

“And what’s that?” I ask, even as Jazz and Lucas move to complete our circle.

Ethan’s smile holds all the darkness he never had to hide again. “A family of monsters, Ghost. The kind that hunt other monsters.”

Lucas giggles. “Oh, this is going to be absolutely fascinating to observe.”

“Observe hell,” Jazz grins. “We’re all in this dance now.”

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