"Greetings peasant. I'm finally here! "Agnus' cheerful voice echoed in the living room late at night as he waltzed in, dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white buttoned shirt, a few buttons left open.

His chocolate brown eyes gleamed with mischief, a few strands of his brown hair falling on his forehead. His perfect straight nose gave him an aristocratic touch. His lower lip was slightly fuller than his top, giving him a perpetually arrogant expression, as if every word he spoke was a joke only he was privy to.

He was always like that. Prideful. Mischievous but efficient when it came to hacking, tracking, planting, detonating or even deactivating bombs. He was God damn good too at finding information about anyone and anything. And he knew he was an asset for our Assassin Guild which he took great satisfaction in.

Landon walked in just after, shaking his head at Agnus' attitude. "Cut it out. Agnus"

Agnus scoffed "I would have you know I worked my ass off to get everything the boss asked for on the silver Strangler. Show some appreciation"

"We both worked on it. And I also did the Profiling but you don't see me boasting" Landon replied calmly settling down on the couch.

"That's because you're a Dick. But I'm not. That's why the women in the organisation like me more" Agnus retorted, settling down with a smirk.

"Like you? Of course. Whatever helps you sleep better at night" Landon snorted.

"What did you just say? Take that back. How dare you insult my charming personality?"Agnus said feigning mock offense.

"Mi Sol (My Sun) who's here?"Celine's soft voice reached my ears making me stare up as she walked downstairs in her night robe, adorably sleepy. It was late night after all. Even Elysium was already asleep after his fantastic sticker feast of earlier and a delicious paella dish for dinner.

"Little Flame, come here" I whispered softly, gently taking her hand the moment she reached my side. I pulled her by my side on the couch, one arm wrapped around her waist protectively.

"Did she seriously just call boss my sun? Ain't nothing about him that screams sunshine" Agnus muttered under his breath to Landon whose lips twitched in response.

I gave him a pointed look before turning back to Celine. "This is Agnus Hernández. The tech guy I talked to you about. Landon and him got the information and everything we need on the Silver Strangler. Do you want to take a look as well?"I asked softly, watching as her eyes flickered with emotions before she nodded.

I pressed a soft kiss against her temple before turning to Agnus who was staring at Celine curiously. Fucker was lucky his eyes remained on her face only or I would have gauged them out for staring at her in her night robe.

"Agnus, this is Celine. My woman."I said the moment Celine offered her hand for him to shake.

"Well it's a pleasure to finally meet the woman who won boss'heart. I swear I thought that organ didn't exist in him." Agnus said grinning.

Landon rolled his eyes this time.

"Is he always like that?"Celine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All the time. The guys are all done with him" Landon said, sighing.

"Hey I'm the party bringer! Without me, your lives would be boring. So shut it with your lies. You should be honoured I bring some fun into your otherwise dark gritty life" Agnus scoffed. His lips pressed into a thin, stubborn line of pride, but the corners betrayed him, twitching upward with an irrepressible, charming humor as he delivered his jab.

"Lies? Of course.. You definitely bring me and everyone a lot of joy." Landon replied before adding a few seconds after "when you leave the room that is"

"Ha Ha. Very funny. You know what? You are fully entitled to your incorrect opinion"Agnus grumbled, pulling out his laptop.

But Landon went at it again.

"Seriously, did God make you with his eyes closed?" Landon asked calmly as if he was annoyed by him. But I think he really just enjoyed messing with Agnus.

I suppose it was payback for the constant yapping Landon had to bear whenever he teamed up with Agnus on missions. That guy frankly speaking never stopped yapping. He could be killing and still yap about vacation plans at the same time through the earpiece and everyone would just have to bear with his constant chatting while keeping a straight face during undercover operations.

"And you? Were you dropped a lot as a baby?"Agnus retorted, narrowing his eyes at Landon.

"Is part two of this argument coming out soon, or is that everything?" I asked, giving both of them a pointed look.

"Where's your off button?" Landon asked Agnus in response, earning a middle finger from him but thankfully they stopped their banter.

"I hacked into the company's cameras and Elysium's school as you asked. If he shows his face again, we will know. There's something though.. The night he attacked Celine. I checked the cameras, and he was very careful. He left his hood on and never once stared at the cameras. The way he eliminated the guards was also very swift. He either used his silencer or knife to not attract attention. And he deposited the bodies in his car literally like it was a daily occurrence to him." Agnus explained, his tech persona taking over as he showed us the security footage on his laptop.

