Chapter 12 · The Queen Below

"They're boxing you in."

Alpha's voice snapped through my earpiece as red dots pulsed across my phone. I stood on a rooftop three blocks from the factory district, tracker live, Vera closing in.

"Let her come."

I jumped.

Three stories dropped beneath my boots. Pavement cracked when I landed. Carbon plating slid under my skin, and weapon ports warmed along my forearms.

I walked into the open.

The first van turned the corner without headlights. Two more followed, cutting off every exit. Their doors slid open before the tires stopped. Twelve soldiers spilled out in black armor, rifles raised.

I lifted my hands.

"Agent X-07." The lead van's loudspeaker boomed. Not Vera's voice. "You're under arrest for unauthorized deployment of military assets and seventeen counts of vigilante homicide. Get on the ground. Now."

I didn't move.

"I said get down!"

"Where's Vera?"

The middle van's rear doors opened.

Vera stepped out in tactical gear, Defense Command insignia bright on her shoulder and one hand resting near her sidearm. Her face had gone flat—that doctor expression she wore when she delivered bad news.

I almost laughed. "You actually showed up."

"On the ground, Iris." She wouldn't look at me.