LOGIN"We found Nadia's brother," Darius said through the phone speaker."Is he alive?" I asked. I gripped the steering wheel tightly."He is breathing just fine. We just cut his chains." Darius paused. "But we found someone else here. A dead man.""Who is it?""The security official in the grey suit," Darius answered. "The exact same man you told me to tail from the Senate building."My pulse took a sudden halt. Lucien was tying up loose ends. He was killing anyone who could talk about the vault theft."Secure the boy," I ordered. "Don't let anyone else inside that warehouse."I hung up the phone and drove straight to the Directorate. The sun wasn't up yet. The hallways were empty. I bypassed the front desk and walked directly into Hayes's office.I threw the forged vault form onto his wooden desk."Check the signature," I demanded.Hayes jumped in his chair. He pulled his glasses down and looked at the paper. "This is Veyra's signature.""She didn't sign it," I said. "Look at the counters
"The lock is already tripped," Adrian whispered. He stood in front of the heavy steel doors of the supply depot."That's impossible," Cairos said. He kept his rifle raised. "You said you had the only key.""I do," Adrian replied. He pushed the door open an inch. "Someone made a copy.""They're waiting for us inside," I said. I looked at the digital blueprint on my tablet. "I'm cutting the main power and blinding their cameras right now."I tapped the override command on my screen. The massive building went pitch black. The hum of the generators died instantly."Move," Cairos commanded.The tactical team breached the doors. Gunfire erupted a second later. The noise was deafening. Bright muzzle flashes lit up the dark corridors. Lucien had armed men guarding the first floor. Cairos and Adrian led the charge. They pushed the guards back in a short and brutal fight.I didn't stay with them. I watched the blinking red dot on my tablet. The tracker signal pointed straight down.I slipped pa
"No more lies. No more hidden files." Veyra stared at me with cold fury. "From this second forward, I give the orders. Do you understand?"I swallowed the heavy guilt in my throat. I nodded. "I understand.""Lucien wants my access keys," Veyra said. "I am going to give them to him.""You can't do that," I argued back. "It puts you right in his crosshairs.""I am giving him a fake drive," Veyra clarified. She walked to my computer desk. "A cloned system with a hidden tracker embedded inside. When he plugs it in, we get his exact location.""And if he checks the code before we reach him?""Then he kills me." Veyra did not blink. "But we find Zuri."Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Adrian Voss walked into my office. Three men in unmarked black tactical gear followed right behind him. They carried heavy rifles and wore no military insignias."I brought the men I promised," Adrian said. "No Council paperwork. No rules. Where are we hitting?"Before I could answer him, Darius burst in
"We are not giving him your network." Cairos paced the length of my office. His boots hit the floor hard. "It is suicide.""Lucien gave us a deadline." I kept my arms crossed. "If we refuse, he disappears with Zuri.""I will find another way.""There is no other way right now.""I am not letting you give up your only protection."Before I could argue back, my phone buzzed. Darius sent a brief text message."Darius found Astro," I said. "She is hiding at a townhouse on the west side."Cairos stopped pacing. He reached for his jacket. "I am going to tear her apart.""No," I stepped in front of the door. "I am speaking to her first.""She betrayed us, Veyra.""And you will only make her shut down." I looked him right in the eyes. "You stay here. I will handle her."I left Cairos in the office and drove straight to the townhouse. I didn't bring backup. I didn't bring a weapon.Astro opened the door. She wore a silk robe and a bored expression."Veyra." Astro leaned against the doorframe.
I had sworn the Senate could burn until we found Zuri. Yet at dawn, I was standing in my office, tightening a black tie.Veyra sat on the edge of my desk, her eyes dark and exhausted. We had made the decision together. Skipping the hearing was exactly what the Council wanted. A no-show would hand them the abuse-of-authority charge on a silver platter, letting them replace me by noon.Besides, the stolen access code pointed straight to the Council's security office. I couldn't interrogate them in a warehouse, but I could watch them in a courtroom.Veyra was handling Lucien's deadline. We had agreed not to hand over her network yet. We just needed time.I walked into the hearing room at exactly eight in the morning. The air was cold, smelling of floor wax and old paper. I didn't sit down immediately. I scanned the long oak table.The Chairperson sat in the center. Flanking him were the two senior officials who controlled the security office. I memorized their faces. At the far end of th
I didn't bring Serena to an interrogation room. I brought her to the kitchen.She sat across from me at the small wooden table. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of tea she wasn't drinking. She looked exhausted, her eyes red and puffy from crying in Darius's car.I didn't yell. I didn't accuse her. I just reached into my pocket, unfolded the piece of paper, and slid it across the table.Serena looked down.The ink laid out the exact timeline. The camera hack. The guard's radio call. And right next to the time Zuri's room was found empty, Serena's name sat beside the dark green winter coat.Serena stared at the paper. The color drained from her face. Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first."Veyra," she finally whispered. Her voice shook violently. "What is this?""That is the timeline of how Zuri was taken from the safe house tonight," I said. My voice was completely flat. "And you are the only civilian on it."She dropped the mug. Tea spilled over the wood, dripping onto th






