Chapter 8 · The Traitor Has the Exit

Quinn's signature is still burning into my vision when the ground drops out.

Not literally. The throne room's still there, marble and shadow and Nyx standing three feet away with his chest still glitching where he tore himself open. But everything I thought I knew just went sideways.

Quinn.

The guy who told me to give up. The guy who said escape was a fantasy. The guy who's been playing helpful NPC this whole time while his admin signature sat on the core map like a middle finger.

"Vera." Nyx's voice cuts through the noise in my head. "You need to move."

I look at him. His form's stabilizing, the fractures in his code knitting back together, but slower than before. He gave me something he wasn't supposed to have. The system's going to notice.

"Quinn," I say. My voice sounds flat. "Quinn's an admin."

"Was," Nyx corrects. "The signature's old. Three years, maybe four."

"He never said—"

"Would you?" Nyx tilts his head. "If you had power and chose to stay?"

I don't have an answer for that. My brain's still stuck on the fact that Quinn's been lying this whole time. Or not lying.