Chapter 77 Lark
Lark
“He thinks I’ll shut it down,” I say.
No hesitation. No doubt.
I can feel the shape of his expectation like a hand closing around my throat.
I straighten anyway.
“I won’t.”
The room stills.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Because now they understand—
this isn’t about stopping the storm.
It’s about owning it.
“I’ll let it run,” I continue, voice steady. “Every trigger. Every escalation.”
Aaron’s gaze locks onto mine.
Tracking.
Trusting.
Dangerously calm.
“But I’ll rewrite what it exposes.”
Ronan’s head tilts slightly. “You’re turning his architecture inside out.”
“Yes.”
I step closer to the board, fingers brushing the edge like I can feel the system beneath it.
“He built this to force control,” I say. “To make governments react, overcorrect, lock everything down.”
I glance back at them.
“So I give them something else to see.”
A beat.
“The truth.”
Silence hits.
Not empty.
Electric.
Aaron steps forward, voice low, deliberate.
“And while he’s watching the world burn…”
His eyes sharpen.
“…we go get him.”
I meet his gaze.
No fear.
No hesitation.
“Yes.”
That’s the real plan.
Not defense.
Not survival.
A hunt.
Jace exhales sharply, rolling his shoulders as tension finally breaks into something darker.
Anticipation.
“Finally,” he mutters, cracking his neck.
A faint, dangerous grin pulls at his mouth.
“A plan that involves both chaos…”
A beat.
“And murder.”
No one disagrees.