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A soft series of confirmations crackled back.
Kylix finally stepped out into the cold. “We keep him alive, we learn what they want, and if they move first, we end it.”
Daven followed him, pulling Ryneth with him. “This is fucking suicide, and you know it.”
“We have no other option,” Helianth admitted. “This is possibly the only chance we’ll get. We can’t let more crime poison our world.”
“He’s right. Attica is already pushing new compounds through the port districts,” Kylix added grimly. “If we don’t cut the supply soon, the lower ring will drown in it.”
“Careful.” Yure’s voice crackled through Kylix’s multi-slate. “There are two guards outside, moving toward the access ramp. One’s staying near the captives.”
A brief static hissed through the line. Then—
“They’ve acknowledged our presence,” Yure added. “Good Light, they know who’s with you. Keep him covered.”
“Good,” Kylix said calmly. “If they paid that level, they won’t send a runner. Look.”
The tunnel doors slowly started to open. The dark beyond them stayed empty.
Daven’s grip tightened around Ryneth’s hand as he stared into the black.
This was it. If someone had come to claim what they thought they’d bought, this was the moment.
Those monsters had recognized Ryneth. They thought they were hunting. They had no idea what was hunting them back.
Kylix didn’t blink. “Hold formation,” he ordered. “No one fires unless I say.”
Ryneth turned to face Daven, squeezing his hand. “I—”
“They want to see you,” Kylix cut in, voice flat. “Which means they’ll have to come through us first.” His gaze flicked to Ryneth. “You do not fall tonight.”
Then he went back to barking orders like the world wasn’t balanced on a knife edge. Perhaps to him, it wasn’t. All Daven could do was watch Ryneth.
He smiled at Daven, but his eyes were filled with sadness Daven couldn’t place. He’d give good coin to know what was going through Ryneth’s head right now.
“I’ll protect you,” he wanted to say, but didn’t, because the words felt too foreign in his mind. He’d never wanted to protect anyone other than his family.
His obnoxious family, who had just shoved his life into absolute shit.
They were putting Ryneth exactly where Concordant wanted him, and Daven hated that he was letting it happen.
Kylix gave a short nod. “Five minutes. If they don’t show, you come back. If anything turns, we move.”
Daven’s fingers tightened around Ryneth’s hand again. He didn’t want to let go. Not now, not ever.
This whole operation felt like a betrayal before it had even happened.
Ryneth looked at Daven, his expression softening for a heartbeat. “Let me go. Please.”
Daven lifted Ryneth’s hand to his mouth, ignoring the static snapping against his palm, and pressed a slow kiss to his knuckles. He didn't know what to do with him. He wanted to lock him away where no one could touch him, even if Ryneth hated him for it.
A flush crept up Ryneth’s neck, and for one fleeting second, he didn’t fight the touch. Instead, he offered Daven a small, genuine smile. The sight of it hit Daven hard enough to hurt.
It felt like time stood still. For a second, the rest of the world disappeared.
Then Ryneth pulled away and walked off into the foundry.
Daven moved into the shadows of a vertical crusher. Through his visor, Ryneth was a lonely smudge of heat in a sea of cold iron.
