Chapter 17 · Ask Zero

"Step back." Marcus's hand clamps down on my shoulder before I can level the gun. "That's not your sister."

The glass in front of me is already spider-webbing. Behind it, floating in pale green fluid, Lyra's eyes snap open.

Blue. Glowing blue. Same color as the rune crawling up my arm.

And she's looking right at me.

"Ivy." Her voice crackles through the intercom, soft, patient. Like she's been waiting three years just to say my name.

"She said my name," I whisper.

"Neural echo. Programmed response." Marcus doesn't blink. "The rune network mimics voice patterns it's absorbed. That thing in the tank has been brain-dead since the first integration failed."

"Bullshit." I shake off his hand and step closer. The fluid ripples. A hand presses flat against the glass from the inside—fingers too long, skin gone translucent, veins glowing underneath like wires.

"Lyra?"

"Ivy." She smiles. Too many teeth. "You came."

Ash is at the door, rifle up, sweeping the corridor. "Boss. Movement upstairs. Those things from the subway—they're converging on this level."

"How many?" Marcus doesn't look away from the tank.

"Twelve. Maybe more."

"They smell the resonance." Marcus pulls a remote from his coat.