I don’t need to weigh.
I answer immediately.
“No,” I say.
Morazin pauses, as if he expected negotiation. “Consider?—”
“No,” I repeat, voice like steel. “Not now. Not ever.”
Jordan exhales sharply, a sound that might be relief or rage. Her eyes flick to me, searching for something.
Morazin laughs again, darker. “You sentimental fool. You’d rather burn than trade.”
“Yes,” I say. “Because I don’t barter people.”
Morazin’s voice turns thin. “Then you’ll never get the name.”
I smile, slow. “You think the name is the only leverage.”
Morazin goes quiet.
I lean closer to the mic. “You’re wrong.”
I end the channel.
Jordan stares at me, still frozen.
“You said no,” she whispers.
I look at her. “I said no.”
Her voice cracks, angry and raw. “You didn’t even— you didn’t even hesitate.”
I shake my head. “I don’t hesitate when it’s you.”
Jordan’s throat tightens. She looks away fast, as if her emotions embarrass her.
I keep my voice low. “Morazin thinks we’re begging. He thinks we need permission from governments. He thinks we need a name handed to us like charity.”
Jordan’s fingers curl around her compad. “We don’t.”
“No,” I agree. “We break the system with leverage.”
Jordan meets my eyes again, and something fierce sparks there—tired, bruised, but alive.
“Okay,” she says, voice steadier. “Then we build a case they can’t bury.”
“Yes,” I say.
I glance toward the vault door, deep below, and I can almost hear Morazin breathing behind steel, waiting for us to blink.
We won’t.
Act III is over.
Now it’s time to dismantle what thinks it can’t be dismantled.
CHAPTER 31
