Viktor descended the stairs with fluid grace, each step carrying a confidence that had been absent since the poisoning.

The transformation was staggering... the man who couldn't even stand without help was now walking like someone reborn.

His posture was straight, his movements effortless, his presence… commanding.

Pavel broke first. He rushed forward, tears streaming down his face, and Viktor caught him in a firm embrace.

"Boss," Pavel choked out. "We thought… we were afraid…"

"I know," Viktor murmured, steady and warm. "I know. I'm alright now, aren't I?"

Dimitri came next, his stoicism cracking as he gripped Viktor's shoulders. "By the gods… you look younger. Stronger than ever."

Viktor smiled faintly. "Feels that way."

It was true. Viktor's skin had a healthy glow, the deep lines of pain and stress had smoothed, even his hair seemed fuller, darker. He looked like a man in his prime, not someone who'd been knocking on death's door hours ago.

Andre stayed frozen, still processing, but Damien just watched... calm, silent, sharp.

He noticed the steadiness of Viktor's steps, the controlled rhythm of his breathing, the quiet energy radiating from his skin.

When he finally moved, it was with purpose. He pulled Viktor into a brief, solid embrace... firm, loyal, without words.

As he stepped back, a half-smile touched his lips.

"Well," Damien said, voice low but edged with dry amusement, "looks like our little friend was right after all."

He gave Viktor a once-over, eyes narrowing with a mix of respect and disbelief.

"You don't just look healed, boss. You look diffirent. Dangerous."

Andre approached more cautiously, his analytical mind clearly racing. "The elixir. What did it do to you?"

Viktor's expression grew serious. "Something far beyond what I expected. Come, sit. You all need to hear this."

They gathered in the sitting area, Viktor settling into one of the expensive chairs with ease.

He looked around at his team... his family... and Damien could see both relief and concern in their leader's eyes.

"First," Viktor said, "I owe you all an apology. When I said I trusted Alex, I was operating on instinct and desperation. I asked you to gamble your futures on faith. That was unfair."

"You were right though," Damien said. "He delivered."

"He delivered more than I imagined possible."

Viktor raised his hand palm-up, and the air itself seemed to change.

Golden light erupted from his skin... not the faint glow they'd experienced, but something fierce and luminous.

It pulsed like a heartbeat, casting shadows that danced across the walls, turning Viktor's face into something between human and divine.

"By the gods," Dimitri breathed, actually taking a step back.

Damien felt his pulse hammering. This wasn't possible. Enhanced practitioners didn't glow like this. Their power was internal, subtle. This was...

"Boss, your hand..." Pavel's voice cracked.

The light intensified, and Andre made a sound halfway between awe and fear.

"Is this..." Damien's voice came out strangled, disbelieving. His eyes were wide, fixed on the golden orb with an intensity that bordered on desperate.

"Viktor, is this what I think it is?"

The implications crashed through him like a tidal wave.

Viktor's next words confirmed his suspicion.

"I was at tenth level Enhanced," Viktor said quietly, his voice heavy with the weight of what that meant. "Practically lost any hope for advancement."

"The poison was specifically designed to kill Enhanced practitioners... it activated whenever we used our abilities, accelerated whenever we tried to cultivate or heal."

He closed his fist and the orb dissipated. "That elixir didn't just cure the poison. It didn't just heal the damage. It purged every trace of the toxin from my body, repaired cellular degradation I didn't even know I had, and..."

Viktor paused, as if struggling to believe his own words.

"It pushed me beyond. I've broken through to Apex realm. First level Apex."

The silence that followed was absolute.

"That's..." Andre's voice failed him. "That's not possible. Advancing stars requires years of cultivation, careful energy management, resources..."

"Divine-tier resources," Viktor corrected.

"The elixir wasn't just medicine, Andre. It was transformation. I felt it working... not healing, but rebuilding. Optimizing. It found every flaw, every limitation in my body and corrected it."

The weight of what Viktor had just said took a moment to fully land.

Then it hit them. All at once.

"Apex," Dimitri whispered, his voice strangled. "You're... you're Apex level now."

Pavel's legs gave out. He dropped onto the nearest chair, hands shaking.

"We're safe. Oh god, we're actually safe."

Andre's analytical mask shattered completely. His breath came in short gasps as the implications cascaded through his mind.

"Blackthorne can't touch us. They can't. Not anymore."

"They won't even try," Damien said, his voice rough with emotion he'd been suppressing for weeks. He ran both hands through his hair, a laugh bubbling up that sounded half-mad with relief.

"An Apex practitioner? In Blackwood territory? They'd need to send another Apex just to have a chance, and..."

