Kael's gaze locked on Astra's face. "No."
Astra met his eyes. "Then give me another option."
Kael's jaw flexed—rage at being helpless, fear at watching her burn herself again.
Lyra watched Kael's conflict with open delight.
Astra hated that.
She stepped closer to Kael—by choice—until their shoulders brushed.
Close enough to steal his breath.
Close enough to make the bargain intimate.
"Kael," Astra whispered, "I need your voice."
Kael went still. "For what."
Astra's mouth curved faintly. "To convince the seal I'm complying."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "That's—"
"Dirty," Astra finished, breath warm on his jaw. "Yes."
Heat surged between them—dangerous, raw, threaded with consent and urgency.
Kael swallowed.
Then he gave a small nod.
Astra turned inward, forcing her mind to stay sharp through pain.
The seal was waiting to broadcast because she was resisting flight.
So Astra needed to stop reading as resistance—without actually surrendering.
Astra breathed slow, keeping her posture upright—like a subject prepared to comply.
Then Kael spoke, low and deliberate, pitched toward Astra's throat as if addressing the seal more than her.
"Subject Astra Vey," he said, voice turning crisp, obedient in shape, "you will present yourself for evaluation when safe signal is established."
Astra's collar pulsed.
The Guild seal hummed—confused, interested.
It recognized structured authority. It recognized compliance language.
Astra forced her next breath steady and followed Kael's words with her own, careful.
"Accepted," Astra whispered—not to Meros, not to the Guild, but to the seal itself. "Pending safe signal."
The seal tightened again, then loosened a fraction—like it was negotiating internally.
Astra's interface flickered.
TRIGGER CONDITION: UPDATEDBROADCAST: DEFERRED UNTIL SAFE SIGNALCOUNTDOWN: PAUSED
Orin exhaled hard. "Good."
Juno's eyes widened. "You just… lied to the seal."
Astra's mouth curved bitterly. "I spoke its language."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "Beautiful."
Kael didn't look at Lyra.
His gaze stayed on Astra, dark and furious. "Don't do that again without telling me."
Astra lifted her brows. "Was that concern or control."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Yes."
Heat flared in Astra's chest—hot and satisfied and absolutely inappropriate.
She leaned in half an inch more, voice low enough that only he could hear.
"Say it properly," Astra murmured. "Consent, remember."
Kael's throat worked.
His eyes flicked to her mouth.
For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to breath and bruised pride.
Then Kael forced it into words—rough, honest, chosen.
"Tell me before you use my voice as a weapon," he said.
Astra smiled—small, sharp. "Agreed."
Lyra clicked her tongue softly. "Gods. You two make contracts out of air."
Orin snapped, "Move."
They moved.
The corridor sloped downward into a wider Underchain artery where distant lanterns flickered and the air tasted like smoke and damp cloth. The muffler Orin had triggered smeared their signatures, but Astra still felt the seal on her throat—present, hungry, waiting for "safe signal" like a patient predator.
Orin led them through two tight turns and into a low room that smelled of oil and old paper. A map-slate sat on a table, ink diagrams scrawled over it like a man had argued with geometry until it bled.
Astra recognized it.
Orin's workroom.
Not the Saltroom—another pocket.
"Sit," Orin ordered.
Astra didn't sit. Her legs were shaking too hard, but she stayed standing out of spite.
Kael stayed close, bracing without touching her collar.
Lyra drifted to the table and ran her fingers over the ink lines like she owned the room.
Orin glared at her. "Don't touch my—"
Lyra smiled. "Your secrets? Too late. They smell like fear."
Juno shut the door and leaned against it, breathing hard. "Are we safe."
Orin's mouth twisted. "No. We're hidden. Different."
Astra's interface flickered again—quiet, cruel.
GUILD WITNESS SEAL: ACTIVESAFE SIGNAL: NOT FOUNDNOTE: DEFERRAL IS TEMPORARY
The seal would wait, then demand a "safe signal." If Astra couldn't provide one, it would decide what safe meant.
