The moment the countdown hit zero, the Guild seal on Astra's throat stopped humming—
and spoke.
Not in words. In signal.
A clean pulse went out through stone and water and every polite channel that didn't care about the Underchain's mufflers. Astra felt it like a hand opening inside her collar and letting the world look straight in.
Her interface flashed hard enough to sting.
SEAL BROADCAST: SENTSTATUS: HOSTILE FLIGHT (RECORDED)AUDIT LOCK: PARTIAL (ACTIVE)TRACE: 76.1%WARNING: RESPONSE TEAM VECTORING
Pain arrived a half-breath later—Delay Loop's debt, finally collected—hot wire flooding her nerves from collar to spine.
Astra bit down on a sound.
Orin's hand crushed her forearm. "Move!"
The seam-throat they'd fled into was narrow, low, wet. Stone scraped Astra's shoulder. The air tasted like old iron and panic. Juno shoved ahead, cursing softly, wire disks clinking against her palm. Lyra slipped behind them like a shadow that didn't sweat.
Astra stumbled.
Her legs wanted to fold. Her collar wanted to surrender. The seal wanted her to "remain still," because still was neat, and neat was always easier to own.
Kael wasn't here to say breathe into her ear.
So Astra told herself.
Breathe. Feet. Posture.
She forced her knees to stay soft and moving.
The tunnel widened into a low corridor. Orin hit a scar-sigil on the wall and the air thickened—muffled, gritty—like the Underchain tried to smear their scent.
It didn't soothe Astra's throat.
The Guild seal stayed cold and exact, resting over her collar like a second mouth.
Juno glanced back, eyes wide. "Tell me you can turn it off."
Astra's laugh came out a rasp. "If I could, we wouldn't be running."
Lyra's voice was mild. "It's not off. It's fed."
Orin shot her a look that could have cut metal. "Shut up."
Lyra smiled faintly. "Make me."
Jealous heat flared sharp in Astra's gut—ugly, immediate. Wrong time. Wrong place.
Still real.
Astra swallowed it down and kept moving.
Orin led them through a hook-lined passage into a chamber that smelled like damp oil and burned salt. Rusted grates covered the floor like ribs. Old water channels cut through stone, black and still.
Astra's collar pulsed, confused by the density. The seal tightened, pleased—clean surfaces, structured spaces. The Guild loved rooms you could diagram.
Orin slammed the door behind them and pressed a scar-sigil. Stone shifted. A second panel slid into place. Not a lock—an insult.
"Hide," Orin snarled. "That's all this buys us. Minutes."
Astra leaned against the wall, breathing hard. Her throat burned around the seal.
Lyra watched her like she watched everything—cataloging, tasting, deciding what it was worth.
Juno's hands were still shaking from throwing disks. "Where's Kael," she demanded, too sharp.
Silence landed heavy.
Astra's chest tightened so hard she tasted blood.
Orin answered without softness. "Outside."
Astra pushed off the wall. "We go back."
Orin laughed—short and vicious. "We go back and die. The Guild will have the corridor ringed. Your Hound will be in a cage already."
"Not yet," Astra snapped.
Lyra's eyes gleamed. "He took binding geometry across his shoulder. Silex tagged him the moment he touched it. The Guild doesn't need your seal to find him now."
Astra's stomach dropped. "You're sure."
Lyra's smile thinned. "I'm informed."
Juno swore. "She means she knew."
Astra turned on Lyra, voice low and dangerous. "Why were they so fast."
Lyra's gaze didn't flinch. "Because you are loud."
Astra stepped closer. "Not loud enough to break an Underchain muffler in minutes."
Lyra's smile was almost kind. "No. Not you."
Astra's throat went cold. "Then what."
Lyra lifted her hand and tapped her own throat—just below the jawline, where a hidden crest would sit beneath cloth.
A small shimmer answered. A faint geometry—clean, precise—then vanished.
A Guild mark.
Old. Quiet. Still alive.
Juno's eyes widened. "You're a beacon."
Lyra exhaled as if bored by being understood. "I'm a former client."
Orin's face went murderously still. "You brought the safe signal."
Lyra's mouth curved faintly. "I didn't 'bring' it. It follows me when I'm close enough to something the Guild wants."
Astra's blood went ice.
It wasn't Astra who had made the room "safe."
It had been Lyra.
Meros had found them because Lyra had been standing beside Astra when the seal asked for a route.
Lyra had stepped into the seam last second with that calm smile—
and the Guild had smelled its own old ink on her and sprinted.
Astra stared at Lyra, fury cold enough to be clean. "You knew."
Lyra didn't deny it. "I suspected it would draw attention. I didn't expect Meros to bring a Warden-Crafter."
Orin snarled, "And yet you walked in anyway."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "And yet you opened the door."
Orin moved like he wanted to hit her.
Kael wasn't here to stop violence. Astra didn't need him for that.
"Enough," Astra said, sharp.
Orin froze. Juno froze. Even Lyra paused, just slightly—like Astra's tone carried something the Underchain respected.
Astra's voice stayed low. "If you're a beacon, we can use you."
