Chapter 34
Aeson
SECURITY brEACH: STOPPED—NOT ONGOING. Scion Noctis to OpTow IMMEDIATELY. The message keeps flashing in my mind as I race for the operations tower on the west side of the keep.
“What do we know?” I ask Ogdan, who shakes his head.
“They’re not giving any additional information. There’s concern that our channels aren’t secure,” he responds, sounding just as frustrated as I am.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Tove questions.
The answer that pops up in my mind has me pushing even faster. “It means sabotage?.?.?. from within,” I snarl, confirming exactly what we’ve been trying to defend against from the moment Ever revealed that it was dragons, not wyverns, that killed her father.
“Do you think this is a distraction?” Chastain asks. “That we’re being led away from the real target?”
My heart starts pounding harder in my chest like it’s trying to break free and race back to Ever. A cold sweat creeps across my nape at the possibility he’s right.
“Even if it is, she has her own Wing now—” Farrow starts.
“But they’re untested; she barely even knows them,” I argue, suddenly questioning which direction I should be running—back to the chamber and to Ever, or toward an unknown threat.
“Julian and Tharvok are about as tested as it gets,” Ogdan assures me. “I’m shocked they even answered the Call to Arms—nobles have been begging them to be a part of their Wing for decades. Julian approves of each of Ever’s choices; it’s more than a solid team.”
“Not to mention she has your father’s Wing and Lorn’s there too. None of them are going to let anyone get near her,” Tove adds, and the others all grunt their agreement.
“Fuck,” I snap, knowing my Wing is right, and yet hating it all the same. I continue sprinting toward the operations tower. The faster I can address what’s happened, the faster I can get back to my mate.
The entry to the operations tower comes into view, and I slow my pace so the scanners can identify me.
The pressure locks on the door disengage and it opens …
slowly, so slowly that I’m forced to tap into the reserves of my patience to keep from ripping the thick, armored door off its reinforced hinges.
I swear on the Source and all the stars, I need to complete this bond.
I was never this volatile before. Yes, I was stern and direct, but I was composed and respectful.
I didn’t roar at anyone outside of a haptic-sim fight.
Every breath didn’t feel like it was edged in razor blades simply because my Bonded was out of sight.
I’m a fucking mess, which means I could also be a fucking liability, and I can’t let that happen.
Captain Dass greets me halfway to the control center and redirects me toward one of the larger review pods instead. His countenance is troubled, which only serves to put me more on edge.
“What are we dealing with?” I demand as my Wing and I file into the dark space.
There are two other operations officers typing away on several holoscreens and putting together what looks like a timeline while a third officer appears to be tracking locations that ping across his data field.
“There was a hack,” Captain Dass informs me. “It has a similar signature as the breach on the infirmary, in that they’re using the same methods to cloak and evade and their entry point was too clean not to have been assisted by someone on our end.”
“What did they take?” I inquire, searching the holoscreens for clues.
“They didn’t take anything, but they did leave something behind,” Dass states ominously, and a chill skates up my spine.
“What?” Ogden demands when Captain Dass hesitates, his eyes bouncing around the glowing holoscreens before they venture back to me.
“We ran all the appropriate checks and safety measures, then quarantined the data pack so it can’t compromise anything on the off chance we missed something. We’ve decrypted only a small amount of what was sent, which is why I called you in. Minh, please play the highlighted file,” Dass orders.
My stomach lurches at the word play , and tensions rise as we all gather closer to the large screen Minh is directing a vid feed to.
The bloodcurdling scream that rips through the pod’s speakers jolts everyone with shock.
The sound is raw. Visceral. Soul shredding, and I instantly recognize the Syphon it’s coming from.
“REN!” Ever screams with all the breath in her lungs.
I can hear the rending strain on her vocal cords, telling me this isn’t the first time she’s cried out like this.
“RENNNNNN!” she wails again, ramming herself against a magi-tech field that throws her back with a vicious shock.
Ever screams and pleads, throwing herself at the field again and again as she tries to reach the source of the torturous wailing that can barely be heard in the background.
Ever rips out her own hair, covers her ears, and snarls at the walls of her cell, all while fighting to get out and stop whatever’s being done to Ren, someone she obviously cares about.
My chest hollows out, and tears slip quietly down my face as I watch my Bonded, bloody, battered, covered in scars, get up slower and slower each time she attacks the barrier until she can’t get up at all.
She screams a lifetime of sorrow and rage into the cold stone floor of her cage when she can’t force her body to cooperate any longer.
“Turn it off,” I snarl, my heart splintering into a thousand pieces while rage glues everything back together, because this cannot go unanswered, this cannot stand.
Not the person who did it, not whoever sent it, not those who stood by and let it happen.
I will find each and every one and then guard my Bonded’s back while she rips them limb from bloody fucking limb.
Then I’ll have Jori heal them and start all over again, until their screams drown out hers and their pain quenches My Soul’s due for retribution.
The vid feed stops, and the screen pauses on a close-up of Ever. Her hair is matted. Grime layers her skin. She’s bleeding from head wounds, scrapes, and a handful of tallies on her thigh that look fresh. I thought she was in rough shape when we found her in Lairwood, but this?.?.?.
I tear my eyes away from her and study the cell. There’s a tall stone slab with straps hanging all over it to tie her down and bleed her. And then I see the bed. It’s been made, looks clean, with layers of pillows just like Ever described.
“Turn it off!” I bellow, fighting my dragon for control.
My affinity builds in my blood, begging for release.
My dragon keens and thrashes inside of me, intent on destroying everything in its path if given the opportunity.
I want to reveal. Source knows, I want give in to my instincts, but this isn’t about me, it’s about her.
If Ever can live through it, then I can fucking bear to watch less than a minute and keep my shit together.
Roughly I wipe the tears from my cheeks and turn back to Captain Dass. Time is of the essence now, and we need to get to work. I’d already tasked four of our best Flights with finding Wistan Allaire, but I’ll send the entire fucking Horde now.
“Who else has seen this?” I ask, my tone filled with gravel and a well-honed rage.
“Only the people in this room. As soon as I understood what was sent, I locked everything down and transferred it here, where it’s secure.
From what we can tell, there’s well over a thousand hours of vid feeds that were dropped into our system.
” Dass wipes at his own cheeks, and I realize that everyone in the room is struggling to keep it together.
My mind whirs as I try to figure out the next course of action.
We’re being baited and led on a wild goose chase, but the bastards that did this have also tipped their hand.
These Tainted fucks are working with dragons.
Dragons who have access and know how to do something like this.
That creates a list of suspects we didn’t have before, and if we find one culprit, we’ll find the others.
“Pull General Fairwyn and his Flight in on this,” I order, knowing it’s time to bring in some additional help to comb through this maze of data and get us some leads.
“Nothing leaves this room, not a whisper, a tear, a com call home to your loved ones. Until we capture who’s responsible, everything stays locked up. Am I clear?”
“Understood, Scion,” the captain and his officers accede instantly.
I turn to my Wing, who look equally heartsick and enraged. “Two of you need to bring Ever here. Her Wing can follow until the security check, and then we’ll take watch from there,” I instruct.
“Are you sure this won’t traumatize her more?” Ogden asks, his gray eyes hollow, like he’s aged years in a matter of minutes.
“No,” I confess. “But she deserves to know. Maybe she can offer some insight, maybe not, but I won’t keep this from her.”
Ogden nods solemnly and then motions to Karis and Blay.
“Don’t say a word about this, it’s not secure and we can’t risk compromising anything,” I order. “I’ll explain everything to her when she gets here. Just hurry and bring her to me.”