“Viper,” Law said after a moment. The man’s voice sounded quiet. Wrong. “We found a room.”
Viper didn’t move. He lifted a crystal tumbler, let the ice shift. Watched the light fracture through the amber liquid.
“Define room.”
A pause. Barely a beat.
“It’s off the service corridor. No signage. Card access only.” Law exhaled softly. “It’s definitely not storage—past the guest wing, beyond staff-only access. That part of the house isn’t on the event map.”
The music swelled. Laughter rippled near the windows—men in tailored suits, women in dresses that whispered money and discretion. Cigar smoke lingered in the air, woven through wool and silk. Someone brushed Viper’s elbow in passing and murmured an apology that assumed forgiveness.
He didn’t look at them.
“No cameras,” Law added. “Not dead. Just…not there.”
Viper’s jaw tightened a fraction.
“Door?”
“Reinforced. Card reader. Interior deadbolt.” Another pause. “Soundproofed.”
“I accessed it in under a minute,” Sage added, smug even through the comms.
Viper set the glass down untouched.
“Anyone inside?”
“No.”
Good. Worse.
He turned slightly, angling his body so the room fell into his peripheral. Vale stood near a column, posture elegant, attention split between conversation and exits. Syx leaned against the wall like he belonged there, eyes sharp under the lazy mask. Halelaughed somewhere near the center—easy, practiced, a man entirely at home.
“Hold position,” Viper said. “Do not touch anything. Do not clear it.”
Law hesitated. Viper heard it in the silence.
“Viper—”
“That’s not a suggestion,” he said, voice level, iron-hard. “Stand down. I’m on my way.”
“Copy,” Law replied. Immediate. Clean.
The channel closed.
The room didn’t know yet.
That was the thing about places like this—they were built to absorb discomfort. Designed so nothing ugly ever showed. Money smoothed the edges. Power buried the mess.
Viper scanned once more, then turned.
Titus was standing a few feet away, half-shadowed by a sculptural divider that probably had a waiting list. He wasn’t watching the party. He was watching him.
Of course he was.
The weight of his decision settled into Viper’s shoulders, instinct locking down.
“What is it?” Titus asked quietly, coming closer.