Lyra's brows lifted. "Use me."
Astra stepped closer until the space between them felt deliberately intimate—dangerous, chosen. "You want access to my 'seeing,'" Astra murmured. "You want a glimpse. Fine."
Kael's absence pressed like a bruise. Astra forced herself not to think of him pinned under Guild light.
Lyra's smile sharpened. "And your price."
Astra didn't blink. "You tell me where they take Kael."
Orin's mouth twisted. "You're negotiating with poison."
Astra didn't look away from Lyra. "Consent," she said softly, to make the word sting. "Clear terms."
Lyra's gaze slid to Astra's throat seal, then back to Astra's eyes. "You're bleeding trace. That seal is eating you. And you still bargain like you own the room."
Astra's mouth curved. "I own my choices."
Lyra's smile deepened, delighted. "Fine. A trade."
Astra's pulse hammered. "How do I give you a glimpse."
Lyra stepped closer—too close for comfort, close enough that Astra could smell spice and smoke beneath Underchain damp. Her voice dropped into a private murmur.
"You let me ride your overlay," Lyra whispered. "Not control it. Just… see the edge. The way you parse."
Astra's throat tightened. "That's dangerous."
Lyra's eyes gleamed. "Everything useful is."
Astra's collar pulsed, hungry, as if it liked the idea of another claimant near. The internal stabilizer vow tightened in response, holding posture.
Astra swallowed and made it explicit. "No touch on my collar."
Lyra's smile twitched. "Of course."
Astra watched her face like a blade watching a throat. "And if you try to tag me, I will break your beacon with my teeth."
Lyra laughed softly. "Gods. You're fun."
Astra didn't laugh.
She lifted her hand slowly and offered her wrist—palm up, visible, deliberate.
A choice.
Lyra's gaze flicked to the offered skin, then to Astra's eyes. "You're sure."
Astra's voice was flat. "Yes."
Lyra touched Astra's wrist with two fingers—light, controlled, not possessive. Warmth spread up Astra's arm, not as pleasure, but as awareness: someone reading her pulse.
Lyra's voice went low. "Show me."
Astra closed her eyes for half a heartbeat and let her interface surface—careful, guarded, as if she was opening a door on a chain.
Pain sparked faintly. Trace prickled.
The world sharpened.
For a second, Astra's UI seemed to layer over Lyra's gaze—like Lyra was standing beside her eyes, looking through the crack.
Lyra inhaled sharply.
"Oh," Lyra murmured, and for the first time it didn't sound amused. It sounded… shaken. "You really do see it."
Astra's eyes opened. "Where is he."
Lyra's fingers tightened slightly on Astra's wrist. "You want the precise route?"
"Yes."
Lyra swallowed. "Guild doesn't cage in tunnels. They cage in clean rooms. Meros will take Kael to a mobile audit cell—surface-level, near a Guild relay. Fast transport."
Astra's chest tightened. "Where."
Lyra hesitated—then her eyes flicked to Astra's throat seal. "Your seal can tell you," she said softly. "If you let it."
Astra's blood ran cold. "It doesn't show me routes."
Lyra's smile turned thin. "Not your collar. The Guild witness. It has a route request function. It's waiting for safe signal confirmation."
Orin swore. "So the seal isn't just a leash. It's a map."
Lyra nodded. "And the safe signal it wants is… me."
Astra's pulse hammered. "Then request the route."
Lyra's fingers slid off Astra's wrist slowly, like she was savoring the last thread of contact. "You can't request it as hostile," Lyra said. "It will flag and broadcast again."
Astra's jaw clenched. "Then how."
Lyra's gaze slid to Kael's absence, then back to Astra. "You change your posture from flight to compliance. Temporarily."
Juno hissed. "No."
Orin barked, "Absolutely not."
Astra's throat burned around the seal, as if it liked the word compliance.
Astra didn't look away from Lyra. "You want me to pretend to surrender."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "I want you to speak the seal's language. Like you already did."
Astra's mind raced.
If she played compliance, the seal might offer a "safe route" to evaluation—meaning the nearest audit cell.
Meaning Kael.
Meaning a map.
But the cost was letting the seal taste obedience again, feeding it data it could use later.
Kael would hate this.
Kael would also be the first person to tell her: angles.
Astra closed her eyes briefly, forcing herself to imagine Kael's voice in her ear—steady, rough, chosen.
Breathe. Feet. Posture.
Astra opened her eyes. "Do it."
Orin grabbed her arm. "Astra—"
Astra ripped her arm free. "I'm not leaving him."
Orin's jaw clenched. "You can't save him if you're in a cage."
Astra's smile was razor-thin. "Then I won't be in a cage."
Juno muttered, furious. "You always say that like it's a plan."
Astra didn't answer. She turned inward, focusing on the seal.
It pulsed gently, pleased that she was finally paying attention.
A new prompt flickered at the edge of her vision—clean, Guild-styled.
GUILD WITNESS SEAL: COMPLIANCE CHANNEL AVAILABLESAFE SIGNAL: REQUIRED