Code of Shadows

Chapter 56 - A New Engagement

The lights of Paris glittered outside the window, casting a warm, golden glow over the room. I stood with my forehead resting lightly against the cool glass, watching the city breathe. The world felt so vast from up here, the streets below bustling with life. It should have been comforting, but tonight, it only amplified the weight of what was coming. Behind me, I could hear Ethan pacing, the quiet click of his phone filling the space between us. I didn't need to turn around to know he was already buried in the details of our next mission.

We had barely settled into this new phase of our relationship—officially together—but the demands of our work didn't care. The stolen plutonium wasn't just another mission. It was bigger, more dangerous, and the stakes were higher than anything we'd faced before. We were standing on the edge of a potential global disaster, and for the first time, the weight of it all felt personal. Because now, it wasn't just about the mission—it was about us.

"Ethan," I said softly, breaking the silence. I turned to face him, watching him stop mid-step and look up from his phone. "Do you ever think about what we're doing? What it means for us?"

There was a flicker of something in his eyes—concern, maybe—but then he gave me that familiar steady look, the one that always seemed to make me feel like everything was under control. "Alex, we don't have a choice," he said, his voice calm and reassuring. "The world needs us, and I trust you."

The way he said it, so simple and direct, should have made me feel better. But instead, it stirred something inside me—a gnawing sense of unease that I couldn't shake. Trust. The word hung between us like a fragile thread. I trusted Ethan more than anyone, but trust in our line of work was a double-edged sword. It could get you killed. It could tear everything apart. And I knew, deep down, that my own trust issues were still very much alive.

I opened my mouth to respond, to tell him how I felt, but before I could, Ethan's phone buzzed again. He glanced down at the screen, and I watched as his expression shifted, his jaw tightening.

"We have a problem," he muttered, stepping closer to show me the message. My stomach twisted as I read the words, dread creeping up my spine: *IMF agent status: inactive. Suspected defection.*

"Someone's gone dark," Ethan said, his voice low but tense. "We have a traitor."

The word "traitor" sent a chill through me. In our world, betrayal was always a possibility, but when it came from within the IMF, it was worse than any outside threat. This wasn't just about stolen plutonium anymore. It was personal. Someone on the inside had turned against us. And that meant we couldn't trust anyone.

"Who?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Ethan shook his head, his eyes scanning the message again as if hoping the answer would suddenly appear. "We don't know yet. But we need to find out—fast."

I nodded, my mind already racing. If there was a mole, it meant the mission just got a lot more dangerous. Every move we made would be watched, calculated. We would have to be more careful than ever.

Ethan moved toward the small table in the corner of the room, spreading out the mission details on the surface. I joined him, scanning the files, maps, and intel we had gathered. The stolen plutonium had fallen into the hands of a mysterious group known as the Apostles, led by the infamous John Lark. We had no idea who he really was, but we knew his goal—to create chaos by detonating nuclear bombs in strategic locations around the world.

"Paris is just the beginning," Ethan said, his voice steady but urgent. "If Lark succeeds in selling the plutonium, millions could die."

The weight of his words settled over me like a heavy cloak. Millions of lives. And here we were, just two people standing in a room, trying to prevent the unthinkable. It was moments like this that made everything feel overwhelming—the sheer scale of what we were up against.

"We have to get ahead of him," I said, pushing aside my doubts. "We have to find Lark before he disappears again."

Ethan nodded, but I could see the wheels turning in his mind. He was always five steps ahead, always calculating the risks. "We need to get to the auction tomorrow night," he said, flipping through the pages of the dossier. "Lark will be there, trying to make the sale. It's our best chance to intercept him and recover the plutonium."

The auction. A high-profile charity event in the heart of Paris. Glitz, glamour, and somewhere in the crowd—John Lark. It was risky, but it was all we had.

"Ethan," I started, but my voice faltered. There were so many things I wanted to say, but the words caught in my throat. Instead, I reached out, placing my hand on his arm. He looked down at me, his expression softening for just a moment.

"We'll get through this," he said, his voice low. "Together."

I wanted to believe him. I really did. But there was something about the way this mission felt that I couldn't shake. Something darker. Something more dangerous.

As we gathered our things, ready to head out into the Paris night, Ethan's phone buzzed again. He glanced at it, and his face darkened.

"What is it?" I asked, already bracing for the worst.

He handed me the phone, and as I read the message, my heart sank. The traitor wasn't just any IMF agent. It was someone we had worked with before, someone we had trusted. Someone who knew everything about how we operated.

"Walker," Ethan said, his voice cold. "He's the one who's gone dark."

My pulse quickened. An agent gone dark meant only one thing—there was a traitor among us, and we didn't know who to trust anymore.