Chapter 32
They came out at the edge of a frost-bitten meadow. Dead grass bent in whispering arcs under the bone-colored sky.
Wind twisted the rope of the hanging body behind him while Ryker stood laughing. The sound carried too easily in the open air. It was bright and warm—and wrong. She watched him rake back his hair, wind-blown strands falling across a face split with laughter.
Despite its beauty, such a sound did not belong.
Heat and chill clashed under Audrey’s ribs, visceral enough to pull her eyes shut. She would give anything to go back and make a different choice if it meant keeping Felix alive. But she couldn’t—she’d made her bed, and now, she had to lie in it.
She took a deep breath of air into her lungs.
And when she opened her eyes a few moments later, the helpless feeling that had plagued her was gone. In its place was a far more valuable one.
Confidence.
Her hands heated. She’d previously breached Ryker’s mind—and survived. She’d learned from it. Now, the urge to do it again felt necessary, not reckless.
His laughing stopped, and he turned slowly, his disconcerting eyes sweeping the meadow until they found her. Even at a distance, she felt his attention slide across her skin—slow, deliberate. He flicked the cigarette aside and murmured something to Kat before facing Audrey fully.
Then the pressure inside her head increased. It felt subtle at first, as if he were testing her again.
Let me in.
But Audrey didn’t retreat; she refined. Instead of blocking him outright, she developed her mind into something lean and structured, determined to show him she could hold her own.
He searched but found nothing.
He advanced, unfazed, boots biting into the frost at every step.
“Good morning.”
“There is absolutely nothing good about this morning.”
His awareness skimmed her again, intimate and invasive, and he almost smiled. “You’re extremely hungover.”
Audrey wanted to spit on him. She cut to the chase. “You broke your word. Felix is dead. Why trust you about Cary?”
“I never promised you anything about that guard,” he said. “And I don’t need your trust. As I’ve said before, you’re a liability. You’re alive because I’m out of options.”
Anger sparked, but she used it.
She struck.
Her mind ripped through his defenses, ruthless and direct. Strength surged; she was stronger than ever—spurred by the need to protect her sister and prove her own capability.
His reaction was instant. Ryker grasped her jacket and dragged her until their chests nearly collided. “What did I say before? Don’t you fucking dare do that again.”
She bared her teeth.
His grip shifted from collar to throat. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you.”
Two weeks ago, Audrey would have balked at his closeness and predatory touch. But now, her heart rate steadied. “You won’t.”
His hold on her stiffened. “Oh?”
“You need me. I’m a gold triad, and you have no replacement.”
“Don’t confuse necessity for protection. Don’t mistake leverage for loyalty.”
“What do you mean?”
“One more gold triad changes the board,” he said, moving his fingers in slow circles over her skin. “It doesn’t win the game.”
“I’m not a game piece to be moved around. I don’t bow to anyone.”
“I don’t need obedience.” His eyes focused on hers. “I need someone who can keep up.”
She scrutinized him.
Ryker wasn’t simply dangerous; he was the smartest person in the room.
Which meant he was more complicated than she first believed.
She needed to understand his motivations—her own survival and the chance to save her sister depended on decoding his intentions and coordinating her own strategy with them.
Ryker released her and stepped back, still watching. “You’re changing,” he murmured.
“So are you,” she replied, and she meant it. He was remaking his plans for her, something she surmised he rarely did.
His brows shot up. “You think you can outgrow me?”
“No.” She glared at him. “I think I can outlast you.”
He became still, then smiled. “Good,” he said. “You feel it.”
She didn’t ask what he meant; she already knew.
Felix creaked behind them. “How long will you leave him up there?” she asked.
“Until I’m done with him.”
He didn’t look at the body, only at her. Then—without warning—he pulled folded papers from his coat and held them out for her, waiting.
Audrey didn’t move, didn’t blink.
Eventually, he shoved them in her hand. “Mihail is being transferred. Three weeks.”
Audrey unfolded them. There were official-looking documents inside, with seals, stamps, and a departure schedule.
“At that point, he’ll be off Nepra,” he continued. “And once he leaves, retrieval becomes exponentially harder.”
Audrey only spared him a look, then kept reading.
He tapped the schedule in her hands. “Right now, he’s in a transfer pipeline.
And every step leaves a trace that can be disrupted.
” He moved closer, shifting into a calculated tone.
“Once he’s on Nomac, he’ll have different handlers and a new set of security procedures.
There will be no Field access, as we have here, or any local assets. ”
Audrey didn’t reply, but she understood. As she studied all the codes and dates staring back at her, they read less like bureaucracy and more like a timer written in another language.
