Chapter 754
Chapter 754:
Alistair and Julian exchanged a look. A truce.
“Sorry,” Alistair muttered.
“The pasta is good,” Julian offered.
Skye didn’t turn around. She stared out the window into the darkness of the estate grounds.
“He’s going to need us,” she whispered to the glass. “When he comes back… if he comes back… he’s going to be different. We have to be ready p>
Dinner ended with the abruptness of a gavel strike. Julian, citing fatigue—which was likely real, given the pallor of his skin—retreated upstairs, taking the rest of the wine bottle with him. Skye and Alistair moved to the library. It was a room of dark wood and leather, smelling of old paper and cigars.
“He’s getting worse,” Alistair said, dropping onto a Chesterfield sofa. “Physically, maybe Lucian’s meds help. But mentally? He’s checking out p>
“He feels useless,” Skye said, pacing in front of the fireplace. “He was the mastermind. Now he’s the invalid. Celeste found a way to hurt him without touching him. We have to give him a purpose p>
“I have a purpose for him,” Alistair said. “Decryption. Parker is good, but Julian? Julian sees patterns in chaos. If we get the Syndicate’s raw data, Julian is the only one who can crack it p>
Skye’s phone buzzed. It wasn’t a text. It was a priority alert from the Oracle internal server.
She unlocked it.
ALERT: SYSTEM OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS.
SECTOR: ENTERTAINMENT.
“What now?” Alistair asked, seeing her expression.
“It’s the entertainment division,” Skye said, scrolling frantically. “Someone is physically pulling drives. The system is screaming p>
“Who has that kind of access p>
𝘙𝘰𝗆anc𝗲 ո𝗼𝘷𝘦ls 𝗈𝗇 𝗯𝗲.c𝗈m
“Only me. And…” Skye froze. “Victoria p>
“Victoria Hayes?” Alistair groaned, standing. “I thought she was on our side now p>
“She is,” Skye said, grabbing her keys. “After the wedding, I didn’t know what to do with her. She saved us with that warning about the flowers—Parker texted her the intel, but she was the one brave enough to scream it out. I couldn’t just leave her on the street, so I assigned her to the Entertainment Division. I figured she could channel her… intensity… into rebranding p>
“You put a pyromaniac in charge of a fireworks factory,” Alistair muttered.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Come on p>
They sped to the Oracle headquarters. The building was mostly dark, but the lights on the 14th floor—Oracle Entertainment—were blazing.
When the elevator doors opened, chaos greeted them.
Racks of costumes had been overturned. Feathers and sequins littered the floor like the aftermath of a showgirl massacre. Staff members huddled in corners, looking terrified.
In the center of the room, Victoria Hayes stood on a desk. She held a bottle of champagne in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. She wore a dress that looked like it had been constructed from three different couture gowns stapled together. But her eyes weren’t vacant. They were terrified and alert.