Chapter 15 · The Prisoner in His Chest

The archive door exploded inward.

Iron hinges shrieked. Dust burst through the room in a gray wave, swallowing the shelves, the dead files, and the thin blue light leaking from the pages in Lio's hands.

Mara raised her weapon before the first soldier cleared the doorway. Her pistol was an ugly, hand-built thing with a brass barrel and a coil of red wire wrapped around the grip. She fired once.

The bolt struck the stone floor between the soldiers and split into a fan of white sparks. Three men stumbled back, shields flashing into existence around their bodies.

"That was a warning," Mara said. "The next one takes knees."

High Inspector Vey stepped through the smoke without hurrying. His black coat remained spotless. Silver sigils crawled along the collar, each one bright enough to sting Lio's eyes. Behind him, Council soldiers filled the passage from wall to wall, rifles leveled, boots planted on the old archive tiles.

Vey looked past Mara.

His gaze landed on Cael.

More precisely, it landed on the dark veins crawling out from beneath Cael's shirt.

"Inspector Rook," Vey said. "You have served the Council well. Do not make your final act an act of disobedience."