The Bureau of Ascension has one rule — loyalty above all.
 
Arthur “Barney” Cole wrote that rule in code and buried it in the Bureau’s bones. Once their top engineer, he vanished decades ago, taking half their secrets with him. Now he’s back, not for revenge — but for family.
 
His granddaughter’s on the Bureau’s kill list. She earned her spot. But blood is blood, and Barney knows there’s only one man with the reach to find her before they do: Director Anton Jackson — the student who became his betrayer.
 
Anton signs the kill order and hands it to his best operatives, Marcus and Naomi Jackson. Marcus doesn’t blink. Orders are orders. Naomi does. One look at the old ghost and she sees something Marcus can’t — the truth the Bureau’s been freezing for decades.
 
When Naomi goes rogue to protect Barney, she shatters their cover, their marriage, and the illusion of choice. Now Marcus is hunting the woman he loves, the mentor who raised him, and the system that taught him both were expendable.
 
The thaw’s begun.
And when the ice breaks, there’s no putting the pieces back together.