"And they won't," Viktor finished quietly. "Not here. Not in another Great House's domain. The Sacred Order Agreement prevents that level of intervention without catastrophic political consequences."

"We're not running anymore," Pavel choked out, tears streaming freely now. "We're not... we don't have to..."

He couldn't finish. Weeks of desperate fear, of knowing every day could be their last, of watching Viktor die slowly while Blackthorne's operatives hunted them... it all came crashing down at once.

Dimitri turned away, his massive shoulders shaking. His hand came up to cover his face. For weeks he'd been their rock, their strength, watching their commander waste away while knowing he couldn't protect them from what was coming.

Now...

"I thought we were dead," he said hoarsely. "I thought we had maybe a week. Two at most before they found us."

Damien sank into a chair, suddenly feeling every sleepless night, every moment of paranoia, every second of crushing responsibility.

As Viktor's second, he'd been the one making contingency plans. Escape routes that wouldn't work. Defensive positions that would only delay the inevitable.

Trying to figure out which of them could survive if they split up, if they sacrificed themselves so one might escape.

"But why?" Pavel asked. "Why would he invest this kind of resource in us?"

"Because," Viktor said grimly, "he knows something we don't. Think about it... he negotiated a two-year contract immediately. No hesitation, specific terms. He knew exactly what he wanted before he ever offered to help."

"You think we're being recruited," Damien said.

"I think we've already been recruited. The question is for what purpose."

Viktor stood, pacing now, his restored energy making him restless. "That elixir represents technology or power that surpasses anything the Seven Sacred Houses possess. This mansion is worth more than most Enhanced practitioners earn in their lifetime. And Alex distributed these resources to us... strangers, fugitives... after a single meeting."

"That's not charity," Andre said quietly.

"No. That's investment." Viktor turned to face them. "He's building something. And he needs Enhanced-level operatives who are skilled, experienced, and have no loyalty to the existing power structure."

"Us," Dimitri said.

"Exactly us." Viktor's expression was intense. "We're perfect for whatever he's planning. We have the skills, we've worked together for years, we're already outlaws to House Blackthorne, and now we're bound by contract and gratitude."

"You're saying he manipulated this entire situation?" Pavel asked, anger creeping back into his voice.

"No," Viktor said firmly. "He saw an opportunity and seized it. There's a difference. We were dying. He offered a solution. The fact that it serves his purposes doesn't make the help any less real."

He sat back down, suddenly looking tired despite his restored health. "What concerns me is the scale of what he's doing. Resources like this don't exist in vacuum. Either Alex has backing we can't fathom, or..."

"Or what?" Damien prompted.

"Or he's not bound by the same rules that govern the rest of us. Not the Seven Sacred Houses, not the Sacred Order Agreement, not anything we understand about how power works in this world."

The implications hung heavy in the air.

"So what do we do?" Andre asked.

Viktor stood, moving to stand before them. "Alex Hale gave us more than healing. He gave us our lives back. Not just survival... lives. Futures. Choices."

He looked at each of them in turn. "We owe him a debt that goes beyond any contract. He saved me, yes. But he saved all of you too."

Damien nodded slowly. "Without you at full strength, we were dead men walking. With you at Apex..." He shook his head, still processing. "We're not just alive. We're valuable."

"To Alex," Andre added. "An Apex practitioner leading four experienced Enhanced operatives? That's not just a team. That's a strike force."

"Which is exactly what he wanted," Viktor said. "He didn't save a dying man out of charity. He invested in an asset that just became exponentially more valuable than he probably expected."

"And we're fine with that," Dimitri said firmly. "He gambled on us. He won. Whatever he needs, whatever he's building... I'm in."

"We all are," Pavel said, voice thick with emotion. "He gave us our lives. The least we can do is make sure his investment pays off."

Damien felt the shift in the room... from desperate gratitude to determined loyalty. This wasn't obligation anymore. This was choice.

They'd been soldiers following orders for fifteen years. Then fugitives running from certain death.

Now?

Now they were warriors who'd chosen their banner.

"Then let's make a promise," Viktor said quietly. "Right here, right now. When Alex needs us... and he will... we stand with him. Not because of a contract. Not because we owe him. But because he proved himself worthy of loyalty."

"To Alex," Dimitri said, raising an imaginary glass.

"To the man who gave us tomorrow," Andre added.

"To our future," Pavel whispered.

"To standing and fighting instead of running and dying," Damien finished.

Viktor smiled... real, genuine, full of something that looked like hope. "To new beginnings. And to making sure Anastasia Blackthorne regrets the day she decided we were disposable."

The golden light flickered across his hand one more time, a promise and a threat in equal measure.

They weren't running anymore.

And anyone who came for them now would learn exactly what an Apex practitioner could do when he had something to protect.

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