Chapter 25 · Silas, we're out of time

He lowered his hand.

The gesture should have felt like a victory. Instead, the space between us turned tight and strange.

A voice crackled through the ceiling speaker.

"Silas, we're out of time."

Kane.

I spun toward the nearest camera. "Kane?"

"Still alive," Kane said. "For now."

Silas's expression went flat. "You hacked my private channel."

"You left it open."

"I didn't."

"You did when you started staring at Hera instead of watching the breach."

My head snapped toward Silas.

He didn't look away from the camera. "Give me the status."

"The south grid is down. Two rescue hubs just lost power. And I found something inside the Ghost Code."

"What?"

"A recording."

The screen beside me flickered.

A woman's voice came through the speaker, rough and breathless.

"If he tells you that you belonged to him, don't believe him."

My knees weakened.

I knew that voice.

I knew every crack in it.

Silas moved toward the speaker. "Cut the channel."

"No," I said.

"Hera—"

"Play it."

"You don't know what you're hearing."

"I know my own voice."

The room went still.

Kane swore under his breath. "You recognize it?"

"Play the rest.