*Chapter 26: The Rise Before the Storm*
The night in Verona was unnaturally quiet, as if the city itself was holding its breath. The Queen of Shadows—Elena DeLuca—stood at the rooftop of the DeLuca estate, her eyes locked on the distant skyline where her empire now burned, one warehouse at a time.
Nikolai's message was loud and clear.
But Elena's silence would be louder.
***
Inside the war room, a map of Europe was lit up in red and blue markers—blue for allies, red for zones under Trevisan control. The red was growing. Fast.
Rafael, now sporting a bruised jaw from a previous ambush, slammed his fist on the table. "We can't just wait. He's hitting our supply lines, our safe houses—he's cutting off the oxygen before the war even starts!"
"And that's exactly why we won't strike yet," Elena said, her voice calm, yet deadly.
Luca frowned. "So what, we sit here and let him burn everything?"
"No." She turned to the board and circled three names in red. "We go after his roots. Quietly. One by one. We don't fight his army—we dismantle his throne."
***
Days passed. One by one, Nikolai's key financiers began disappearing.
First: Giancarlo Bruni, vanished from his penthouse in Milan. Only trace left was a blood-red queen chess piece on his desk.
Second: Madam Kristov, his smuggling coordinator—found tied to a chair in Odessa, mouth sewn shut with thread, beside a note: *"No more secrets for snakes."*
Third: Yuri Petrov, his arms dealer—his private plane exploded mid-air before landing in Bucharest. No survivors.
Nikolai was bleeding from the inside now.
And he knew exactly who was holding the knife.
***
Meanwhile, Elena had a visitor.
A young hacker named *Rin*, barely 19, recommended by Isabelle. Piercings, purple hair, brilliant mind. She'd cracked into Trevisan's off-the-grid server—a place no one was supposed to access.
"I found something," Rin said, sliding a file onto Elena's desk. "Coordinates. A remote estate in the Carpathian mountains. Guarded like a fortress. But that's not the interesting part."
She tapped the screen.
A photo appeared.
Of a woman.
In a glass cell.
"She's alive," Rin whispered.
Elena froze.
The woman in the cell—scared, bruised, but unmistakable—was her mother.
Long believed dead.
Nikolai had lied.
And now Elena's rage was something no bullet could match.
***
Back in his snowy mountain estate, Nikolai stared at a chessboard.
One of his guards entered, sweating.
"Sir… Bruni's dead. Petrov too. And they left a mark…"
Nikolai turned slowly. "Let me guess. A queen?"
The man nodded.
Nikolai's jaw clenched. "She's not just playing the game anymore…"
He looked down at the chessboard.
"…she's rewriting the rules."
***
Back in Verona, Elena stood before her team.
"Prepare the jet," she ordered. "We're going to the Carpathians."
Rafael stepped forward. "You sure?"
"She took my mother. Burned my legacy. Touched my blood."
She stared out the window, eyes cold and steady.
"Now I'll end his."
*To be continued...*
(Ready for Chapter 27?)