The Open Door

The sound of sirens wailed from the street below. Not just police. SWAT. FBI. The gunfire and explosions had drawn the entire city’s attention.

Dominic walked to the window. He looked down.

"I can't stay," he said. "The police will ask questions I can't answer. Marcus will talk when he wakes up. The Cure knows where I live."

"The safe houses?" Harper asked.

"Secure. I transferred the deeds to shell companies yesterday morning, thanks to your advice. The kids are safe."

"But you're not."

Dominic turned to her. "I have to run, Harper. I have a chopper on the roof. I can be in Canada by sunrise, then disappear into the network."

He held out his hand.

"It’s a dangerous life. No galas. No penthouses. Just the run. Just us."

Harper looked at the destroyed penthouse. She looked at her computer, the tool she used to fight the world from a distance.

She looked at Dominic. The billionaire. The monster. The only person who had ever challenged her to be more than a ghost in the machine.

"I never liked this dress anyway," Harper said, a sharp, dangerous grin spreading across her face.

She took his hand.

They ran for the stairs to the roof.

The wind on the helipad was fierce, whipping Harper’s hair across her face. The helicopter blades were already spinning, cutting the air with a rhythmic *thwack-thwack-thwack*.

Dominic helped her into the cockpit. He jumped in the pilot’s seat.

As the helicopter lifted off, rising above the chaos of the sirens and the flashing lights of New York City, Harper looked down at the Spire one last time.

She opened her laptop, connected to the chopper’s wi-fi, and typed one last command.

*EXECUTE: ERASE\_ALL\_DATA.*

The lights of the Obsidian Spire went dark, erasing their past, leaving only the open sky ahead.