Page 27 of Claimed By the Wraiths

“I’m with Tal,” I said. “I need ten minutes.”

“You need to leave.”

“I need the codes.”

Silence.

Three seconds.

“Ten minutes,” Serak said. “I’m moving to extraction route two. Leave 14-B, go left. Service stairs at the end of the corridor. I’ll meet you below.”

“Acknowledged.”

I cut the channel.

Tal was watching me.

“You trust him.”

“With everything.”

“Then listen to him.”

“Give me the codes.”

His eyes closed.

When they opened, the decision was there.

He recited the sequence.

I entered it once. Slowly. Verified every character before I committed.

The handshake opened.

Years of diplomatic routing logs unfolded across my display, each chain carrying the Consortium’s own authentication.

A second indicator came alive at the edge of the screen.

BRIDGE ACTIVE.

Deyric.

The mirror began pulling the authenticated logs back to the Raptor.

Tal saw it.

“You’re copying the network.”

“Yes.”

A sound in the corridor.

Not voices. Footsteps stopping outside the door.

Tal’s face changed.

I keyed the priority channel.