Chapter Forty-Six — The Heat Cradle Forced

Pain folded through me so violently that for one humiliating second, I could not stand.

Ronan caught me before I hit the concrete.

His arm locked around my waist.

The effect was immediate.

Not enough to stop the pain.

Enough to change it.

The burning inside me loosened slightly, and that terrified me more than the pain itself.

Marcus saw it.

So did Ronan.

Neither of them said anything.

They did not have to.

Cradle had done exactly what Helena warned us about.

It had tied relief to him.

“Adrian.”

Ronan’s voice was low.

Controlled.

I hated how much easier it was to breathe when he spoke.

“I am fine.”

Marcus stared at me.

“You nearly collapsed.”

“I said I am fine.”

“You are sweating.”

“Marcus.”

“You are also lying.”

I looked at him.

He stopped talking.

Mostly because Ronan gave him a look.

Damian and Ronan had managed to drag Cassian farther into the drainage tunnel. Blood still stained Cassian’s shoulder, but Damian had wrapped the wound tightly enough to slow it.

Lucian crouched beside him.

“He needs a proper surgeon.”

“So do half the people in this family,” I said.

Lucian looked at me.

“That was almost funny.”

“Do not encourage me.”

Another wave hit.

Sharper.

Deeper.

I grabbed Ronan’s jacket before I could stop myself.

His body went still.

I released him immediately.

No.

I would not let my body make decisions before I did.

Ronan understood.

He shifted slightly away from me.

The pain worsened instantly.

My vision blurred.

“Stop.”

He stopped.

I hated the word.

I hated needing to say it.

Ronan moved back to exactly where he had been.

No closer.

No touch.

Just proximity.

The pain eased.

Enough.

That mattered.

Because he listened.

Even now.

Marcus checked the timer again.

23:41:06

“We need the inhibitor before that reaches zero.”

Damian looked at him.

“You said synthesis could take forty-eight hours.”

“Yes.”

“We have less than twenty-four.”

Marcus’s face tightened.

“I know.”

Lucian looked toward him.

“Can it be accelerated?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe is useless.”

Marcus ignored him.

He looked at me.

“The Harlow marker in my blood is only the active component.”

“What else?”

“A carrier compound.”

“Where?”

Marcus hesitated.

Ronan noticed.

“Where?”

Marcus looked toward Damian.

“The Ashcroft medical archive.”

Damian swore.

Of course.

Everything tonight eventually returned to an Ashcroft building.

I leaned against the wall.

“Then we go there.”

Ronan looked at me.

“No.”

I stared.

“We really are repeating ourselves.”

“You are entering an induced second heat.”

“And?”

“And walking into a Cradle-linked Ashcroft facility while your body is destabilizing is stupid even by your standards.”

“Thank you.”

“That was not praise.”

“I chose to hear it that way.”

Marcus looked at the timer.

“We do not have another option.”

Ronan’s jaw tightened.

“There is always another option.”

Damian looked at him.

“Not this time.”

Silence.

I pushed away from the wall.

Bad idea.

My knees weakened.

Ronan caught my elbow.

I almost snapped at him.

Then stopped.

Because he had touched only enough to keep me upright.

Nothing more.

“Thank you.”

His expression changed slightly.

“You are welcome.”

Cassian groaned from the floor.

Everyone looked down.

His eyes opened.

Confusion first.

Then pain.

Then memory.

He looked at Ronan.

“You did not shoot me.”

Ronan’s mouth tightened.

“Disappointing, I know.”

Cassian tried to sit.

Lucian pushed him back.

“You were shot.”

“I noticed.”

“You are staying down.”

Cassian looked at me.

His expression sharpened.

“What happened?”

Marcus answered.

“Cradle accelerated Adrian’s heat.”

Cassian went pale.

“How long?”

“Twenty-three hours.”

Cassian closed his eyes.

“That is bad.”

I looked at him.

“Your medical insight is extraordinary.”

He ignored me.

“There is an archive room beneath Ashcroft Tower.”

Ronan turned.

“What?”

Cassian looked at him.

“Not the public medical archive.”

Damian’s expression changed.

“You know about the lower vault.”

Cassian nodded.

“I found it while tracing the shell companies.”

Ronan stared.

“And you never mentioned it.”

Cassian almost laughed.

“We have all had a productive evening with secrets.”

Fair.

Damian moved closer.

“What is inside?”

“Bloodline files. Frozen samples. old trial compounds.”

Marcus looked at him.

“Inhibitors?”

“Maybe.”

I looked at Ronan.

There.

A chance.

He hated it.

I could see that.

But he also knew we had no better one.

“How secure?” he asked.

Cassian’s answer came immediately.

“Extremely.”

“Cradle?”

“Yes.”

“Ashcroft private security?”

“Yes.”

