Chapter 26 · She Shows the Bite on the Vault Table

"Reverse the stamp, Gia." Rhys's voice came out of the wall speaker like he was standing in the room with us. "Or your brother's enrollment sits at the bottom of every pile in this territory until he ages out."

The vault panel glowed red. LOCKED. Somewhere above us a camera eye blinked green, feeding straight to whatever screen he was sitting behind.

"You don't get a vote on my stamp." My voice didn't shake. I made sure of that. "REJECTED stays REJECTED. That was your word, Rhys, not mine."

"It's a record. Records get amended."

"Not this one."

Vale moved before I finished the sentence, his shoulder cutting between me and the camera like he could physically block a signal. His hand found my wrist — not hard, just there, just enough that I felt his pulse instead of my own for a second.

"You're wasting air," Vale said to the speaker, flat and bored, though his jaw said something else entirely. "She's not amending anything for you."

"This isn't about her. It's about the boy." A pause, calculated. "Enrollment freezes at midnight. Someone should tell him why."

The line clicked dead. The vault lights stuttered to half —