Chapter 32 · Past the Last Scar

"Six years buried," Renwick said. "Protocol Seventeen. Full chain-of-command override."

The scan needle was still in Kael's neck. Cyrus's hands were zip-tied behind him, three rifles trained on Kael, and the border gate—right there, twenty feet past Renwick's shoulder—might as well have been on another continent.

"She's not AWOL, Vale. She's a loaded gun that forgot it was loaded."

Kael's eyes had gone flat. Empty. The black lines across her collarbone pulsed once, slow and hungry.

"Don't." Cyrus's voice came out raw. "Don't activate it."

Renwick looked at him. "I'm not the one who broke her marks. You did that. This protocol? It's a kill switch. Someone buried it in her ink before she ever hit the front. The second I send the countersign, she'll execute anyone flagged as hostile." He glanced at the orphans pressed against the checkpoint wall. "Including unregistered border crossers."

Lien's face went white.

Cyrus yanked against the zip-tie hard enough that plastic bit into his wrists. Blood welled up. "You want me, fine. Let them through."

"I want you both." Renwick's voice was calm. Tired. "You faked thirty-seven death certificates, Vale. My brother's name was on that list.