“Elias?”

“Probably.”

Ronan exhaled.

“Wonderful.”

Damian looked toward the tunnel exit.

“We move before they seal the district.”

Lucian nodded.

Marcus looked at me.

“Can you walk?”

I looked at him.

“Yes.”

Ronan said, “No.”

I turned.

“I can.”

“You can barely stand.”

“I can still move.”

“That is not the same thing.”

I stepped closer to him.

The pain eased.

Again.

I hated that he noticed.

His face tightened.

“Adrian.”

“Do not apologize.”

“I was not going to.”

“You were thinking it.”

“Yes.”

“Stop.”

“I will work on it.”

Damian looked between us.

“If the two of you are done pretending this is not medically relevant, we need to leave.”

I glared at him.

He did not care.

We moved.

The drainage tunnel opened into an abandoned service alley several streets away.

Marcus found an old utility van hidden behind a locked gate.

I looked at him.

“You really do have emergency vehicles everywhere.”

He opened the driver’s door.

“I learned from working for you.”

That almost felt normal.

Almost.

Cassian was placed across the rear bench.

Damian stayed beside him.

Lucian took the front.

Ronan climbed in beside me.

No one discussed why.

The moment he sat close, my breathing steadied.

That silence was worse than commentary.

Marcus started the engine.

We drove.

For several minutes, I watched the city pass through rain-streaked windows.

Then the heat changed.

Not stronger.

Different.

A scent flooded the van.

Cedar.

Smoke.

Ronan.

My body reacted before my mind could.

Every nerve tightened.

My pulse accelerated.

Ronan’s head turned immediately.

“Adrian.”

“I know.”

“You smell different.”

I looked at him.

“So do you.”

Damian swore softly from the back.

Marcus looked in the mirror.

“What?”

Damian’s expression had gone cold.

“The scent phase.”

Lucian turned.

“What does that mean?”

“It means the activator has started altering recognition response.”

My stomach tightened.

Ronan shifted farther away.

The pain returned.

Sharp.

I caught his wrist before he moved completely.

He froze.

I froze too.

My hand around him.

His skin hot beneath my fingers.

Too hot.

I let go.

“Stay.”

His eyes held mine.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

One word.

My choice.

He moved back.

Close enough.

Not touching.

The pain eased again.

Marcus watched through the mirror.

His face was grim.

“We need that inhibitor.”

“How long to Ashcroft Tower?” I asked.

“Twenty minutes.”

“Too long.”

Ronan looked at me.

“What is happening?”

I closed my eyes.

The scent was everywhere now.

His.

Mine.

Something new between them.

A response I did not trust.

“Nothing I cannot manage.”

Ronan leaned closer.

“Adrian.”

I opened my eyes.

He looked worried.

That irritated me.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I am breaking.”

His face changed.

“I do not think you are breaking.”

“Then what?”

“I think someone is hurting you.”

That answer hit harder than it should have.

I looked away.

The timer continued falling.

22:58:12

Marcus’s phone suddenly chimed.

He checked the screen.

Then went silent.

“What?”

He did not answer.

“Marcus.”

He looked at me through the mirror.

“We have a problem.”

Ronan’s expression hardened.

“What now?”

Marcus turned the phone around.

A security bulletin.

Ashcroft Tower.

Full lockdown.

Biometric gates activated.

Private medical floors sealed.

And beneath it:

AUTHORIZED ENTRY LIMITED TO A-SERIES SUCCESSION PERSONNEL.

Cassian laughed weakly from the back seat.

“They knew we were coming.”

Damian looked at Ronan.

“Not all of us are blocked.”

My pulse changed.

Ronan understood immediately.

“A-04.”

Cassian opened his eyes.

“And A-09.”

Silence.

Then Marcus scrolled lower.

His face changed.

“There is one more authorization.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

He read it aloud.

“Subject O-17.”

The van became silent.

Ronan’s jaw tightened.

“They want Adrian inside.”

“Yes.”

Marcus scrolled again.

Then stopped.

“What?”

He looked at me.

“Adrian, there is a note attached to your access.”

My stomach tightened.

“Read it.”

Marcus hesitated.

Then:

O-17 MAY ENTER WITH ONE ALPHA MATCH.

Silence.

Ronan looked at Cassian.

Cassian looked at Ronan.

And I understood immediately.

Cradle was not simply allowing us into the tower.

It was forcing me to choose which Alpha entered with me.

Primary.

Or replacement.

My phone vibrated.

A new message appeared.

CHOOSE A-04 OR A-09.

Then another.

THE OTHER WILL BE LOCKED OUT.

I stared at the screen.

The countdown continued below it.

22:41:33

Then the final line appeared.

YOUR SECOND HEAT WILL DECIDE WHETHER YOUR CHOICE WAS CORRECT.