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7:54 p.m. - The Edge Hotel, Room 607
Lena stared at the necklace.
MIRA - etched in gold, delicate and cold.
Her hands trembled as she picked it up.
They were watching. Always watching.
Cameron downed a glass of champagne. "We can't go to this thing."
"We have to," Lena said. "It's bait. Which means they want something from us. That means leverage."
"You mean danger."
"I mean power."
He looked at her, and for a moment, he didn't see the girl they'd saved from Viktor.
He saw the woman she was becoming - scarred, sharp, and unafraid to burn.
Lena turned to the mirror.
Put on the necklace.
And smiled.
10:03 p.m. - The Masquerade Ball
The invitation led them to a private estate on the outskirts of Hawthorn.
A gated mansion wrapped in ivy and secrets.
Dozens of guests filled the grand hall, all in masks - gold, velvet, lace. The air smelled like sandalwood and sin. Champagne flowed. Strings played something dark and seductive.
It looked like something out of a gothic dream.
Cameron, Lena, Ivy, Jaxon, and Mira entered together, dressed to kill.
But from the moment they stepped inside, they were split.
Pulled apart like prey.
Lena
She was approached first - by a tall woman in a plunging black gown, her mask studded with sapphires. The woman's lips curled in a practiced smile.
"You look exquisite," she purred.
"I'm taken," Lena replied.
"Not here you're not," the woman said, running a red-tipped finger down Lena's collarbone. "Here, you belong to the mask."
Lena stepped back. "Do you work for Sparrow?"
The woman tilted her head. "Sparrow? Oh, sweet girl... Sparrow works for us."
Lena froze. "Who's 'us'?"
But the woman only laughed.
Jaxon
He drifted through the ballroom, alert, tense.
Then someone slipped beside him - another older woman, draped in emerald satin, her mask feathered.
"You don't belong here," she said.
He met her eyes. "Neither do you."
She smirked. "Touché."
Then she leaned close, whispering, "They're watching your friends. All of them. Especially Mira."
Jaxon's muscles tensed. "Why?"
"Because she's the prettiest bird in the cage," the woman said. "And someone already paid to own her."
He grabbed her arm. "What do you mean paid-"
But she slipped away, laughing into the shadows.
Mira
Alone.
Her mask was silver, delicate, laced like spiderwebs. She wandered through marble halls until she found a door slightly ajar.
Curiosity won.
Inside was a library - rich mahogany, candlelit. Velvet couches. And a man.
No mask.
Just a face too handsome to trust.
He stood, smiling. "You must be Mira."
Her throat tightened. "Do I know you?"
"No. But I know you."
He stepped closer. "And I've waited a long time to meet the girl who ruined Viktor D'Angelo."
She stepped back. "Who are you?"
He offered a hand. "A buyer."
Mira's heart stopped.
She ran.
Cameron
Cameron had been cornered by a man and woman - both masked, both laughing too much.
They fed him wine. Called him beautiful. Touched his arms like he was already bought.
"You're nervous," the woman said.
"I'm leaving," he said.
"You can't," the man replied. "Not until the auction."
Cameron stilled. "What auction?"
The woman leaned in, breath warm. "For you. And your friends."
He shoved them off and bolted.
Ivy
Ivy found the cameras first - behind the masks. Tiny, embedded in the eyeholes of the elite.
The ballroom wasn't just a party.
It was a livestream.
And they were the main attraction.
She grabbed a candlestick and smashed one of the camera-masks.
The music stopped.
All eyes turned.
Then a familiar voice boomed from hidden speakers:
"Tsk. Tsk. Little birds do love to peck at the cage."
Sparrow.
"But cages are illusions.
The real prison... is inside your heads."
Then the ballroom doors locked.
Guests gasped.
Gas turned to screams.
Someone yelled, "We're trapped!"
Ivy ran to the side door - sealed.
Lena screamed from across the room, pointing to the second level.
There, behind the balcony:
The Woman in Red.
Same one Jaxon had met. No mask this time.
She clapped slowly.
"Bravo, little rebels. You played your parts beautifully."
The Reveal
Security guards swarmed the room - or what looked like them.
But instead of helping, they surrounded the teens.
Gloved hands. Syringes drawn. Restraints in pockets.
Sparrow's network wasn't just watching.
They were collecting.
Lena grabbed Cameron's hand. Ivy moved to Mira. Jaxon stood in front of them all.
The woman in red gave a signal.
Guards charged.
Then-
BANG.
The chandelier shattered.
From above, a figure dropped - masked, cloaked, dual-wielding flare guns.
Smoke exploded.
Chaos erupted.
The teens were grabbed, pulled, shoved - through a service corridor, through a broken staff door.
The mysterious figure guided them out, fast and brutal.
Jaxon turned mid-run. "Who the hell are you?"
The figure removed their mask.
A teenage boy.
Familiar face. Scar above the eyebrow.
"You forgot me already?" he smirked.
Cameron gasped. "Luca?"