"He's right. I completed the Profiling for him. And from my assessment, he's an offender who leaves absolutely no physical trace. No DNA, no fingerprints, no fibers. He's a textbook Organized Offender." Landon added opening his files on the coffee table.

"Exactly. He is highly intelligent, methodical, and maintains absolute emotional control during the crime. He likely brings his own weapon too, carefully plans his escape routes, and selects victims who are isolated." Agnus said opening up multiple cases of the victims the Silver Strangler killed.

"Targeting women specifically wearing silver jewelry is his Signature. That much the investigators understood. But his Modus operandi?(MO) That's where it got tricky for them." Landon explained.

"An MO is what the killer must do to commit the crime. A signature is what the killer does to satisfy his unique psychological or emotional needs. For him, the silver jewelry serves a symbolic purpose. It fuels his fantasy here." Agnus replied in agreement.

"Why?"I asked, drawing soothing patterns on my little Flame's side. She was listening attentively but I could feel the tension in her shoulders. And I didn't like it. I didn't want her to be scared.

The moment she started calming down, I tugged her closer to me and listened as Landon took over briefly staring at us before continuing.

I know he was not particularly happy about the fact that I told Celine everything. Father would have my head too if he knew but I couldn't bring myself to lie to the woman I loved. Adored. And cherished.

Landon knew that much which is why he begrudgingly accepted it. After giving me a gracious chiding lesson of course which truly was expected of him.

I still had no idea how I would make it all work for all of us in the end but I wasn't going to let go of my little Flame. And I wouldn't let go of Landon either. They were both my family. Whether father wanted it or not, he would have to accept it. If he doesn't, if he disowned me, I would take Landon with me and leave to build a life elsewhere where I could be with my little Flame.

I knew he would come. We were brothers. Each other's ride or die. No matter what.

"If not for the picture Celine took, I wouldn't have been able to run a cross-reference matrix with Agnus'help. That guy is Kyron Velasquez. He's 30 years old. Parents died of overdose when he and his older sister were kids. They moved from one foster home to another until his sister Sophia Velasquez became independent and took her brother and left. From the pictures I managed to get my hands on, her sister always seemed to wear a silver necklace. That's why the killer seems to have a thing for that" Landon said as Agnus pulled up pictures of an elegant woman with hazel eyes, light brown hair and a blinding smile hugging the Silver Strangler who looked younger in the pictures. But those hazel eyes, his dark brown hair and sharp jawline didn't go past my notice.

It was him.

He looked happy here. His eyes looked alive. Nothing like the look of a cold blooded killer.

"His sister died years ago. Murdered brutally outside a club. From what I dug up, Dex Martínez had something to do with it. He was Sophia's ex-boyfriend with quite a few complaints of abuse, violence and even restraining orders from her" Agnus said, pulling up news article about the incident and allegations.

"Martínez. They are that family of judges Father said died years ago of suspicious nature. No one ever found out about them and we had loads of requests to find the culprits but father shrugged it off saying we weren't the FBI but an assassin Guild." I replied deep in thought.

"Precisely. From what I assessed. They covered up what happened to Sophia and justice was never given to her. She was murdered but there was no evidence, no weapon at the crime scene, no cameras that caught the crime happening. The Martínez were powerful enough to cover up what Dex undoubtedly did. No one dared go against them. There were only the allegations left from Kyron who refused to give up"

"Kyron murdered them all didn't he?"Celine asked quietly. Eyes troubled.

"He did and he got away with it because the Martínez had this news published soon after Sophia's death"Landon nodded at the screen where a news article appeared about the unfortunate death of Sophia's brother declaring that the brother had depression, lost his mind and committed suicide due to trauma.

"They did something to him and he most probably escaped. After that he came back for the family and killed them all. But he didn't do it recklessly. He planned. There was clear organisation and thoughtful execution of each member of that family and he took his time with them" Agnus said, pulling up multiple news articles of the tragic end of the Martínez family by what they speculated were a rival enemy of sorts but that family's murder remained a cold case just like 'Sophia's unresolved murder.'

I suppose that's how karma looked like. They got what they deserved.

"And after he was done.. He became psychologically more sick. It wasn't enough for him. That's when the victims started coming in." Agnus explained showing us his work.