Which meant the Guild would decide.
Astra swallowed. "We need to neutralize the seal."
Orin snorted. "We need to kill Meros."
Lyra's smile widened. "Now that's an Underchain solution."
Kael's eyes went cold. "No."
Orin's gaze snapped to him. "Why."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Because it won't end it. The Guild will send another."
Lyra tilted her head. "He's right. Meros is a finger. Not the hand."
Astra stared at Lyra. "Why are you still here."
Lyra's eyes gleamed. "Because you owe me."
Astra's mouth curved without warmth. "For blacking out the slate."
Lyra shrugged. "For not letting Meros put you in a cage tonight."
Kael's posture tightened. "She doesn't owe you for choosing not to betray her."
Lyra laughed softly. "Oh, Hound. Morality is adorable on you."
Jealous heat snapped again—Astra hated that Lyra could make Kael sound like a boy and still make it dangerous.
Astra cut in, voice low. "Name your price."
Lyra's smile turned slow. "Not coin."
Kael's gaze sharpened—warning.
Astra didn't look away from Lyra. "Then what."
Lyra stepped closer, stopping at a distance that felt deliberately intimate—close enough to challenge, far enough to keep her hands clean.
"I want access," Lyra said softly. "To the part of you that sees. Not the whole thing. A glimpse. Enough to build my own counter-sigils."
Orin's eyes narrowed. "She already gave me filtered watermark."
Lyra's smile didn't move. "Orin gets scraps. I want the blade."
Astra's throat tightened around the seal. "And if I say no."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "Then you can enjoy the Guild's attention without my help."
Kael's voice went low and lethal. "You routed Meros here."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "I routed opportunity. Meros chose greed."
Astra's mind raced.
Lyra wanted Astra's interface knowledge. Meros wanted Astra's body in a lab. Dorian wanted Astra as a prototype. Seraphine wanted Astra as a sanctified warning. Everyone wanted a piece.
Astra was tired of being divided.
She looked at Kael.
His eyes were hard and steady, anchored on her like a vow he refused to call a vow.
Astra's mouth went dry. "If I give Lyra a glimpse, can she help remove or spoof the seal."
Kael's jaw clenched. "She'll use you."
Astra smiled bitterly. "Everyone uses me."
Kael's gaze burned. "Not me."
Astra's breath hitched.
Heat flashed—sharp, intimate, dangerous.
Astra tilted her head slightly. "You're in my collar."
Kael's voice was rough. "And I hate it."
Astra's smile sharpened. "But you're still here."
Kael didn't deny it.
He couldn't.
Lyra watched them with bright amusement, as if savoring the tension like wine.
Orin slapped the map-slate with his palm. "Decide. The Guild will probe again. And Dorian will too."
Astra's interface flickered at the mention of Dorian, like her collar wanted to hear his name.
Then it did.
A whisper slid into Astra's nerves—faint, distant, but unmistakably silk.
"Clever," Dorian murmured inside her collar, amused. "Using a Hound to negotiate with a seal."
Astra's blood went cold.
Kael saw her stiffen. "What."
Astra swallowed. "Dorian's channel is… listening."
Orin swore. "Your internal stabilizer didn't block the owner channel."
Astra's mouth tightened. "It can't. It can only prioritize my ruleset. Not erase his."
Lyra's eyes gleamed. "And he's learning."
Astra forced herself to breathe, refusing to let the whisper own her posture.
Dorian's voice purred again, closer now. "You ran from the Guild into the Underchain like a frightened jewel. How sweet."
Juno's face tightened. "He can hear us?"
Astra's throat burned. "Not everything. But he can… ride the edges."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Then we stop talking."
Dorian laughed softly in Astra's nerves, like he'd heard that too.
"Oh, Kael," he murmured. "Still pretending your silence is see-through."
Astra's interface flickered violently.
OWNER CHANNEL: PRESSURE INCREASINGNOTE: GUILD SEAL MAY AMPLIFY OWNER HANDSHAKE
Amplify.
