Chapter 28 · The Gilded Cage

"Smile, Zero." Victor's fingers closed around my jaw before I could turn away. "You are about to meet the people who paid to see you behave."

I bit his thumb.

He jerked back with a sharp curse. A guard drove my shoulder into the glass wall, hard enough to rattle my teeth. The restraint band around my wrist flashed red, and pain shot up my arm.

"Try that again," Victor said, wiping the small cut on his thumb, "and I will turn your pain circuits on full power."

"Try it," I said. "Then explain to your buyers why your perfect weapon tore through their expensive floor."

The guard twisted my arm higher. My knees bent, but I did not go down. Not yet.

Victor leaned close. His suit smelled like clean metal and expensive smoke. He had no visible weapon. He did not need one. Three guards stood behind me, two drones hovered above the ceiling rails, and my collar was wired straight into the Syndicate's control net.

He owned the room.

He owned my body.

That did not mean he owned my mouth.

"You have five seconds to stop fighting," he murmured.

"You have five seconds to grow a