Secret Undercover

Chapter 𝟏: The Cold Flame

The Tokyo skyline shimmered in the distance, neon lights flickering like the pulse of a sleeping beast. Alexandra Vale crouched on a steel beam sixteen floors above ground, eyes locked through the scope of her sniper rifle. She wasn’t breathing. She never did during missions. Too risky. Too human.

“Target moving,” came a voice in her earpiece. Calm. Male. Slightly annoyed.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” she muttered.

“You’re welcome, Lieutenant Ice Queen.”

She clenched her jaw. Not because of the nickname—she’d heard worse—but because of who said it.

Agent Ash Rivera. Code name: Shadowbird. Known for defying orders, dodging bullets like they were mere suggestions, and charming entire villages into surrendering... including their goats.

She hated him.

Correction—she wished she hated him. It would make things a hell of a lot simpler.

“Focus,” she whispered, adjusting the scope. Her crosshairs centered on the man in the crimson suit entering the penthouse.

Mission: Intercept a high-profile arms dealer.

Secondary Mission: Keep Agent Shadowbird from screwing it up.

The wind shifted slightly. Alexandra recalibrated. Her trigger finger itched.

“You gonna shoot him or write him a letter?” Ash teased.

She fired.

Glass exploded.

Chaos erupted.

And then, everything went to hell.

Ten minutes later, they were sprinting down a hallway, sirens howling behind them.

“I told you not to detonate the briefcase!” she shouted over the alarm.

“I disarmed it! It wasn't my fault his security system was paranoid!”

“You disarmed it by kicking it out the window!”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

Alexandra swore under her breath and stopped beside a locked steel door.

“Cover me.”

Ash nodded, drawing twin pistols. He leaned casually against the wall as she typed in override codes faster than most people blink.

“You know,” he said casually, “you never did thank me for saving your life in Paris.”

She froze. Just for a split second.

“That’s because you didn’t.”

“I tackled you away from an exploding car.”

“You shoved me into a river.”

“You’re welcome.”

Click. The door hissed open.

“I swear, if we survive this,” she muttered, “I’m going to strangle you.”

“Dinner first?”

She shoved him inside.

Back at headquarters, their superior, General Maddox, stared at them like he was trying to decide between court-martialing or killing them with his bare hands.

“You destroyed a penthouse,” he said slowly.

“It was going to be destroyed anyway,” Ash said while chewing a gum.

“You triggered the entire floor’s security grid.”

“It was bound to go off,” Alexandra added coolly.

Maddox rubbed his temples.

“And somehow… somehow… you still managed to retrieve the data drive and escape alive.”

Alexandra tossed the encrypted chip onto his desk. “You’re welcome.”

“Good,” he said with a sigh. “Because your next assignment starts in 72 hours. Joint mission. You’ll be working together.”

“What?!” both agents snapped at once.

Maddox grinned. It was not a comforting sight.

“Code name: Operation Inheritance.”

Alexandra blinked.