Page 147 of Fractured Loyalties
I’m angry.
Whoever was behind that feed had access to a door Elias locked. If Lydia’s clearance was the one used to breach it, this isn’t just infiltration. It’s surgical. Precise. The kind of betrayal that doesn’t come from outside.
And the worst part?
It worked.
Because for one long, sickening second, I thought we were ahead.
I glance again at the screen on Lydia’s wrist. Nothing but Elias’s vitals and a low-lit map that pulses like a threat. He’s deep now. Too far to pull back easily.
“You’re not going after him,” I say.
She lifts a brow. “He doesn’t want me to.”
“Has that ever stopped you before?”
A beat. Then she smiles—just a little. It’s cold. But it’s real. “Depends who’s bleeding.”
“You think Vale’s in with him?” I ask quietly.
Her gaze narrows. “If he is, he won’t stay there. Not with a signal like that pinging his trail.”
I nod once. Tension coiling tighter across my shoulders.
Then I turn away.
To our left, half-concealed in shadow, is a narrow stairwell—unmarked, steel-framed, unremarkable. The kind of access route you don’t see unless you’re looking for an escape.
I move toward it.
Lydia doesn’t stop me. She just watches.
“I’m not staying down here,” I say.
She exhales, sharp and low. “Don’t get clever.”
I glance back. “Too late.”
She tosses me a palm-sized jammer without a word.
I catch it, slide it into my back pocket.
“Ping me if you hit anything real,” she adds. “And you run silent unless it’s that.”
I nod and step into the stairwell, swallowing the pressure that builds behind my ribs as I climb.
Each step feels louder than it should. The kind of sound that gets measured in regrets.
When I reach the first landing, I press my ear to the wall. Nothing. Then—faint hum. Not directional. Not sharp. Just…present.
Something’s still online.
I follow it. Another level. Then one more.
At the top is a door. Steel-core. Lead-lined. A door meant to stay closed.
I push it open slowly.
