Chapter 15 - The Vanguard UltimatumBefore Daniel could press Marcus for more answers, the digital tablet that had fallen from the traitor's hand suddenly lit up.

A video call initiated automatically, flashing a bright, harsh white light against the dark hallway floor.

Daniel crouched down slowly, keeping his gun trained on Marcus, and tapped the accept button on the screen.

The display didn’t show a face. It showed a high-resolution aerial thermal image of their own estate, surrounded by a perimeter of blinking red dots. Armed tactical units—dozens of them, masked and heavily armored—were closing in on the house from every direction through the dense surrounding woods.

And superimposed over the map was a chilling, computerized voice modulator.

“Mr. Brooks. You have thirty minutes to surrender the boy. If you fail, the estate will be leveled with tactical explosives, and every single soul inside will burn.”

The screen flickered black.

Marcus let out a ragged, mocking chuckle from beneath Natalie’s boot. “Thirty minutes, Daniel. You can’t fight an army. Hand the boy over, and maybe—just maybe—you and your little maid get to walk out alive.”

Natalie didn’t hesitate. She leaned down with brutal efficiency and struck Marcus across the temple with the heavy brass candlestick, knocking him out cold instantly.

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She stood up, her eyes locking onto Daniel’s. There was no fear in her expression—only absolute, unyielding resolve.

“They want a war,” Natalie said quietly, walking over to the master bedroom closet and pulling out a heavy, locked steel security case containing assault-grade armaments they had kept hidden since the old days. “Let’s give them one.”