Astra exhaled shakily.
Kael stepped back, as if the room had suddenly grown teeth.
"We can't let anyone know," he said.
Astra's laugh was soft and dangerous. "Too late. The Guild already knows something happened."
Kael's mouth tightened. "They'll report."
"To whom," Astra asked, voice low, intimate like a blade sliding free. "Your Marquis?"
Kael's gaze snapped to her face.
The crack in him showed—tiny, real.
Astra saw the answer before he gave it.
"Yes," he said.
The word hit like a slap.
Astra's stomach dropped, and for a moment she hated herself for ever enjoying the warmth of his fingers against her skin.
"You were going to deliver me," she said softly.
Kael didn't deny it. That honesty was almost worse.
"I was ordered to secure you," he corrected. "Not to hand you over to a Guild table."
Astra's throat crest burned as if laughing at her.
"Secure," she repeated, tasting the word. "That's what you call a cage when you want it to sound like protection."
Kael's gaze hardened. "If I wanted to cage you, you'd already be in chains."
Astra stepped closer, forcing him to feel her presence, forcing him to remember he was human.
"Then what do you want, Kael?" she whispered.
His eyes locked on hers. His breathing slowed, like he was trying to control something inside him that wasn't trained to obey.
"I want you alive," he said.
Astra's lips parted.
Heat flared—raw, inconvenient. Alive meant value. Alive meant leverage. Alive meant he cared enough to be dangerous.
"And why," Astra pressed, voice turning soft and wicked, "does an Imperial Hound want a branded girl alive?"
Kael's jaw flexed. "Because if they take you, they'll carve you open and call it research."
Astra's smile faded. Fear replaced it, cold and clean.
"And if you keep me," she murmured, "they'll kill you for hiding property."
Kael didn't blink. "Yes."
Silence.
Then Astra did the only thing she'd learned to do in cages:
She negotiated.
"I won't run," she said. "Not yet."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
Astra raised her hands again—clear, deliberate. "I'll stay near you. I'll follow. I'll survive under your shadow."
She stepped closer until her breath warmed his mouth.
"But you teach me," she whispered. "Everything you know about crests. About commands. About how this machine thinks."
Kael's gaze dropped to her lips again, and this time he didn't look away fast enough.
For a heartbeat, Astra saw what he wanted—what his discipline strangled every day.
Then he dragged his eyes back up to hers.
"You're making this… intimate," he said, voice rougher than before.
Astra smiled. "Everything is intimate when someone owns your throat."
Kael's hand rose sharply, stopping inches from her collar—then hesitated.
"Don't," he warned.
Astra's smile turned almost gentle. "I'm not asking you to touch. I'm asking you to choose."
Kael's throat worked.
Then he lowered his hand.
"Fine," he said. "We bargain."
Astra's pulse thundered.
Kael stepped away, breaking the tension like a man cutting a wire before it snapped.
He crossed the room to a small table covered with maps and sigil-slate. A Hound safe room—functional, silent, built for violence and secrets.
He tapped the slate, and a ward shimmered.
"No scry," he muttered. "No open trace."
Astra's interface twitched at the phrase trace, as if the system enjoyed being named.
Her eyes flicked.
TRACE: 2.0%WARNING: EXTERNAL QUERY DETECTED
Astra's blood chilled.
"Kael," she said.
He looked up immediately.
Astra's voice sharpened. "Someone is querying me."
Kael's face went hard.
He moved to the door, pressed his ear to it, listened.
Outside, the corridor was quiet.
Too quiet.
Kael's hand went to his wrist crest.
Astra watched the motion with sudden understanding: the thing on his skin wasn't jewelry. It was a chain with prettier edges.
"Who else knows you're here?" Astra asked.
Kael's eyes didn't leave the door. "One person."
Astra's stomach tightened. "Who."
Kael hesitated—just enough.
Then he said the name like a confession.
"Lyra Sable."
Astra blinked. The name hit something in her gut—instinctive recognition, like hearing the title of a rumor you'd been too smart to chase.
"Your contact," Astra murmured. "Information broker."
Kael nodded once.
Astra's mouth curved. "And you trust her."
Kael's eyes flicked back to Astra—flat, honest. "No."
