Vihan’s breath hitched as the man from the rooftop stepped forward, his polished black shoes clicking against the sterile floor. The Council’s agents flanked him in eerie silence, their eyes cold and calculating.

  Asha stood among them, unharmed, her expression unreadable.

  “You’ve made quite the effort to get here,” the man said smoothly. “But I’m afraid you won’t be leaving the way you came.”

  Vihan’s fingers twitched toward his bag, where the Bhagavad Gita lay hidden. “Let her go.”

  The man chuckled. “Let her go? Vihan, she was never a prisoner.”

  Vihan’s stomach twisted. “What?”

  Asha finally spoke, her voice soft but steady. “They didn’t capture me, Vihan. I came willingly.”

  The world seemed to tilt for a moment.

  Zara’s grip tightened around her knife. “Tell me she’s lying.”

  Vihan shook his head. “No. No, that doesn’t make sense. Asha, they attacked us. They tried to kill us.”

  Asha exhaled. “They were never trying to kill us. They were trying to stop us from making a mistake.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The man smiled approvingly. “Smart girl.”

  Vihan clenched his fists. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Asha took a slow step forward. “The book, Vihan. It’s not what we think it is.”

  Vihan took an involuntary step back. “We saw the prophecy. Kalki isn’t coming to save the world—he’s coming to burn it down.”

  The man nodded. “And that’s exactly why we’ve spent decades ensuring that prophecy never comes to pass.”

  Zara scoffed. “Oh, I get it now. You’re the good guys, rewriting history to keep everyone safe?”

  The man didn’t seem fazed. “The truth is often more complicated than morality allows.”

  Vihan’s mind raced. He had spent his entire life searching for answers, believing the Council of 9 was a shadowy force controlling the world for their own gain. But now, standing here, hearing this…

  He wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

  Asha turned to him, her eyes pleading. “Vihan, if we let this book out into the world, it will destroy everything.”

  Vihan swallowed. “Then why did my mother protect it?”

  The man’s smile faded slightly. “Because she didn’t have all the pieces.”

  A door behind him slid open with a mechanical hiss. A single monitor flickered to life inside the dimly lit room beyond.

  And then—Vihan’s heart nearly stopped.

  A grainy video feed played.

  A woman.

  Bound to a chair.

  Blood at the edges of her lips.

  Her face was older, more worn than the last time he had seen her—but there was no mistaking it.

  His mother.

  Alive.

  Vihan’s world shattered.

  “She spent years running,” the man said quietly. “And now, she has the truth.”

  Vihan barely heard him.

  His mother. After all these years.

  His hands trembled.

  The book, the prophecy, the Council—none of it mattered anymore.

  Only one thought burned in his mind.

  He was getting her back.

  No matter the cost.