A Few Minutes Prior.

  ——?——

  The estate’s understructure had been built for function above all else. Straight, broad corridors allowed room for rapid movement, with deep alcoves spaced at regular intervals so guards could dig in if a fight broke out. Interconnecting halls and service passages overlapped in deliberate patterns, turning the lower levels into a disorienting maze for anyone who didn’t know where to look. And threaded through it all — hidden behind stone and spirit-reinforced plating — were dozens of monitoring arrays, quietly tracking every living presence inside.

  One particular junction buzzed like a kicked hive.

  The air reeked of old stone, sweat, and the faint metallic tang of active wards. Four corridors branched out at uneven angles, each lined with spirit-lamps that pulsed in synchronized rhythm. Clerks hurried between stations with tablets clutched tight to their chests. Guards jogged past in pairs and trios, raising an uneven cadence that echoed slightly under the noise. Voices overlapped, reports were shouted, confirmations repeated, orders taken and relayed again. Somewhere deeper in the complex, a bell chimed once more, then cut off mid-note, strangled into silence.

  At the center of it all stood Dr. Maria.

  Or rather, Captain Rows did.

  She occupied the space as if it were her own, boots planted wide, shoulders squared beneath her borrowed armor. The Shackle Breaking aura she let leak out sat heavy in the air, just oppressive to match her disguise’s overbearing attitude. She kept her expression set in a permanent scowl, jaw tight, eyes sharp and impatient. Anyone looking at her saw exactly what they expected to see: an irritated captain barely tolerating the incompetence around them.

  The [Wasp] hidden beneath her cloak vibrated once, faint enough she could barely feel it through the fabric.

  “Intersection nine,” Alpha murmured over the comms. “Triggering a proximity pulse in the north service corridor in five seconds. Send two squads. Preferably the ones closest to the stairwell.”

  Maria didn’t respond directly. Instead, she shifted her weight, lifted her chin, and barked at the nearest pair of runners the moment they appeared.

  “You two!” she barked, stabbing a finger down the northern branch. “Tell squads seven and twelve to sweep the north service corridor. Check intersections seven through nine.”

  The two runners exchanged a look. “Sir, we just came from—”

  “MOVE!” Maria barked, causing the two men to jump and whirl on their heels.

  A young clerk, cheeks pale and eyes wide, stumbled into her line of sight with a stack of ledgers clutched to his chest. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Maria demanded.

  The clerk jolted so hard the ledgers nearly slipped from his grip. “T-to the sublevel access station, Captain. Lady Orion—”

  “Is busy dealing with the bastards on the surface,” Maria cut in, voice rough with practiced contempt. “You’ll report to the west wing instead. Tell squad three I want them back here in five minutes.”

  “B-but—” the clerk stammered out.

  Maria glared at the man and growled, the unspoken threat clear on her stolen face.

  The clerk paled and nodded, then took a turn into the tunnel opposite the one he had been about to enter.

  Another buzz beneath her cloak.

  “East wing next,” Alpha said. “I’m painting a movement signature down that corridor. It’ll look like an intruder heading toward the archive stairs.”

  Maria didn’t respond. Instead, she shifted her stance, rolling her shoulders as if working out a kink, already scanning the junction.

  A moment later, she caught a trio of guards rounding the corner, breathless.

  “Captain!” one of them blurted.

  Maria’s head snapped toward him, her glare cutting him off mid-stride. “If you’re here to tell me you lost the intruder again,” she said flatly, “I’m going to start breaking fingers.”

  The guard swallowed hard. “No, Captain. I was told to report that Squad Five is ready and awaiting orders.”

  “Good.” Maria didn’t miss a beat. She stabbed a finger toward the east branch. “Head to the archive stairs. We just got an array ping from that direction. I want that corridor sealed. No one in or out. Not runners. Not guards.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  The men straightened.

  “Assume anyone you see wasn’t sent by me,” she continued, her voice dropping into something colder, uglier. “And put them down.”

  “Yes, Captain!”

  They snapped to attention, spun on their heels, and marched down the east corridor.

  The [Wasp] buzzed again.

  Alpha’s voice threaded into her ear with faint amusement. “Everything’s going well so far; we’ve managed to pull most of the patrols out of the extraction team’s path. Keep the path empty. Plan B is moving into position as we speak. I want an open path in case they need to make a running retreat.”

  Maria frowned at Alpha’s mentioning of ‘contingency.’

  “Was it wise not to tell Garrelt and Jonah about that?” she asked over comms.

  Alpha chuckled. “And ruin the surprise? Besides, the best plans are the ones that go off without a hitch the first time. No Plan B needed!”

  Maria was silent for a moment, then asked, “… So, what’s Plan C?”

  There was a brief pause on the line.

  “Oh, shut up,” Alpha shot back, eliciting a soft chuckle from Maria.

  For the next few moments, the pattern repeated itself. Alpha would trigger a false alarm somewhere in the complex, and Maria would send guards to chase phantoms.

  The voice cut clean through the noise of the junction.

  “Something’s wrong here.”

  Maria turned in its direction.

