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Talia continued. “He kept that part from me.”

Anik said nothing.

I did. “She knows why.”

Talia looked at me. “I do.”

Anik looked between us, then back at the display.

The next line loaded.

IF SUBJECT ATTEMPTS CONTACT WITH ROYAL AUTHORITY, TERMINATION MANDATORY.

The blue glow beneath his skin sharpened so suddenly the monitor beside me reacted to the electromagnetic shift.

The medic muttered under his breath.

Anik ignored him. “No one under my authority issued this.”

I kept my face neutral. “How certain are you?”

His eyes cut to mine. “Very.”

Then he stopped himself.

Interesting.

He looked at the record again, his jaw tightening as he read the authorization string a second time.

“We will verify the chain before I make a formal statement.”

Good.

Still Anik. Careful. Strategic.

Talia seemed to notice too.

I continued. “The Veil contacted me directly after declaring me noncompliant.”

“What did they offer?”

“Continuation.”

Anik’s brow tightened. “Define that.”

“My status remains dead. No disclosure to military command. No royal notification. No penalty if I surrendered Talia and the evidence.”

His expression turned unreadable. “And when you refused?”

I pulled up the final status capture.

COMPROMISED

RECOVERY NOT AUTHORIZED

HOSTILE ASSET PROTOCOL ACTIVE

Anik stared at it for several seconds. “They knew where you were?”