Chapter 16

     I left the bar with the note still clenched in my hand, the faint imprint of Tony’s warning echoing in my mind. The streets outside were colder now, the fog hanging low and thick, muffling the city’s heartbeat. It felt like everything was closing in, the walls tightening, the air growing heavier with every step I took. Achilles had been orchestrating everything from the start, but Tony had shown me something I hadn’t seen before—a gap in the pattern, a fracture in the carefully crafted web.

     The note — Ret, Tony. Divert. — was more than just a warning. It was an instruction, a message from Achilles, telling Tony to fall back, to lead me astray, to send me chasing shadows. But why? What was Achilles trying to hide, and why did Tony seem so conflicted about his role in it?

     As I moved through the fog-drenched streets, it hit me. Tony wasn’t just another pawn in Achilles’ game. He was the pivot—the one who could turn the whole thing upside down. Achilles needed Tony to divert attention, to keep me chasing ghosts while the real plan unfolded elsewhere. But Tony had hesitated, and that hesitation was the crack I needed.

     I followed the trail back to where it all began: the printworks. The place felt different now, more alive, as though the shadows were watching, waiting for something to shift. The doors creaked as I pushed them open, the air inside thick with the smell of ink and damp paper. The machinery stood silent, towering over me like ancient relics, but there was something in the air, a tension that hadn’t been there before.

     I stepped inside, the dim light from the broken windows casting long, distorted shadows across the floor. It wasn’t just a building. This place had become the heart of Achilles’ operation, a central node in the web he’d spun around the city. And now, standing in the middle of it, I could feel the threads pulling tight, drawing everything toward this one point.

     Tony had told me to leave, but he hadn’t meant it. Not really. He was trying to warn me without giving too much away, to hint at the bigger picture while keeping Achilles’ plan intact. But I wasn’t playing by their rules anymore. The game had changed.

     I scanned the room, searching for any clue, any sign that would confirm what I already suspected. The printworks wasn’t just a hiding place. It was the main tie—the place where everything connected. Achilles, Madeleine, Tony, even the city itself—all of it came back to this room, to the machines and the ink and the endless repetition of the same, over and over again.

     I moved deeper into the building, past the rusted presses and broken conveyor belts, until I reached a narrow corridor at the back. The door at the end was ajar, a faint light spilling through the crack. My heart pounded in my chest as I stepped closer, the air growing colder with each step.

     Inside, I found what I’d been looking for.

     The room was small, cramped, filled with old filing cabinets and stacks of newspapers that had long since yellowed with age. But in the center, propped up on a metal table, was something else—something I hadn’t expected.

     A map.

     It was laid out flat, covered in marks and scribbles, lines drawn in red ink that crisscrossed the city like veins. Every point on the map was connected, every line leading back to a central location: the printworks. This place was the hub, the nerve center of everything Achilles had been planning. And Tony—Tony had been stationed here, tasked with keeping it hidden, keeping me away from the truth.

     But the map showed more than just locations. It showed patterns. Movements. The way Achilles had been guiding not just me, but the entire city, steering it toward something bigger, something I hadn’t yet understood.

     As I studied the map, I realized that every major event—every encounter with Achilles, every moment where Madeleine had appeared and then vanished—had been part of the same design. Achilles hadn’t been playing with me. He’d been using me, moving me through the city like a piece on a chessboard, making sure I ended up exactly where he wanted me. But why?

     And then I saw it. A name, scrawled in the margin of the map, circled in red ink: Madeleine.

     She wasn’t just part of the puzzle. She was the key, the central figure that tied everything together. Achilles had been building something around her, using her as the focal point for his plan. Every move he’d made, every person he’d manipulated—it all led back to her.

     The door behind me creaked, and I spun around, my heart racing. Tony stood in the doorway, his face half-hidden in shadow.

     “You found it,” he said quietly.

     “What is this?” I asked, holding up the map. “What’s Achilles planning?”

     Tony stepped into the room, his expression grim. “It’s not what you think,” he said. “Achilles isn’t just after power. He’s after something deeper. Something that’s been buried in this city for a long time.”

     I stared at him, waiting for the explanation that had eluded me for months.

     “He’s been searching for control,” Tony continued, “but not just over people. Over time. Over memory. He’s trying to rewrite the city’s past, to shape it in his image, and he’s been using you to do it. Every place you’ve been, every step you’ve taken, has been part of his plan to bend the city to his will.”

     “And Madeleine?” I asked, the name still ringing in my ears. “Where does she fit into this?”

     Tony’s eyes darkened. “She’s the anchor. The one thing that can’t be rewritten. Achilles has been trying to erase her from the city’s memory, but she keeps slipping through the cracks. That’s why you keep seeing her. That’s why she’s always just out of reach. She’s the only thing standing in the way of his plan.”

     I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. “And you? What’s your role in this?”

     Tony sighed. “I was supposed to keep you away from the truth. To divert you, make sure you stayed on the path Achilles wanted. But I can’t do it anymore. The main tie—it’s too strong. The city is changing, and if we don’t stop him now, it’ll be too late.”

     I looked down at the map again, the lines crisscrossing the city like a web of fate. Everything was converging, and the stakes had never been higher. Achilles was closer than ever to achieving his goal, but now, for the first time, I had a way to stop him.

     The main tie had been revealed, and with it, the key to unraveling everything Achilles had built.

     “We need to find Madeleine,” I said, my voice steady. “Before Achilles does.”

     Tony nodded, and for the first time, I saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.