Chapter 21 · Her First Ink Map

"You drew this."

Cyrus stayed on his knees in the dirt, hands locked behind his head. He didn't answer.

Kael stared at the tablet in Rhys's hand. Her body filled the screen in blue and red vectors—torso, arms, back. Grid marks. Placement notes. A map for turning her into a weapon.

Standard pre-ink cartography.

Then she saw the signature at the bottom.

*Cyrus Vale. Field Medic, 4th Recon. Southern Front.*

Her chest tightened.

Orin leaned over Rhys's shoulder. "That's not a medical chart."

"No." Rhys scrolled. "It's a proposal. Full ink plan. Submitted two years ago, right before Thorne's command chain was inked."

Kael stepped closer. Her boots crushed the gravel. "Read it."

Rhys turned the tablet toward her.

The header was clean. Clinical.

*Subject: Kael Thorne. Objective: Convoy Suppression and Target Elimination.*

Her stomach dropped.

"Suppression," Lien said behind her. "Nice word for murder."

Kael kept reading. The lines weren't placement guides. They were tactical overlays. Strike zones. Kill patterns. Her arms had been marked for blade projection. Her legs for pursuit speed. Her spine for endurance under sustained combat.

At the bottom, one line sat in black ink:

*Primary target: refugee convoy.