Jace is coming to realize that the Charles he idolizes is far more complex than he ever imagined.
Though he still wasn't sure what Charles' true intentions were, and what exactly his connection to the Shadow Clan was.
He looked around, his heart racing and the knife wound in his arm aching.
In the past, he might have been scared out of his wits, but after a series of trials, he believed that he seemed to possess some extraordinary power.
This belief gave him more confidence to face any sudden disaster.
He stared angrily at Charles Kane, the guy standing at the table, still smiling, but with undisguised murderous intent in his eyes.
With the surveillance footage of the crash between L's car and Brad still playing on the screen, Charles' words pierced Jace's mind like nails, "Sign, or die."
Jace clenched his fists, his mind racing. He tried to escape, but the doorway was blocked tightly by two men in suits, hands in their pockets, their eyes as cold as the assassins of the Shadow Clan.
He gritted his teeth and glared at Charles, "You think I'm going to listen to you?"
Charles sneered and stepped closer to him, whispering, "You have no choice, boy. I know what you are, a descendant of the Water God." He paused for a moment, his eyes becoming colder, "I can make you useful, or I can destroy you."
At that very moment, a dim light swept through the window, like a shadow ripping through the night sky.
Jace jerked his head up, his heart stopping suddenly. Lucien? He clenched his teeth, the man's trench coat and cold eyes coming to mind.
Charles cringed and turned to look out the window, but before he could react, the window suddenly burst, shards of glass splashing in like rain and the wind and snow rushing inside with it.
Lucien Storm rushed into the room, his trench coat fluttering in the wind, his black hair covering half of his face, and with a wave of his hand, the spectral light coalesced into a sharp blade, pointing it directly at the suited men in the doorway.
The leading man let out a muffled grunt and fell to the ground, blood staining the carpet.
Another man swung his fist and rushed at him, Lucien lightly sidestepped and grabbed his arm in the process and twisted it violently, only to hear the crisp sound of bones breaking mixed with the sound of the wind, the man in the suit collapsed in agony.
Jace took advantage of the chaos and rushed for the door, but Charles let out a yell and quickly pressed the remote control on his desk.
The walls of the conference room suddenly flipped open, revealing hidden gun ports with blackened barrels aimed at them.
Jace froze in place and gasped, "Hell ..."
Lucien orders in a cold voice, "Jump!" He pulled Jace and slammed into the window, the glass had long since shattered and the wind and snow blew so hard they had to squint.
The two jumped from the 103rd floor, the wind slicing across their faces like knives, Jace's heart almost stopped, thinking he was sure to die.
However, Lucien waved his hand and dark light coalesced into a web that held them like shadows, slowing their descent.
They slammed into the snowdrift beside the Willis Tower and tumbled several times, Jace falling head over heels as the wound on his arm reopened, blood staining the snow.
"Shit!" Jace climbed to his feet, panting like a cow, and glared angrily at Lucien, "Are you insane?"
Lucien, indifferent still, stood up, his trench coat covered in snow, "If you don't jump, you die."
He turned to look at the Willis Tower, the lights on the top floor flickered a few times, as if Charles was sneering in derision.
The roar of an engine came from the distance, the lights of a motorcycle piercing through the wind and snow, heading straight for them.
"Run!" Lucien yelled, pulling Jace into a sprint down Lakeshore Drive.
The wind and snow made the streetlights waver, and the waves of Lake Michigan lapped against the shore, splashing white foam.
Jace gritted his teeth and followed, his legs as heavy as lead and his arms aching, but he knew if he stopped it would all be over.
The motorcycle followed closely behind, the tires crushing on the ice, the taillight dragging out a red light in the night, like a bloodstain.
They sped to the parking lot next to Lakeshore Boulevard, where the abandoned vehicles were covered in snow, like a bunch of sleeping beasts.
Lucien stopped the car and turned to face his pursuers, ordering in a cold voice, "Hide."
