Chapter 21 · The VIP Key

"Move your hand, or I'll take the whole wrist," Lilith hissed. Her blade was pressed against the soft skin of my forearm, pinning my wrist to the cold metal of the console.

I didn't flinch. I couldn't. The Reaper Plugin was screaming in my peripheral vision, a jagged red strobe flashing *CRITICAL LOCKDOWN* every half second. The air in the server hub tasted like ozone and burnt plastic.

"I'm trying to bypass the biometric layer," I gritted out, my fingers dancing over the holographic keys. "If I slip, the whole floor goes into incineration mode. You want to be a charcoal briquette?"

Lilith leaned in closer. I could feel the heat radiating off her body, the scent of expensive gunpowder and something like vanilla. Her chest was inches from my shoulder, her breathing shallow and sharp.

"You're lying," she whispered, the edge of the knife nicking my skin. A single bead of blood welled up. "You're not bypassing. You're searching. What's in the VIP archive, Kai? What are you actually looking for?"

I stopped typing. The silence in the room was heavier than the lockdown sirens. I turned my head, meeting her gaze.