The Guild seal could make Dorian's reach cleaner.
Astra's stomach dropped.
Orin's eyes sharpened. "That's the twist, isn't it. The Guild doesn't just want you. They want to sell your channel to Dorian."
Lyra's smile turned thin. "Or Dorian already bought it."
Kael's face went murderously still.
Astra's collar pulsed in anticipation—like it liked the idea of a clean handshake between silk and statute.
Astra wanted to vomit.
Then a new hum rose in the room.
Not Dorian.
Not her collar.
The Guild seal.
It vibrated once—polite, insistent—like a courteous knock on the inside of her throat.
Astra's interface flashed.
SAFE SIGNAL REQUESTED — PROVIDE LOCATION FOR EVALUATIONDEFERRAL WINDOW: 00:00:20FAILURE: AUTO-BROADCAST
Twenty seconds.
Or the seal would decide for her.
Astra's mind snapped into motion.
She had no Ghost Command stored.
She could Write(Self), but trace was already high enough to attract auditors like sharks.
She needed a different kind of lie.
Kael's voice came low at her ear, fierce and controlled. "Tell me what to do."
Astra met his gaze.
Heat flared—consent and command blurred into strategy.
"Give me your voice again," Astra whispered. "One more time."
Kael's jaw clenched. "For what."
Astra's mouth curved, sharp. "To give the seal a 'safe signal' it can't reach."
Lyra's brows lifted. "Oh?"
Orin leaned in, interest hungry. "Where."
Astra's eyes burned. "The Null Chapel."
Juno's face tightened. "It's breached."
Astra's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Exactly."
The Guild seal wanted a location for evaluation.
So Astra would feed it a location that was chaos—where Church and House Veyrn were already colliding, where Underchain interference smeared signals, where "safe" was impossible to verify.
A stall. A reroute. A poison coordinate.
Orin's mouth twisted in reluctant admiration. "You're going to send the Guild into Seraphine."
Astra's voice stayed low. "I'm going to send them into conflict."
Kael's jaw clenched. "And what does Dorian do when the Guild knocks on his stage."
Astra's eyes narrowed. "He shows his teeth."
Lyra's smile widened, delighted. "She really is learning."
Jealous heat snapped again—Astra ignored it.
She focused on the seal and the countdown.
00:00:15
Kael stepped closer, not touching her collar, but close enough that his breath warmed her jaw.
"Astra," he said, voice crisp, protocol-shaped, "you will provide the Guild a safe evaluation location—pending safe signal verification."
Astra swallowed blood and answered the seal, voice calm despite the tremor in her nerves.
"Accepted," Astra said softly. "Location: Null Chapel node."
The seal hummed—satisfied, hungry.
Astra's interface flickered.
SAFE SIGNAL PROVIDED: NULL CHAPEL NODEEVALUATION ROUTE: PENDING VERIFICATIONAUTO-BROADCAST: DEFERRED
Orin exhaled hard. "Good."
Juno muttered, "Bad for the people there."
Astra's mouth tightened. "Better than handing them my throat."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "And now the Guild walks into a Church breach with a Marquis sniffing the edges."
Astra's stomach knotted.
Because the move would work.
And because it would escalate everything.
Dorian's whisper slid into Astra's nerves, amused and hungry.
"You just invited new guests to my party," he murmured. "How thoughtful."
Astra's collar pulsed in pleasure, traitor that it was.
Astra's stabilizer vow held her posture anyway.
Then the room's lantern flame bent sideways.
Not wind.
Signal pressure.
A clean, polite presence pushed against the Underchain muffler like a hand in a glove.
Orin's face went pale. "No."
Lyra's smile vanished. "He's fast."
Kael's body went rigid, eyes snapping to the door.
Astra's throat burned as the seal vibrated again—excited, eager, recognizing a "safe signal" stronger than any lie she'd fed it.
Astra's interface flashed the line that made her blood turn to ice:
SAFE SIGNAL FOUND — GUILD AUDIT TEAM ARRIVING.