  The third of Orion’s Shackle-Breaking captains stood a few paces away, pacing a tight line across the junction’s stone floor. He was lean where her stolen form was broad, long-limbed and narrow-shouldered, built for speed and flexibility rather than brute force. His armor was lighter than hers, and it hugged his frame. His tailbone-length braid — the only hair on his otherwise bald head — swayed with each irritated step.

  “There’ve been half a dozen alarms so far,” he said, stopping at last and planting his feet. His voice stayed level, but the tension beneath it was unmistakable. “And not a single team has run across one of the intruders.”

  Maria snorted, folding her arms across her chest and puffing herself up, every inch the overbearing captain. “And what are you implying, Blacktail?” she demanded. “That the arrays are faulty?” She took a deliberate step closer, letting her Shackle Breaking aura press outward just enough to be felt. “Need I remind you that those arrays were set up by Mistress Moonblade herself? Or are you saying the Boss’s best rune crafter did shoddy work?”

  A ripple went through the nearby clerks and runners. A few guards slowed, their attention snapping toward the confrontation.

  The lanky captain paled, lifting his hands instinctively. “No! Of course not!” he blurted.

  His hands lowered, fingers curling as his brow furrowed instead of smoothing. “But something else is going on,” he continued, more quietly now. His eyes flicked past Maria to the branching corridors, the clerks running orders back and forth. “You can feel it too.”

  Then he sneered at her. “The men might call you the Boar, but don’t be so thickheaded.”

  Inwardly, Maria frowned.

  “This game isn’t going to last much longer,” she sent over the comms, keeping her expression hard and dismissive. “They’re getting suspicious.”

  Alpha’s reply came back a heartbeat later, calm as ever. “Stall. We only need a little longer. The other team is already in the holding area. I’ll let you know when Audrea’s secured and they’re on the move.”

  Outwardly, Maria leaned forward half a step, looming. “Better a Boar than a Rat,” she growled, spitting the last word like it tasted foul.

  The other captain bristled, aura flaring in reflex. “Wanna try saying that again, you bastard?” he snapped. “Need I remind you how our last match went? I’ll be glad to beat it into you again.”

  The junction went still.

  Clerks backed away instinctively. Several guards shifted their grips on their weapons, eyes flicking between the two captains as the pressure between them thickened.

  Then a cold, feminine voice cut through the tension like a knife through silk.

  “It seems Orion’s training methods aren’t as good as she claims,” the voice said calmly, “if you fools are actually thinking of fighting at a time like this.”

  The hair on the back of Maria’s neck stood up.

  Shadows in a nearby alcove deepened, thickening unnaturally. Darkness peeled away from the stone, coalescing into a tall, slender figure dressed in layered black and slate-gray. Kira Shadowclaw stepped into the light as if she had always been there.

  Both captains snapped to attention.

  “Lady Kira!” Blacktail said immediately, spine straight, eyes forward.

  Maria followed a heartbeat later, every muscle locked, her borrowed face carefully blank.

  Kira’s gaze slid over them, slow and careful. It lingered just long enough to be uncomfortable, her eyes sharp and assessing, like a predator measuring distance to prey.

  Inside her helm, Maria sent a sharp burst across the comm. “Why didn’t you tell me Kira was this close?!”

  Alpha answered just as quickly. “She’s been actively masking herself from the arrays for the past few minutes. I think she suspects she’s being watched.”

  Alpha still couldn’t track the Second Realm expert directly, but either the quality of the arrays, or Orion’s own paranoia, meant the base’s arrays could… if Kira wasn’t actively trying to hide, at least.

  Maria cursed.

  Kira’s attention shifted back to Blacktail. For a long second, she said nothing. Then she spoke.

  “That said,” Kira murmured, “I’m afraid Captain Blacktail is correct.”

  A hush fell over the junction.

  She turned her head toward Maria, gaze sharpening. “Our array system has been compromised.”

  Several clerks gasped outright. Someone near the back swore under their breath.

  “I knew it,” Blacktail muttered under his breath, frustration and grim satisfaction warring in his expression. Louder, he added, “This is why I told this idiot we should’ve brought it to you sooner, my lady.”

  Kira’s eyes narrowed.

  Her head tilted slightly as she turned to study Maria. For a heartbeat, the world seemed to narrow to that gaze alone, like a blade poised at Maria’s throat.

  Kira took a single step forward.

  Then suddenly, her head jerked to the side.

  Her eyes widened a fraction.

  “Shit,” Alpha said sharply over Maria’s comms. “There’s been an incident with the extraction team.”

  Before Maria could ask what kind of incident, Kira spoke again, voice low and almost pleased.

  “I see… They’re in the high-security cells.”

  She turned back to Maria and Blacktail. The look in her eyes was no longer cold and calculating. Instead, it had become something… wilder. Hungry. The predator had found the trail.

  “Gather all available squads,” Kira ordered. “Seal every entrance to the high-security cells. Lock down the entire area.”

  Her eyes flicked toward Maria, then swept the room. “No one escapes.”

  Blacktail snapped a sharp salute. “Yes, ma’am!”

  Kira nodded once.

  Then she dissolved, her form breaking apart into drifting motes of shadow that sank back into the stone.