Chapter 38 · The Mark That Shouldn't Exist

"Drop the rifle, Kane. Now."

The muzzle pressed into my chest before I could turn. Cold metal. Close enough to punch through my coat and crack a rib if Selena pulled the trigger.

I kept both hands up.

"You already searched me."

"I changed my mind."

"That happens when you find something you don't understand?"

Her finger settled against the trigger guard. Not on it. Close enough to make the point.

We stood inside the wreck bay with the remains of the prototype sync fighter between us. The machine had been dragged out of the lower hangar ten minutes ago, still smoking from the test chamber. Its armor was scorched. One wing hung at the wrong angle. The cockpit glass had split down the center.

And burned into the metal beneath the canopy was a black triangle wrapped around a silver slash.

Victor's mark.

It shouldn't exist yet.

Selena shoved the barrel harder against my chest. "You knew that symbol was there."

"I knew it might be."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting while you're pointing a gun at me."

Her eyes narrowed.