Ryker continued. “Three weeks is not a guess—it’s a guarantee. It’s the only period in which I can still hit the chain before they lock him behind systems I can’t crack quickly enough without burning everything else I have.”
“And if you miss it?” Audrey asked.
“Then Mihail becomes a long war instead of a recoverable asset,” he said. “And your sister becomes harder to trace because the one man who forced this board into motion is no longer in play.”
Her eyes scanned the final documents—and stopped.
Defense Counsel: Alexander N?rgaard.
She barely had time to process when she found the photo next. It was recent. Alex was standing outside a courthouse, with Cary beside him. She looked thinner and harder than Audrey remembered, but she was alive and real.
Audrey squeezed the image. Maren had been right—he’d been searching behind her back. “You knew.”
“I know many things.”
“You knew she was with him.”
“I know she’s connected to him.” A pause. “That’s not the same as possession.”
“You still don’t know where she is, though.”
“I know enough.” The wind ripped through them. “If Mihail is transferred,” Ryker said, “the window closes. After that, your sister disappears again.”
Audrey’s thoughts focused on around three people.
Mihail.
Alex.
Cary.
She handed him the papers. “You need Mihail.”
“I need my lieutenant.”
“And you require me to get him back.”
He didn’t deny it. “And if you want your sister, you need control.”
“What if I don’t learn fast enough?”
He didn’t look away from her. “Then someone faster will get to her.” The look burning in his eyes was pure calculation.
“What if that's you?” Audrey asked.
A shadow of a smile drew at his mouth. “If I reach her first, I will decide what she is.”
“Meaning you kill her,” Audrey stated.
“I eliminate liabilities.”
Her blood grew cold. “And if she isn’t one?”
He shrugged. “Then she becomes mine.”
A dense silence fell.
Three weeks. He’d put a deadline on their deal.
“Then we should stop wasting time.”
Ryker came closer but didn’t touch her. “You want answers?” he asked. “Earn them.” He put the papers back inside his coat. “You’ll need control before we enter the Field.” A pause. “I can’t do it alone.”
He turned and walked away.
Audrey debated her next move.
Frost snapped beneath the hanging body’s slow sway behind her.
The image of her hard, grown-up sister with her best friend was imprinted on her brain.
And Mihail? She didn’t owe him anything, but he didn’t deserve to die.
She now understood the shape of the choice.
It wasn’t as simple as against Ryker or with Ryker.
Not as clear-cut as “trust him” or “distrust him.” Those were fantasies for people who still had clean options.
If she walked now, hatred would scorch her path, but her sister would sink into a maze of distance and men for whom life remained a spreadsheet.
Following Ryker required stepping willingly into the heart of the machine that was ready to grind her into a fine powder—but it was the only way Cary might live.
The urge to run fought against a desperate, raw hope which still thudded stronger than her fear.
Each path spoke of danger, neither righteous nor safe—yet, only one was laden with the pain of promise for Cary. Audrey inhaled frigid air, letting it sting her throat the way regret stung her thoughts, and let her eyes linger on Felix one final time.
Only then did she follow him. “This changes nothing. I’m not yours or on your side. I’ll get control, Mihail out, and reach Cary first. After, if you’re in my way, I’ll kill you.”
Ryker’s expression didn’t soften, but his eyes flared in approval.
The path narrowed. Frost cracked underfoot. She moved beside him with an intent she hadn’t possessed when this morning began. He was steady and contained, yet below the feigned aura was an isolation, and something else—restraint.
It struck her that if he found an equal, he would destroy anything that endangered it.
Retaliating had changed her worth. It was a frightening shift—a sense she might be wanted not despite her opposition, but because of it. That only clarified her path to be seen as an equal, though, and to use that standing to protect herself and her sister.
She tried to even her breaths, even as his stride adjusted closer.
After a moment, he moved away again, as if he’d thought better of it. Audrey’s foot hit a patch of ice, and she slipped. His hand caught her waist instantly. It was firm and certain. Heat permeated the fabric.
His hand paused fractionally too long. Then, Ryker’s voice glided into her mind. You’re already choosing. You just haven’t admitted which side you're on.
She didn’t bother to deny it. The path narrowed further, and their arms brushed again.
Once, she’d feared becoming something like him. Now, she questioned whether the universe could survive them both. They might not only be dangerous to each other, but also to the entire order that held everything in place.
You were never meant to survive me.
Warmth edged closer.
You were meant to become something worse.