2024-09-26 09:01:49
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CHAPTER 661
Tedmond’s pulse hammered, but his face remained a mask of stone as the elevator plummeted.He felt the pressure shift in his ears, a stark reminder of how deep the Heart truly sat.As the floor surged beneath his boots, his mind ran through tactical options.‘If the Warden is suffocating her, he loses his Anchor.’The thought rose automatically, the first line of defense. Why kill the one thing keeping his facility stable?But as the descent accelerated, the counter-argument hit like a punch to the gut.The Warden wasn’t stabilizing the facility anymore. He was erasing evidence.If a Washington heir had breached the inner sanctum, the Gilded Cage was compromised. To the Syndicate, a dead legend was safer than a liberated one.“He’s liquidating the asset,” Tedmond hissed, voice echoing in the metallic shaft. “He’d rather lose the Anchor than let me have her.”Lottie had pointed to the reinforced steel door with its golden seal just before the doors closed.“The private lift. But Tedm
CHAPTER 660
The woman’s grin faltered. She had not been expecting that response from him.She looked into the raw, unyielding conviction in his eyes and realized she wasn’t negotiating with a boy playing hero; she was negotiating with the heir to a dynasty that didn’t know how to lose.“The sub-basement,” she whispered, her voice finally losing its edge. “Level Seven. It’s not on the maps. It’s a pressurized chamber behind the main server stack. The Warden calls it the Heart. She might be there, Tedmond. But the only way in is through the Warden’s private lift.”She paused, her amber eyes searching the silver mask as if trying to see the flesh beneath it.“I wasn’t sure you would actually find her here. It’s been years since I last saw Mill. Back then, I didn’t know who she really was. In this place, people are just numbers or shadows. No one knew what she truly looked like… she was kept in the deep dark.”She leaned closer to the glass, her expression turning uncharacteristically soft.“But now
CHAPTER 659
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
CHAPTER 658
Watching the woman in front of him, a frown creased Tedmond’s face.She was smirking at him, her eyes dark with mischief.Tedmond’s jaw tightened. The disappointment settled like a cold weight in his stomach, but the woman’s trivialization of his presence sparked a sharp, smoldering annoyance. He hadn’t fought through a magnetic kill zone and a liquid-nitrogen storm just to be lectured by a high-society prisoner about his motives.“I’m not here for entertainment,” Tedmond said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low vibration. “And I certainly didn’t come here for you.”Lottie stepped forward, her amethyst eyes flicking between the woman and the sapphire cables.“She’s not the Anchor, Tedmond. She’s the Pulse. She monitors external communications.”“Is that what I am today?” the woman laughed, a dry, melodic sound. “How quaint. You’re looking for the Washington woman, aren’t you? The one who actually matters.”She tapped a polished fingernail against the glass.“You’re about three
CHAPTER 657
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
CHAPTER 656
Tedmond’s hand dropped from the glass as if burned.He stepped back, gaze falling to the floor as the weight of the deception crushed him."It’s a decoy," he said, voice hollow and dangerous."What?" Lottie sprinted over, amethyst eyes wide. "No… the life-signs… the golden dot… it was pinned here!""She’s wearing a biometric transmitter," Tedmond noted, analytical mind snapping into place even as his chest ached.He looked up, blue eyes cold and sharp behind the silver slits."The Warden knew someone would come. He didn’t just hide her… he turned her into a ghost. This isn’t the Anchor. This is the bait."The woman in the cell tapped on the glass, her green eyes dancing with malice. She pointed toward the ceiling, then toward the far end of the ward where a secondary set of red-lit doors began to groan."Lottie," Tedmond said, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword, his stance widening. "The map was a lie. This isn't going to be as easy as a two-hundred-yard walk.""The logs... Alb
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