Chapter 21 · Loopbound - Chapter 21: First Kill of the Day

Vera's office door is open when Callum hits the third floor.

That's wrong. She locks it every loop before noon. He learned that on loop eighteen when he tried to warn her early and found the wards already up, humming like live wire against his knuckles.

Now the door's cracked. No wards. No hum.

He doesn't slow down. Doesn't call out. Just hits the door with his shoulder and rolls left the way his old drill sergeant taught him, because if someone's already inside they'll aim center mass first.

Nolan's standing by the window. Vera's on her knees in front of the restricted archive cabinet, hands zip-tied behind her back with something that glows pale blue. Binding rune. Military-grade suppression.

Callum knows because he wore the same ones in Baghdad when they shipped him home after the IED incident and the medics thought his broken rib had punctured a lung and his pain was making the base wards scream.

"You're six minutes late," Nolan says. Doesn't turn around. "She told me you'd come. I gave you until 9:47. It's 9:53."

Vera's face is pale. Blood at her temple, fresh. Her eyes lock on Callum and she shakes her head once.