Chapter 10 - THE FINAL SOVEREIGNTYThe battle at Pier 14 would never make the morning papers.
The police wouldn't respond to the emergency calls, and the city’s politicians would claim nothing happened. But by midnight, the shipping container yards looked like a war zone.
The Consorzio mercenaries thought they were walking into an easy takeover. They brought thermal scopes, breaching charges, and assault rifles, expecting a disorganized local syndicate ripe for the picking.
Instead, they walked into a slaughter of shadows.
Marcus Cole moved through the maze of stacked steel containers like a wraith, his suppressed pistol spitting silent death with ruthless precision. Beside him, Sovereign fought like a demon unleashed, tearing through elite foreign mercenaries with terrifying coordinated fury.
And leading the charge through the crossfire, slipping between towering stacks of steel crates with uncanny agility, was Iris.
The leader of the Consorzio—a ruthless warlord known only as The General—found himself cornered against the edge of the freezing dark water at the end of Pier 14. His men were scattered, neutralized, or fleeing into the night.
The General raised his submachine gun, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared down the barrel of Marcus’s pistol. Standing beside Marcus was the scarred dog, and right in front of them, hands tucked casually into her oversized hoodie, stood the little girl.
"Who... what the hell are you people?!" The General spat, blood dripping from his lip.
Marcus stepped forward, the cold wind whipping his coat around his ankles, his eyes carrying the absolute, unshakable weight of a man who owned every inch of the city from the neon towers down to the darkest gutters.
"You're standing in the wrong city," Marcus said softly.
Before the General could pull his trigger, Iris spoke a single, quiet word.
“Now.”
Sovereign lunged.
When the sun finally crested the horizon, painting the harbor in brilliant shades of gold and amber, the docks were silent.
Marcus stood at the edge of the pier, watching the waves roll gently against the concrete pylons. Iris stood beside him, her small hand resting comfortably on Sovereign’s thick, scarred neck.
The city was safe. The empire was secure. And the dark belonged to the strays who knew how to guard it.
"Breakfast?" Marcus asked, looking down at the girl with a faint, warm smile.
May you like
Iris nodded, a rare, genuine grin touching her lips. "Pancakes. Extra syrup. And you're paying."
"Deal," Marcus said, turning away from the water as the three of them walked side by side into the bright, morning light.
