Chapter 1115
The helicopter hovered low, laying down covering fire. Gabriel’s men were retreating, overwhelmed by the sudden air superiority.
Alistair gunned the engine. He didn’t take the road — he went off-road, driving along the ridge line and bouncing hard over rocks and scrub.
The helicopter tracked them, a guardian angel made of steel and rotors.
They reached the main highway. The helicopter banked away and disappeared back out over the sea.
Skye’s phone rang.
“You’re welcome,” Liam said.
“You crazy bastard,” Skye breathed. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Liam said. “I bought you time. But Gabriel has the chip. And now he has the codes.”
“He has the chip,” Skye said, glancing at Alistair. “But he doesn’t have the codes.”
Alistair looked at her.
“I swapped it,” Skye said. “Again.”
“When?”
“In the car, before we got out. I gave him a dummy drive from the glove compartment. It’s an old backup with music files on it.”
Alistair reached into his pocket and pulled out the Ruby Drive.
“You are,” he said, shaking his head, “unbelievable.”
“So what exactly did you give Gabriel?” Victoria asked from the back seat.
“The Best of 80s Rock,” Skye said.
Julian started laughing. It turned into a cough, but he kept laughing.
“Ouroboros,” Julian wheezed, “just started a war for a mixtape.”
They didn’t go home. Home wasn’t safe.
They went to The Sanctuary — an underground bunker built by Alistair’s grandfather during the Cold War, renovated for modern paranoia.
Julian was stabilized in the med-bay. Victoria refused to leave his side.
Alistair and Skye sat in the command center. The adrenaline was fading, leaving her trembling.
“We have the chip,” Alistair said, setting it on the metal table. “But Gabriel knows. By now, he’s realized it’s a fake.”
“He’ll come for us with everything he has,” Skye said.
“Let him come,” Alistair said. “We have the leverage. We dictate the terms.”
“What about Liam?” Skye asked. “He exposed himself. Using that chopper is going to complicate his deal.”
“He’s playing his own game now,” Alistair said. “But he hates Ouroboros as much as we do.”
Skye looked at the monitors showing the city above. It looked peaceful. She knew better.
“Ouroboros isn’t just a group of assassins, Alistair,” she said. “It’s a system. Gabriel is a symptom. We need to cut off the head.”
“The Master,” Alistair said.
“We need to unlock the chip. We need to see what’s on it — the names, the accounts, everything.”
“We need a key,” Alistair said. “Encryption like this requires a physical key.”
Skye thought back to her past life. To the rumors. To the things Liam had whispered in his sleep.
“The key,” Skye said slowly, “is a person.”
“Who?”
“Me,” Skye whispered. “It’s always been me. That’s why they killed me in the first timeline. Not because I was in the way. Because I was the key.”
Alistair looked at her, horror dawning on his face.