Before Astra could respond, a soft knock tapped the door.
Three beats.
A pattern.
Kael froze. His hand hovered near the bar.
Astra's interface flared again.
PERMISSIONSREAD: ENABLEDWRITE (SELF): LOCKEDTRACE: 2.4%AUDIT STATUS: ACTIVEANOMALY FLAG: PRIORITY
The knock came again.
Three beats.
Then a woman's voice—smooth, amused, and entirely too calm for a door that might lead to death.
"Kael," the voice drawled. "If you don't open this, I'll assume you're either dead… or doing something interesting."
Kael closed his eyes for a fraction, like pain.
Astra's lips parted.
Jealousy was stupid.
Jealousy was also information.
Kael pulled the bar back and opened the door.
Lyra Sable slipped inside like silk through fingers. She was dressed for Lantern District—dark velvet, a small smile, eyes that missed nothing. Her gaze swept the room, landed on Astra, and warmed with curiosity.
"Well," Lyra purred. "So this is the glitch."
Astra stiffened.
Lyra stepped closer, ignoring Kael's presence like he was furniture. She circled Astra once, slow as appraisal.
Astra held still, refusing to flinch.
Lyra stopped in front of her and tilted her head. "Pretty," she said. "That's going to make everything worse."
Astra met her gaze. "Who are you."
Lyra smiled wider. "A friend. Sometimes. A problem. Frequently."
Kael's voice cut in, controlled. "Why are you here."
Lyra's eyes flicked to him. "Because the Guild is already spreading whispers," she replied. "And because someone just offered a bounty for a branded girl with an interface problem."
Astra's throat went cold. "A bounty."
Lyra nodded. "Not public. Quiet money. The kind that buys silence and knives."
Kael's jaw tightened. "From who."
Lyra's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Guess."
Astra's interface flickered like a nervous blink.
EXTERNAL QUERY: HOUSE VEYRNTRACE ROUTE: ESTABLISHED
Astra sucked in a sharp breath.
Kael's gaze snapped to her face. "What did you see."
Astra's voice came out low and tight. "He found me."
Lyra's brows lifted. "Oh?" She looked delighted, like this was entertainment. Then her eyes narrowed, focusing on Astra's throat. "That crest… that's not standard."
Astra swallowed. "What do you mean."
Lyra leaned in close—too close—breath grazing Astra's cheek. The intimacy was deliberate, a provocation.
Astra didn't move back.
Across the room, Kael went still, a barely contained violence.
Lyra's voice dropped to a whisper. "House Veyrn likes to make their chains special," she murmured. "Custom clauses. Experimental governors. A collar that doesn't just punish—one that learns."
Astra's stomach twisted.
Lyra pulled back, smiling. "Congratulations. You're not just property. You're a project."
Kael's voice went cold. "Enough."
Lyra glanced at him, amused. "Is that jealousy, Hound? Or just possessiveness you pretend you don't have?"
Kael's eyes flashed. "It's caution."
Lyra laughed softly. "Same thing, in a nicer uniform."
Astra's throat crest pulsed—hot, warning, as if the system itself enjoyed the tension.
Her interface flared, and a new line slid into place beneath the Ghost Command.
GHOST COMMAND: 1 STOREDSYSTEM NOTE: RELEASE WILL INCREASE TRACE
Astra's mouth went dry.
Every advantage had a price.
Every price built the thing hunting her.
Lyra's gaze sharpened, suddenly serious. "You have minutes," she said to Kael. "Not hours. The audit is active. Once it locks, the Dominion will send more than Guild clerks."
Kael's face went hard. "Hounds."
Lyra nodded. "Hounds."
Astra's heart slammed against her ribs.
Kael turned to Astra, eyes fierce, controlled.
"We move," he said.
Astra's mouth curved, despite fear. "That's an order?"
Kael's gaze held hers. "Yes."
Astra nodded once. "Then I obey."
Lyra's brows rose, impressed. "Look at that," she murmured. "Consent in a cage. How decadent."
Kael ignored her, grabbing a cloak from a hook and draping it over Astra's shoulders—practical, but the way his fingers brushed her collarbone through fabric made heat flare again, sharp and unwanted.
Astra leaned in just a fraction, letting him feel it.
