Chapter 28 · Untitled Chapter

"We need to move. Now."

Vera's hand clamped around my wrist as light poured through nine floors of shattered concrete. Something had torn the sky open above us, and every alarm in my chest screamed the same warning: They see you.

"Alpha," I said, staring up at the impossible ship. "What the hell is that?"

"Buyer confirmed. Primary objective: preserve prototype integrity. Secondary objective: prevent unauthorized extraction."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only answer I'm permitted to provide."

Richard's drone dipped lower, rotors whining. His face flickered across the screen, and the anger was gone. For the first time tonight, he looked scared enough to run.

"Fall back," he snapped. "Leave the prototype."

One of his men hesitated. "Sir, the asset—"

"I said fall back! You don't want to be here when that thing opens."

Vera yanked me toward the stairwell. "Iris, move."

I tried. My knees locked.

The light brightened, and the metal buried in my chest answered. Not with the familiar pulse or another warning about system failure. The heart pulled once, hard, like a signal had hooked into it from above.

"Alpha," I said. "Tell me what's happening."

A burst of static tore through her voice.