Chapter 763
Chapter 763:
Liam turned back to the unconscious Celeste. He pulled a drive from her computer.
“Time to see who pulls your strings,” Liam muttered.
The escape was a blur of gunfire and screeching tires. Lucian was waiting in a stolen ambulance at the south loading dock. They loaded Richard Sterling’s pod into the back.
“Where’s the masked man?” Lucian asked, revving the engine. He knew who it was, but he kept the cover.
“He stayed behind,” Skye said, climbing in, tears stinging her eyes. “Drive p>
They sped away just as the factory erupted in flames. Liam had rigged the gas lines.
They drove to the Vance Estate. It was the only fortress strong enough.
Julian met them at the door. He saw the pod. He saw Skye’s face.
“Get the medical team,” Julian ordered his staff. “Now p>
They wheeled Richard into the basement lab.
Skye stood there, covered in soot, watching the monitors beep. Her father was alive. Safe.
“Skye,” Alistair said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Look at the news p>
He pointed to a TV in the corner.
BREAKING NEWS: GANG WAR ERUPTS IN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT. CAIN FACILITY DESTROYED.
And then the screen flickered. Static.
A symbol appeared on the screen: a stylized “K p>
A voice, deep and distorted, spoke.
“Skye Sterling. You have taken something that belongs to us. You have burned our facility. You think you have won a victory p>
Skye stepped closer to the screen.
𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦.𝘤𝘰𝘮
“But you have only awakened the hive. The game of pawns is over. The kings are entering the board p>
The screen showed a list of names, scrolling fast.
Sterling. Kensington. Thorne. Vance. Hayes.
“The Covenant is broken,” the voice said. “Prepare for the purge p>
The screen went black.
Skye looked at Alistair. Then at Julian. Then at her sleeping father.
“They’re not just coming for me,” Skye realized. “They’re coming for all of us. The founding families p>
“Then let them come,” a voice said from the doorway.
Liam stood there. He was battered, bleeding, his clothes torn. He had ditched the tactical gear, wearing only a blackened T-shirt and jeans. He smelled of smoke and blood. But he was alive.
He walked into the room. He looked at the group—the broken, the battered, the survivors.
“I got it,” Liam said, wiping blood from his lip. He held up a small, encrypted flash drive. “I pulled the Architect’s private key from Celeste’s terminal before I blew it p>
Skye walked over to him. She didn’t care about the soot. She didn’t care about the blood. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.