I hadn’t slept in thirty hours. The police were circling after the incident at the lab, and while the ACD worked to bury the fallout, Varessia kept me on a tight leash—a punishment for my disappearance yesterday. Over my heart, the scorch mark from Selene’s light remained—a brand I had no intention of washing away. She hated me. Good. She was safe, far from the rot in this room.
“The calibration on the Extractor is holding,” Varessia said. She glanced towards the ceiling, her gaze tracking the line of the chrome spire bolted to the roof. A steady, low throb vibrated through the building’s steel frame—a mechanical heartbeat waiting to tear the sky open. She sat on the edge of Korenth’s desk, swinging a leg with dangerous exultance.
Korenth Vhail stood by the window, staring at the skyline as he swirled a glass of amber liquid.
“And the output?” he asked.
“Pure,” Varessia said, her voice sharpening with pride. “The old wolf had a surprising amount of fight in him. The canister is fully charged with his essence. It’s enough to jump-start the Rift once the alignment hits.”
I tightened my hands behind my back to stop them from shaking.
“We wait for the window, then,” Korenth said, taking a measured sip. “Seven days. The Eclipse of the Shattered Dawn.”
The eclipse. The name settled in my gut like lead. I had caught fragments of it for years—whispers in closed meetings, redacted lines in the few files they allowed me to see. I was the enforcer; the blueprints had always been kept from me. That they were speaking of it openly now meant the timeline had moved past the point of secrecy. They were done hiding because they believed the game was already over.
“Ensure the Silverite core is shielded,” Korenth added, looking directly at me. “If the containment fails during the draw, the feedback will incinerate everything within these walls before the Rift even opens. I want the sub-basement secured.”
One week. The deadline sat in my gut like lead. Engaging Varessia directly remained a suicidal gamble; the machine was the only target I could actually hit.
I had seven days to unearth the reality of this “Eclipse” and find the pressure point in their construction. I lacked the technical mind to understand their Silverite geometry, but I understood the physics of wreckage. If I forced the full, volatile weight of my shadows into the core at the moment of peak draw, the resulting feedback should be enough to jam the mechanism from the inside out.
It would be a one-way trip. But it was a price I was willing to pay to buy Selene a future.
“You’re quiet, Riven,” Varessia noted, her eyes sliding to me. “Thinking about your stray?”
“I’m thinking about security,” I lied. My voice sounded like a rusted grate. “If the police bypass the ACD and start digging into Rowan's death at the lab?—“
“Let them,” Korenth said, dismissive. “By the time they file the paperwork, the laws of this city won’t apply to us.”
The intercom on the desk buzzed. A harsh, jarring sound in the quiet room.
Korenth pressed the button. “What?”
“Sir,” the concierge’s voice crackled, nervous and thin. “There are… police here. In the lobby.”
Varessia laughed. It was a bright, cutting sound. “Right on cue.”
“Send them away,” Korenth said, bored. “Tell them to contact legal.”
“I tried, sir. But… they have a warrant. And they have a tactical team blocking the exits.”
I stiffened.
Tactical team? Darian Morrow was their pet, a man kept firmly under Korenth’s heel. Usually, Morrow would be the one at the door, cap in hand, ready to bury the problem before it reached the lifts. He would never have authorised a tactical unit to swarm this building.
Unless it wasn’t ACD.
“Who is leading them?” I asked, stepping forward.
Silence stretched on the line. Then, ”Detective Rowan, sir. She says she’s coming up.”
My heart stopped.
Selene.
“Let her up,” Varessia said, smiling like a cat who just spotted a canary. “I haven’t had fun in days.”
I shifted my weight, preparing to summon the shadows. If Selene walked through those doors with magic blazing, Varessia would kill her in seconds. I had to be faster. I had to hurt her to save her. Again.