"By running the victims' digital footprints like their credit card swipes, rideshare histories, or geo-located social media check-ins. I found something interesting. An overlapping variable - every victim was at a club in the same entertainment district within a specific window of time before eventually getting killed by the silver Strangler" Agnus continued while the puzzle clicked into place in my mind.

"The clubs. Stalking and selecting victims at the nightclubs is a core part of his MO since he lost his sister at one of them. The investigators didn't piece it together because they never knew it was Kyron. He was dead in the eyes of society. That gave him the perfect leeway to commit crimes unsuspectedly." I said finally understanding that piece of shit.

"Precisely. In profiling, this is specifically called his Victim Selection and Acquisition Method. The investigators also missed it because nightclubs are chaotic, crowded, and dark environments with thousands of rotating patrons. The victims were also targeted from different high-end clubs so the general police didn't immediately see the connection. It's Celine's picture of the killer that made everything fall into place" Agnus said.

"He lost his sister. I can understand how much he must have been blinded by grief and as a result he took revenge for her. But it didn't satisfy him clearly. I think killing that family might have triggered his blood thirst sending him into an escalation phase. He most probably experienced a sick sort of enjoyment, power, control and thrill from those kills. So when he was done with the Martínez. He started targeting those innocent girls at nightclubs because of the trauma of having lost his sister there and the silver jewellery was because of a psychological need he had. Silver was perhaps something his sister liked a lot since she always wore that necklace" Landon mused, eyes calculated.

"But those girls were not at fault. He targeted them because he's clearly sick in the head. Sophia had already been avenged. He could have stopped. But he kept going" Celine whispered, staring at the documents scattered on the table with a worried gaze.

"Yes. And his current target is you.. Celine which is why you all need to be very careful moving forth." Landon said, staring at me quietly, subtly warning both her and me to be on our guard.

"Did you manage to find out who could have tipped off the Silver Strangler?"I asked, jaw tightening.

Landon turned rigid and briefly looked away before finally staring at me with a resigned look. "I interrogated everyone. Used truth serums and I even used the lie detector. None of them looked like they were lying. The only one who refused to be interrogated was your father"

I stilled completely. Closing my eyes, I counted to ten in my head.

I should have seen it coming. I think a part of me knew deep down it was Dad. He was the only one who was in a powerful position enough to do such a thing. The others wouldn't risk going against great grandfather's teachings and commandments, not when it was their profession, living income and life that was at stake.

Father put a target on the love of my life all because I said I wanted to leave. I didn't even say I would actually do it. I just got overwhelmed and yet he did this. All to ensure his heir remained where he wanted.

How could he have done that to his own son? If it wasn't for the taser, Celine would already be dead by now and it was all my fault. If I had kept my mouth shut, none of this would have happened.

But that only made me more angry at dad. Not at Landon or even mom. Never. Landon reported to Mom about what I said because he loved her just as much as I did. Mom must have undoubtedly fought with father afterwards because she wants a better life for me. And what did father do in response? For a bloody fucking legacy to keep thriving, he was willing to rip me of the love of my life.

Celine's soft fingers wrapping around mine brought me back from my thoughts and I stared at her quietly. "Hey.. It's okay.. It's not your fault" She whispered, giving me a soft reassuring smile but it only made me feel more guilty.

"It's not your fault, Boss. You know how El jefazo is.." Agnus said, clearing his throat.

(El jefazo Means "big boss" or "boss man" here in Spanish)

I inclined my head quietly. I would confront my father later. Right now I needed to know where the Silver Strangler was hiding.

"What's his place of residence?"I asked.

"I went there already. It's been completely wiped clean. He left. From what I gathered, he fights in underground rings and that's how he earned money all those years but now that he's been discovered. He's not showing his face. It was easy for Kyron to go unnoticed in the underworld. No one knew it was him, the Silver Strangler. He's also a very good fighter and the underground ring welcomed him instantly. They even named him 'El La Muerte' (Death) because he is ruthless when he fights.. like he wants to kill. And most of the time he did kill most of his opponents. That earned him a shit ton of money. No rules. Just pure bloody fights for the enjoyment of masochists" Landon explained, only fueling my anger.

"So now we wait.." Celine whispered.

"We wait. He's not going to stay in hiding forever."I nodded, watching Agnus stacking all the files in order.

"And when he comes out, we will be ready." Landon said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I inclined my head briefly, muscles taut with the need to tear that piece of shit apart.

When Kyron came out of his hiding spot. I would erase him from the surface of this earth.