“Huh?” Hugo’s eyes widened in shock.He didn’t understand what Tedmond had just said, nor the position it was about to put him in.Tedmond didn’t give him time to protest.He hauled Hugo upright, his grip on the man’s collar so tight the Adjutant’s feet barely brushed the floor. The red flare light was dying now, sputtering into a deep, sickly maroon that made the art gallery look like a slaughterhouse.“Wait! Please!” Hugo choked, clawing uselessly at Tedmond’s iron wrists. “You can’t… the turrets… they’re programmed for motion! If I go in there, they’ll shred me!”“Then I suggest you move fast,” Tedmond said, his voice as cold as the wind howling through the shattered dome.He retrieved the tablet from the floor and tucked it into the small of his back beneath his tactical vest. He didn’t just need the turrets down; he needed a clear line on the Commander. If Marek was pinned, she’d found high ground or a choke point.With a brutal shove, Tedmond forced Hugo toward the heavy doors

Tedmond peered at her. When she had pressed that gun against his head, she hadn’t looked anything like an ally, and even if she was one, how could she possibly claim it now?Still… they hadn’t mentioned Albert. There was no reason she should even know that name.And suddenly, it clicked.That was how she’d known who he was the moment the mask came off. He hadn’t questioned it before, but now it seemed painfully obvious. Too obvious.“I’m his mole inside the Gilded Cage,” Lottie hissed, her eyes flicking toward the balcony where the Warden stood.“Why do you think the security logs were so easy to manipulate? Why do you think I was alone in the Conservatory when you arrived? I was clearing the path so you wouldn’t have to fight fifty men.”“She’s lying! She has to be lying!” Hugo whimpered, but no one looked at him.“Check the tablet,” Lottie snapped, pointing at the device clenched in Tedmond’s hand. “Enter the code: 7-Alpha-9-Lottie. It’s the backdoor Albert built into the transpo

Tedmond sat up, his silver mask slightly askew.He was perched atop a ten-foot-high pile of white silk napkins, discarded gala sashes, and several dozen velvet chair covers."See?" Lottie’s voice came from his left.She was already standing, effortlessly flicking a stray thread from her shoulder."Soft landing. No sentries. And look—your shiny toy is still right where you left it."Tedmond ignored the jab, standing and brushing off his coat with sharp, aggressive strokes."We’re in a trash heap, Lottie.""No," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper as she pointed toward a set of heavy, frosted glass doors beyond the laundry bins."We’re in the back door of the 'Silent Ward.' And if the logs I stole are right, your mother is exactly two hundred yards through that door."Tedmond’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure she’ll be there?”Lottie didn’t flinch. She pulled a miniature holographic projector from a hidden seam in her tactical vest, and a shimmering blueprint of the sub-levels humme

Tedmond’s expression didn’t change, and her brows furrowed in confusion.“Don’t tell me you’re going to do it?”He peered at her.“That’ll freeze everything,” she repeated.“Exactly. Magnets lose their cohesion when the temperature drops below critical,” Tedmond replied.He reached up, fingers steady as he unbuckled the heavy, steel-plated vest and let it drop.The vest hit the floor, instantly sucked down by the magnets.Clang.Without the extra weight, Tedmond had a split second of mobility.“Now!”Lottie didn’t hesitate.She drew her sidearm and fired a single, precise shot into the silver-colored pipe running along the ceiling.A hiss of white, bone-chilling mist erupted, cascading down like a frozen waterfall.The marble floor cracked instantly under the thermal shock.The hum of the magnets warped into a high-pitched, dying whine as the intense cold disrupted the electrical flow.Tedmond felt the grip on his boots loosen.He didn’t run for the exit. He lunged toward the control

She stood and paced the small space of the sphere like a caged leopard.“You talk about wanting things as if desire is a currency,” she said. “But in this facility, we don’t deal in wants. We deal in trades. This is a negotiating room, whether you like it or not. If I give you Luna, I’m signing my own death warrant with the Warden. I need to know that whatever you offer in return is worth the risk of a slow execution.”Tedmond’s eyes narrowed. Above them, he could hear the faint sounds of Marek engaging the first wave of Enforcers, the muffled thuds of combat providing a grim rhythm to the conversation.“What would you like in exchange?” Tedmond asked, his voice dripping with icy patience.The woman laughed, sharp and delighted, and walked straight up to the glass, her amber eyes level with his.“It’s not every day you see a powerful family like yours groveling in the dirt,” she mused. “But don’t mistake your status for leverage here.”She paused, her lips curling into a smirk. “Ma