Letting him remember she was not a thing.
Kael's breath caught.
Then he stepped back, severing the moment.
"We go through the underway," he said to Lyra.
Lyra's smile turned sly. "Of course you do."
Astra's brow furrowed. "Underway?"
Lyra's eyes glinted. "The city under the city. Where the Dominion pretends it doesn't exist."
Kael moved to the slate table, rolled up a map, stuffed it into his coat.
Astra's interface flickered again.
CLAUSES (VIEW ONLY)— Obedience Enforcement: ACTIVE— Punishment Delay: 6.0s— Audit: PRIORITY— Recall Trigger: AUTHORIZED CLAIM
Astra stared.
Recall trigger.
Her throat went ice.
She looked up at Kael. "What is a recall trigger."
Kael's face tightened.
Lyra answered instead, voice almost gentle. "It's when your owner calls you back," she said. "And the collar decides your legs belong to him."
Kael's gaze snapped to Lyra—warning.
Lyra lifted a hand innocently. "She should know."
Astra's breath came shallow.
Kael stepped closer, stopping just inside her space, close enough that she could smell him, close enough that fear and heat tangled again.
"If recall hits," he said quietly, "you fight it by not fighting."
Astra blinked. "That makes no sense."
"It does," Kael replied. "Resistance spikes TRACE. TRACE feeds audit. Audit locks you."
Astra swallowed hard. "So I just—what. Let it drag me."
Kael's eyes held hers. "You let it think it dragged you. Until you find a hinge."
Astra's pulse pounded.
A hinge.
A loophole.
Kael was teaching her already—violent, practical lessons.
Outside the room, boots sounded in the corridor.
Not the Guild men. Heavier. More disciplined.
Kael's head snapped toward the door.
Lyra's smile vanished. "That was fast."
Astra's interface screamed light.
RECALL TRIGGER: INITIALIZINGSOURCE: MARQUIS DORIAN VEYRNCOMMAND: RETURN
Astra's body went rigid.
Not from fear—
from compulsion.
Her legs shifted involuntarily, turning toward the door like a compass aligning with a magnet.
Kael swore under his breath. He grabbed her shoulders—not to restrain, but to anchor her.
"Astra," he said sharply. "Look at me."
Astra tried.
Her eyes fought, dragging away from the invisible pull. The pain in her throat flared like fire.
Kael's voice dropped low, intimate and commanding in a way that made her skin prickle.
"Breathe," he ordered. "Slow."
Astra obeyed—because his voice was the only stable thing in a room suddenly tilting.
Lyra moved to the door, peered through a crack, then hissed. "Imperial Hounds. Two. Maybe three. Full crest glow."
Kael's eyes went hard.
He looked at Astra, and in that look she saw it:
Duty.
Mercy.
And the knife-edge between them.
"Dorian is calling you," Kael said.
Astra's jaw clenched. "Then break it."
Kael's mouth tightened. "I can't."
Astra's interface flickered again.
GHOST COMMAND: ARMED (1)STORED ORDER: STOPRELEASE AVAILABLE
Astra's breath caught.
If she released it now—
TRACE would spike.
Audit would tighten.
But it might buy seconds.
Seconds were everything.
The door shook with another knock—harder this time.
A man's voice, cold and official. "Hound Raithe. Open. By Dominion authority."
Kael didn't move.
Lyra's eyes darted between Kael and Astra. "Make your choice, glitch," she whispered. "You want to be a project on a table… or a problem in the dark?"
Astra's throat burned like molten law.
Her legs trembled, trying to obey Dorian's recall.
Kael's hands stayed on her shoulders, steady, grounding.
He leaned in close, mouth near her ear, voice like a blade wrapped in velvet.
"If you release the Ghost Command," he murmured, "you'll light up like a flare. They'll track you."
Astra's breath shook. "And if I don't, I'll walk out that door like a doll."
Kael's jaw flexed. "Yes."
Astra's eyes closed for a heartbeat.
Then she opened them and smiled—small, vicious.
"Then I'll be a flare," she whispered.
And inside her vision, she reached for the stored word—
STOP—
as the door began to open.
Astra released Kael's stolen authority, and the collar answered with a scream of light.