Chapter 22 Celeste’s Bargain and Elena’s Risk #5
Elena stared at Celeste’s face and felt the pressure behind her eyes build. She hated that Celeste knew her so well. Hated that she could turn Elena’s instincts into a weapon.
Matteo reached for Elena’s phone again, slower this time, asking with his movements even if his voice didn’t.
Elena’s hand hovered near the device, then withdrew. “If I hand over the recording,” she said, “you stop transmitting coordinates.”
Celeste shrugged, cuffs clinking softly. “I don’t control the wire. Marzio does.” Her smile deepened. “But I control whether the wire gets the authorization it needs to keep talking.”
Matteo’s gaze snapped to Celeste. “You have access.”
Celeste’s eyes flashed. “I have leverage.” She looked at Elena. “You have something that can make your voice become a key again.”
Elena’s stomach twisted. “So if I give it to you, you can spoof the bond authorization and shut it down.”
Celeste’s smile turned sharp. “Or you can give it to the wrong person and watch it keep broadcasting while you bleed your credibility out.”
Matteo’s voice turned razor-thin. “Where is the casing.”
Celeste didn’t answer immediately. She watched Elena instead, as if making sure Elena felt the full weight of what she was about to do.
Elena’s eyes stung. “You’re stalling.”
Celeste’s gaze softened in a way that didn’t feel kind. “I’m measuring what you’re willing to trade.” She leaned closer. “Give it. Hand over the recorded voice.”
Matteo moved his hand to Elena’s pocket again, and this time Elena didn’t pull away. She hated that her body understood the urgency before her mind did. She hated that survival came with a taste of surrender.
Elena slid her phone out slowly, screen dark. The silence after the buzzes felt unreal, like holding breath underwater.
Her thumb hovered over the playback file.
Matteo’s eyes stayed on her face. “Don’t send it to them.”
Elena swallowed. “That’s what you’re afraid of.”
His jaw tightened. “I’m afraid of the enemy using your voice to keep you tethered.”
Elena’s voice broke slightly. “Then don’t let me be tethered.”
Celeste’s laugh was quiet. “That’s romantic.” Her expression turned colder. “It’s also useless.”
Matteo didn’t look away from Elena. “Trust me.”
Elena wanted to snap back that trust wasn’t a switch. But Celeste’s terms were already forcing her into action. Trust was the only currency they had left besides blood and time.
Elena tapped the file. The phone’s screen brightened, showing the audio waveform - her own voice captured in jagged lines. The sound of it, even silent, made her feel exposed.
Matteo reached for the transfer device with his free hand. The matte tool looked harmless, like a door opener. In his grip it looked like a weapon made for systems.
He held it out. “Give it here.”
Elena hesitated just long enough for her pulse to spike. “If I do this and it fails - ”
Matteo’s eyes darkened. “Then we improvise. But we don’t lose the location.”
Celeste watched them like a judge watching a verdict.
Elena pressed her thumb to the screen and initiated transfer to Matteo’s device.
The phone vibrated as the file moved. A progress indicator crawled across the display, slow and cruel.
Matteo’s hand tightened around the transfer device. “Now.”
Elena killed the phone’s cellular function, then powered down the broadcasting mode. She didn’t cut power completely - she couldn’t risk a full reset that would look like panic to the wire - but she killed the transmission channel.
The room went still.
Then Elena’s phone buzzed again, even though she’d turned the broadcast off.
Her stomach dropped.
She stared at the screen, baffled for a beat too long.
Celeste’s eyes widened slightly, not with surprise, but with something like satisfaction. “They’re already inside the pattern.”
Matteo’s gaze flicked to Elena’s phone. “What.”
Elena’s voice came out thin. “It’s still trying.” She pressed her thumb to the screen, trying to stop the vibration, but the phone responded like it was being controlled from the other side. “It’s being triggered externally.”
Celeste leaned forward, cuffs scraping faintly. “The wire doesn’t need your broadcast. It needs your bond authorization.” Her smile sharpened. “And you just gave it a piece of your voice to test.”
Matteo’s face went hard. “Elena.”
Elena’s breath caught. “I didn’t - I transferred the recording to you. I didn’t send it to them.”
Celeste’s gaze drifted toward Matteo’s transfer device. “Not yet.”
Matteo’s hand moved to the device, flipping it open just enough to check a status light.
It blinked once.
Then it blinked again - faster.
Matteo cursed under his breath, the sound low and ugly. He looked at Elena like the world had shifted a degree out of alignment. “It’s routing through your authorization.”
Elena’s blood roared in her ears. “So they can still use it.”
Celeste nodded, calm again. “They needed proof of location accuracy. Your voice gave them the final validation.” She lowered her eyes to Elena’s phone. “Now they know Matteo’s protecting you.”
Matteo’s voice turned lethal. “They know he’s connected.”
Elena’s throat tightened. “How.”
Celeste’s eyes lifted. “Because the