Chapter 23 · The Purge Protocol

"Move, or I'll drag you through that gate by your hair," Vera snapped, her voice like cracking ice. She didn't look at me, her eyes locked on the corridor behind us, but her grip on my forearm was tight enough to bruise.

I stumbled, my boots skidding on the polished obsidian floor of the Sector Zero hub. "Since when did you become my tour guide?" I spat, trying to catch my breath. "I thought you liked watching me die."

"I like efficiency," she countered, shoving me forward as a siren wailed, a guttural, mechanical scream that vibrated in my teeth. "And right now, you're the only variable Mord hasn't accounted for. That makes you useful. For now."

We hit the junction of the Purge Corridor. Above us, the massive holographic displays shifted from gold to a violent, pulsing crimson. *PURGE PROTOCOL ACTIVE*, the text screamed in every known language.

"The hell is a Purge Protocol?" I asked, glancing up.

"It means everything in this sector gets erased," Vera said. She stopped abruptly, spinning me around and pinning me against the cold metal wall. Her face was inches from mine, her breath smelling of mint and something metallic.