Jace grits his teeth and burrows into the back of a beat-up Chevy, huddling in the shadows, panting sharply.
Lucien stood in the center of the clearing, his trenchcoat swirling in the wind like a black bullseye.
Two motorcycles whizzed by, and dark shadows jumped off, their short knives glinting coldly in the night.
The leader swung his knife at Lucien, the blade was as fast as lightning, Lucien side-stepped to avoid it, the blade sliced through, the black shadow let out a scream and fell to the ground, blood splattered all over the ground.
Another black shadow lunges at Lucien, and the tip of the knife stabs him in the chest, Lucien grips the blade and twists it so hard that blood drips from his hand, but he doesn't let go and kicks the black shadow off, crashing it into the pile of cars.
Jace gasped and couldn't help but stare in disbelief. Lucien was as ruthless as a merciless killing machine.
However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, gunshots suddenly rang out from the lake, and bullets grazed the car door, shattering the glass.
Jace gritted his teeth and shrank back, his mind racing. Was it the Shadow Clan again?
He glanced up as four dark figures stood on the shore of the lake, pistols in hand, white smoke still billowing from their muzzles.
Lucien sneered, turning and rushing towards the lake, a dark shield condensing in front of him, deflecting the flying bullets.
He waved his hand and the shadow blade slashed out, a dark shadow fell to the ground with a muffled cry, blood staining the snow.
The three remaining black shadows quickly dispersed, and the gunfire intensified, pouring down like a torrential downpour.
Lucien clenched his teeth, his shield shattered at the corner, the bullet grazed his shoulder, and blood splattered everywhere.
Jace grits his teeth, his blood rising as he rushes out of the car.
He didn't know what he was doing, but he couldn't let Lucien face this alone.
He sprinted toward the lake, squinting his eyes in the wind and snow, the piercing whisper ringing in his ears once again, "Wake it up."
He stopped abruptly as the image of the water column came to his mind, followed by a feverish sensation, as if something in his blood was calling out fiercely.
Immediately he raised his hand, held his breath, and tried again, and the river began to surge, as if brought to life, the water rushing out of the lake and transforming itself into three jets of water that slammed into the dark figure.
The sound of gunfire finally fell silent as the three dark figures were hit by the waves of water and flew into the lake with a splash.
Jace stood frozen on the spot, his hand still raised high, his breath coming in short gasps as he looked down at his hand, only to see droplets of water sliding off his fingertips, mixing with the blood and staining the white snow.
Lucien turned to him then, commenting coldly, "Well done."
He covered his shoulder, blood dripping from between his fingers, and leaned in close to Jace to whisper a warning, "But you exposed too much."
Jace gasped and glared back at him in displeasure, "I have no intention of dying."
Lucien sneered and turned to look out over the lake, the wind and snow making the waves even rougher.
Just then, the roar of a helicopter sounded in the distance, searchlights sweeping across Lakeshore Drive like a giant eye-locking them in place.
A sense of foreboding surged through Jace's mind as he thought warily, "Charles?"
Lucien frowned as he gazed at the helicopter, his tone bland but tinged with hopelessness, "He won't leave you alone."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he pulled Jace towards the lake, their figures blurring further and further into the wind and snow.
They leaped into the lake, the cold water piercing into the bone marrow like an ice blade.
Jace gritted his teeth and held his breath as the current automatically surrounded him, forming a protective shell that held him toward the bottom.
Lucien followed close behind, the dim light flickering as if shadows were dancing in the water.
The helicopter's searchlights swept across the water as if searching for prey in the water, yet in no way could they be found.
In the deep, unfathomable waters of the lake, Jace gasped for breath, his thoughts in turmoil.
Why did the water obey Lucien's command? How was he able to do this? He was about to ask, but the pressure of the water made him feel dizzy.
Lucien tugged him down towards the bottom of the lake as darkness gradually engulfed everything.
It was becoming clearer to Jace that Lucien was far more complicated than he thought, but he had to survive to unravel the mystery, didn't he?