Chapter 6 - The Ghost ReturnsJulian stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Marcus standing ten feet away under the fluorescent lights of the ICU corridor.
For a terrifying second, neither man moved. The air between them crackled with seven years of betrayal, ruin, and unsaid words.
Then, Julian’s eyes darted past Marcus toward the open door of Room 402.
“Sophia?” Julian breathed, his voice breaking.
Sophia appeared in the doorway behind Marcus, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes locked onto the man she hadn't seen in three years.
“Julian?” she whispered, her voice trembling so violently she could barely form the word.
Julian didn't care about Marcus. He didn't care about the security guard, or the hospital rules, or the federal warrants that had supposedly hung over his head for nearly a decade. He pushed past Marcus with frantic energy and collapsed to his knees in front of Sophia, grabbing her hands.
“Is she okay?” Julian sobbed, the tears finally breaking through his hard exterior. “I got the alert from the secure medical network. I saw the admission ping... Is my little girl okay?”
“She’s alive,” Sophia wept, falling to her knees beside him and burying her face against his shoulder. “She’s alive, Julian. They fixed her heart.”
Marcus stood over them, watching the reunion. The anger he had harbored for seven years—the resentment of feeling abandoned by his most trusted friend—evaporated in the face of raw, human desperation.
He reached down, grabbed Julian by the collar of his trench coat, and hauled him effortlessly to his feet.
“Get up,” Marcus said, his voice thick with emotion.
Julian blinked, bracing himself for a punch. But instead of a fist, Marcus pulled him into a fierce, suffocating embrace, clapping a heavy hand against his back.
“You idiot,” Marcus muttered against Julian’s ear. “You absolute, reckless idiot. You could have told me.”
May you like
Julian pulled back, staring at Marcus in disbelief. “You... you know?”
“I know everything,” Marcus said, releasing him and stepping back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the encrypted flash drive, tossing it into Julian’s hands. “And the people who put you in the ground seven years ago are about to find out what happens when you wake the wrong dragon.”
