Rennard’s POVI’ve always found it amusing how people mistake charm for innocence.They see a smile and think it means trust.They see composure and think it means goodness.Idiots! The lot of them...Every grin I’ve ever given, every stammer, every moment I pretended to be unsure, it was all part of the design. The weak, insecure Rennard that everyone whispered about? That was my favorite mask. And the best part? Even Vin believed it. Poor little spider thought she was the one weaving the web.I still remember her eyes when I handed her those “keys” she thought she stole. The smug little sparkle. I let her feel clever. I needed her to, because Cane wanted eyes in the estate that weren’t mine. Disposable eyes. Vin was useful, but she was never meant to leave that mine alive.She did her part. She dug just deep enough. And then the General cleaned up.Now, all that’s left is the next phase.The engagement ring gleamed faintly beneath the light from my wrist tablet. Not gold or silver,

Seth’s POVI couldn’t sleep. Not that I ever really did these days. Sleep was a luxury reserved for people with clear consciences, and I’d traded mine a long time ago. The city outside my window glowed like a sickly heart, veins of neon pulsing through Velkor’s skyline, hiding the rot beneath all that corporate glamour. Somewhere down there, Rose was probably sipping expensive wine, smiling through the pain, pretending her world wasn’t being sold to the highest bidder.And me? I was the idiot who let it happen.I grabbed my jacket and stepped into the cold. The streets were quieter at this hour, but not dead, Velkor never slept, it just whispered secrets between the cracks. I followed the scent of ozone and static until I reached Lucas’s workshop, a cramped little bunker tucked behind a row of holographic billboards. The place looked like a junkyard of stolen tech and caffeine addiction.Lucas opened the door before I even knocked. His eyes were bloodshot, and his fingers twitched fro

Rose POVMorning came with the softness of a blade. Pretty, but dangerous.I woke to the sound of silk rustling and the gentle, almost too polite murmurs of the mansion's seamstresses. The air smelled like lavender oil and new fabric, too clean, too calm to my liking. The kind of calm that made your stomach twist, like something terrible was holding its breath beneath the surface.The sunlight was too bright, cutting through the curtains like it was proud of what it was about to reveal. I sat up, still in the nightgown I hadn’t really slept in, and the women around me practically swarmed like birds to a carcass.“Lady Tyrel, you’ll be radiant,” one said, all sugar and cheer.Another added, “Velkor’s brides never disappoint, my lady.”'Yeah. Because they never had a choice.'The room itself looked like a fairy tale and a funeral collided, layers of white satin, pearls, ribbons. The dress stood on a mannequin in the corner, glowing faintly under the light, its bodice threaded with silve

Rose POVI always imagined my wedding day to smell like roses, maybe lilacs... something sweet, fragile, and soft enough to forget how temporary things are.But this? This smelled like a disappointment.Perfumed halls, white silk, music that sounds like a sigh. Everyone’s smiling, but it’s that kind of smile that hurts to look at too long the political kind. My gown gleamed like frost under candlelight, every thread too tight, every jewel felt too heavy. Even my heart felt laced up.The Tyrel estate was radiant, a palace of polished marble and carefully manufactured happiness. Guests filled the grand hall, nobles, officers, and men who smiled too easily while holding secrets in their pockets. I sat quietly by the window before the ceremony, feeling the hum of the ring again. That same faint vibration that pulsed beneath my skin like a heartbeat that wasn’t mine.It hadn’t stopped since last night.“Lady Rose,” one of the maids whispered, peeking in. “It’s time.”I stood, forcing my sm

Seth POVThe sunlight hit like a slap to the face. After the blackout from the EMP, it felt wrong, too bright, too clean, too alive for what just happened inside. The wedding hall burned behind us, columns of smoke twisting into the sky like a funeral pyre. My ears still rang from gunfire. My lungs hurt from the dust and the smell of burnt silk and blood.But I didn’t stop.I couldn’t.Rose was out there... running toward the western mines. I caught her heat signature on my visor before it glitched out completely. She was moving fast, too fast for someone unarmed, and she wasn’t heading toward help. She was going deeper into the restricted zone, the old tunnels that cut under the Tyrel estate like arteries.“Ghosts, rally up!” I barked into the comms. Static sounds hissed back, but a few green dots blinked to life on my HUD. Good enough.Three of my men emerged from the smoke, masks cracked and armor scorched. Yarrow, Juno, and Kade. They looked as tired and pissed as I felt.“She’s h