“And what’re you planning?”
“I’m going after her.”
He snorts softly. “Of course you are.”
I round the counter and head for the storage room. Dust motes float in the slatted light from above. The armor waits for me like it never left.
Black Vakutan leathers. Crimson-etched seams. Thicker plating than civilian grade. It smells like fire and history.
“You think strapping into that makes you untouchable?” my father asks.
“No,” I say. “It makes me honest.”
I run my fingers down the inside seam. The stitching is still strong. I suit up. Every click of the clasps feels like a drumbeat.
“You gonna march into the heart of their little operation and shout her name?”
“I’m gonna find her,” I say. “And I’m gonna end this.”
He steps into the room, lowers his voice. “You think she’s the only one fighting? The others are watching, Kenron. They’ll follow if you lead. But not into a grave.”
“I don’t want followers.”
He grips my arm. Firm. “Then don’t leave behind ghosts.”
I break his grip gently and fasten the last gauntlet.
“If this thing launches... we’ll all be ghosts.”
He lets go. “Then make noise while you still breathe.”
I grab my blade—old alloy, twice sharpened. Balanced just right.
Kristi’s words echo again in my mind.Even if it kills me.
I won’t let that happen.
Not while I still know how to fight.
And not while I remember how she kissed me—like I was the only thing real in a world of masks.
I step into the alley behind the kitchen. The city hums with power and poison.
They built a weapon.
I’ll be the one that turns it back on them.
It’s close to midnight when I find her.
Novaria’s outer districts buzz with a kind of anxious quiet. Lights flicker in pulses, half on purpose, half from neglect. The old council facility rises like a rusted sentinel against the skyline, its perimeter wound tight with razorwire and automated scanners that hum low like they’re dreaming of violence.
But I don’t head for the gates.
I follow instinct—and the quiet scent trail only a Vakutan nose can catch.
Scorched metal. Heat-treated polymers. Burnt citrus.
She’s here.
