The livestream started at 11:43 PM.

Kane found it first.

Which immediately ruined everybody’s night.

The safehouse briefing room still smelled like takeout containers and cold coffee when his laptop screen suddenly froze mid-security feed.

Static crackled once.

Then Viktor appeared.

Dominic looked up from the couch.

“…Oh, I hate his face.”

Viktor sat calmly beneath dim industrial lighting wearing black gloves and the same expression people usually reserved for expensive funerals.

The video quality looked too clean.

Professional cameras.

Multiple angles.

Planned.

Kane’s stomach dropped immediately.

“No.”

Cassian stood near the map table reloading magazines automatically while the stream stabilized.

Viktor looked directly into the camera.

“Good evening.”

Nobody in the room moved.

The sound of chains rattling softly somewhere offscreen cut through the speakers.

Then the camera shifted.

Evie sat tied to a metal chair beneath warehouse floodlights.

Blood streaked one side of her temple.

Wrists restrained behind the chair.

Dark hair falling partly across her face.

Alive.

For one brief second, relief hit the room hard enough to hurt.

Then Evie lifted her head slowly toward the camera.

And smiled.

“Okay,” she said hoarsely, “this feels VERY illegal.”

Dominic swore under his breath.

Kane already pulled up city maps beside the livestream feed.

Cassian hadn’t moved.

Not yet.

The room waited around him carefully.

Viktor walked into frame beside Evie and crouched slowly near the chair.

“Still making jokes,” he murmured.

Evie looked at him.

“Still dressing like a divorced vampire.”

Kane whispered:

“Oh my God.”

Even now.

Even tied to a chair.

Cassian stared at the screen without blinking.

Too still.

Wrong kind of still.

Viktor looked toward the camera again.

“You know what fascinates me about love?” he asked quietly. “People spend years convincing themselves it makes them human.”

His gloved hand brushed lightly against the side of Evie’s chair.

“Then somebody threatens the person they chose.” His eyes settled directly into the camera lens. “And suddenly they become monsters again.”

The room stayed silent except for laptop fan noise and the low static hiss from the livestream speakers.

Evie looked exhausted.

Still trying to sit upright anyway.

Cassian’s hand rested motionless beside the table edge.

Not shaking.

Worse.

Perfectly steady.

Kane glanced toward him once and immediately looked away again.

The stream cut briefly to another camera angle.

Warehouse interior.

Shipping crates.

Industrial walls.

Dominic moved closer beside the laptop.

“Dock district maybe.”

“No,” Sofia said quietly from the doorway. “Ceiling supports are wrong.”

Evie shifted slightly against the restraints.

“Hey,” she called toward the camera. “If anybody’s watching this from the safehouse, tell Kane his taste in protein bars still sucks.”

Kane pressed one hand hard against his mouth.

Viktor looked amused.

“You’re not frightened enough.”

Evie looked at him tiredly.

“I got kidnapped twice in one month. At this point I’m building tolerance.”

Cassian’s jaw tightened slightly.

Tiny movement.

Still enough for Dominic to notice immediately.

Viktor circled slowly behind the chair.

“You know why I kept her alive?”

Nobody answered.

Viktor smiled faintly toward the camera.

“Cassian only understands loss through violence.”

The room temperature seemed to drop after that.

Evie looked toward the camera again.

Her voice softened slightly this time.

“Hey.” A quick breath escaped her. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Cassian finally moved.

He stepped closer toward the laptop slowly.

No wasted motion.

No panic.

That terrified Kane more than yelling would’ve.

Viktor noticed too.

Interesting flickered briefly across his face.

“There he is.”

The camera zoomed tighter toward Evie’s face.

Bruising near her jaw now visible beneath the warehouse lighting.

Cassian stopped breathing normally for exactly one second.

Only Sofia noticed.

Viktor crouched beside Evie again.

“She matters more than Elena did already.”

The room detonated silently around that sentence.

Dominic looked toward Cassian immediately.

Bad instinct.

Cassian’s face had gone completely unreadable.

No anger.

No grief.

Nothing.

Which somehow looked worse than violence already.

Evie’s expression changed instantly.

“That was low,” she muttered.

Viktor ignored her.

“You spent years teaching yourself attachment was weakness,” he continued toward the camera. “Then she arrived and suddenly you started collecting sticky notes.”

Kane blinked sharply.

“…How does he know about the sticky notes.”

Nobody answered.

Viktor leaned closer beside Evie’s chair.

“Love always creates leverage.” His voice lowered slightly. “That’s the tragedy.”

Then he grabbed a fistful of Evie’s hair hard enough to force her head back toward the camera.

Kane cursed loudly.

Dominic moved immediately toward the weapons table.

Cassian still hadn’t spoken.

Evie winced sharply but managed:

“Okay, wow. Definitely compensating for something.”

Blood appeared near her temple where the chair edge caught skin.

Cassian reached toward the laptop screen before stopping himself halfway.

Small movement.

Barely there.

Still enough to expose everything.

Viktor saw it immediately.

His smile faded afterward.

Not amusement anymore.

Recognition.

“There,” he said softly. “That’s real.”

The warehouse lighting buzzed overhead through the stream speakers.

Evie looked directly into the camera again.

This time she stopped joking.

“Cassian.”

Her voice cracked slightly around his name.

First time all night.

That sound hit the room like a gunshot.

Cassian finally spoke.

Quietly.

“Location.”

Kane looked up instantly.

“Still tracing.”

Viktor heard him through the livestream microphone.

“Good.” He released Evie’s hair slowly. “Bring everyone.”

The stream glitched briefly.

Then stabilized again.

Viktor stepped closer toward the camera.

“You know what the funny part is?” he asked softly. “She still thinks you’ll save her.”

Evie closed her eyes once.

Tired now.

Scared underneath it finally.

Cassian watched her silently from across the room.

The distance between him and the laptop suddenly looked unbearable.

Then Viktor smiled faintly toward the camera.

“I’m curious which version of you arrives first.” His eyes darkened slightly. “The man she loves…” A pause. “Or the one I trained.”

The livestream cut to black.

Nobody moved afterward.

The room stayed silent except for static buzzing faintly through the dead speakers.

Kane looked toward Cassian carefully.

“…Boss.”

Cassian picked up his gun from the table.

No visible emotion crossed his face.

That scared everybody more than rage would’ve.

Dominic swallowed once.

“You got a plan?”

Cassian checked the magazine calmly beneath the fluorescent briefing lights.

Then chambered a round.

The sound cracked sharply through the room.

When he finally looked up, something in his expression had gone frighteningly empty.

Not grief.

Not panic.

Purpose.

Cassian grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair.

Then headed toward the door without another word.