Kai couldn't sleep after the text. He paced the training room mats till the city lights outside shifted from gold to pale dawn. Aria watched from the doorway, arms crossed, but she didn't tell him to stop.
"We go to her," he said finally. "Now."
"Crown's got eyes on us," Aria replied. "Curfew protocols. We leave, alarms trip."
"Then we trip them." He met her eyes. "That photo—someone's tailing my mom. Velvet Knife doesn't send warnings for fun."
Aria's jaw tightened. She knew the name. Everyone did. Black-market relics, kidnapped hunters stripped for cores, illegal dives into Rogue Gates. They thrived in the cracks guilds like Crown pretended didn't exist.
She exhaled through her nose. "We report it first. See how Crown handles threats to their 'assets.'"
Shen's office was cold even for the Spire. She listened to Kai read the message aloud, studied the photo on his comm, expression flat.
"Velvet Knife posturing," she said. "Dockside gangs rattle new hunters. Standard intimidation."
"Posturing doesn't tail civilians," Kai snapped.
Shen tapped her tablet. "We'll assign discreet security to Mina Veylan. You two remain on premises. Training schedule resumes at 0900."
Aria's voice cut like ice. "That's it?"
"That's protocol." Shen's eyes flicked between them. "Your sync data is priority. External risks are managed separately."
They left the office fuming.
Back in quarters, Kai slammed the door harder than needed. "Discreet security. Translation: they'll watch her till Knife makes a move, then swoop in after."
Aria paced—five meters now, ten, testing the new tolerance. "Crown doesn't care about one unawakened woman. They care about what we can do together."
Kai rubbed his face. "I'm not waiting."
"Me neither."
They moved fast. Changed into plain clothes—hoodies, no guild marks. Aria pulled strings on her comm, spoofed their trackers to show them in the training room loop. Rookie trick she'd learned dodging Crown oversight as a kid.
Echo Step had reset overnight. One charge each.
They slipped out a service exit Rook had pointed out once—"for emergencies." Down thirty floors, out a side door into North Spire's shadow.
Dockside by early light smelled like low tide and frying oil. Familiar. Home. Kai led them through back alleys he'd run as a kid, avoiding main streets.
Mina's apartment building looked smaller in daylight—peeling blue paint, rusted stairs. No Crown security in sight.
They buzzed her unit. No answer.
Kai's stomach dropped.
He took the stairs two at a time, Aria right behind. Door was cracked open.
Inside: overturned chairs, coffee mug shattered on the floor. Struggle, but quiet—no blood.
On the table, a velvet-black card. Knife emblem stamped in silver.
Message scrawled underneath:
We have her. Safe—for now.
Come alone. Warehouse 14, old docks.
Bring the Ice Queen.
No guilds. No tricks.
Kai's hand shook holding the card.
Aria read over his shoulder. Lightning crackled between her fingers, singeing the air.
"They want us both," she said quietly.
"Yeah." Kai crushed the card in his fist. "Bait."
The tether burned—shared rage, sharp and clean.
He looked at her. "We walking into it?"
Aria's eyes were storm-gray, steady. "Together."
System chimed softly, mutual.
[Sync Efficiency: 41% → 47%
Shared Perception unlocked (voluntary, 10 seconds)
Warning: Hostile intent detected in proximity.]
They stepped out the door—and froze.
Three figures in dark hoods waited in the hall, relics glinting—sleep darts, suppression cuffs.
Velvet Knife had left a welcome party.
The biggest one grinned. "Change of plans. Boss wants delivery now."
Aria's hand found Kai's wrist—contact deliberate.
Lightning surged.
(To be continued…)