Silent Regret

hit the end in sixty seconds, w

ster dust choked the air, thick and chalky, turning the red emergency lights into a pulsing, bloody fog that made it impossible to breathe. Every time Keon fired, the muzzle flash illuminated the room for a jagged micr

up. I couldn

ad narrowed down to the glowing rectangle of the monitor and the high-pitched hum of the server racks. On the screen, the

.. 8

gritted so hard I felt the por

nging heat flared on my cheek where a sliver had grazed me, but I didn't flinch. I didn't move. I had become the "Ghost in the Machin

chamber. I heard the wet, heavy thud of a body hitting the floorboards above, followed by the sharp, metal

We lose the connection to Vane's offshore accounts, and he walks away a bi

now, you're dead, and

rsion of myself. He was bleeding from a jagged graze on his shoulder, his chest heaving under the weight of his tactical vest, his ammunitio

.. 9

g sound. A concussion grenade bounced across the hardwood floor above and tumbled do

g invisible in the red haze. I saw Keon turning, his eyes widening in the one moment of pure, unadulter

evidence that would burn Julian Vane to the ground... or the man who

ung

ecutive chair and slammed it over the grenade, throwing my en

O

ent a ringing vibration through my skull so violent it made my vision swim in oily circles. I was tossed backward, hitting the ser

sa! L

ck for a pulse, his usual mask of cold indifference shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. He was saying something, h

a spiderweb of black lines dancing across the liquid crystal. But in the center,

NCRYPTION SEALED.

Keon. He's gone. It's all in the cloud. The feds, the press, the SEC... ever

looked at me, his thumb brushing a streak of soot and blood from my forehead. For the first time,

chair," he whispered, h

f his tactical vest and pulling him closer until our foreh

a deep, rhythmic thrumming that made the very air vibrate. A heavy engine roared outside, the downdraft of massive rotors stripping the remain

l readiness. He stood, pulling a secondary sidearm from his thigh holster and h

ced exit at the back of the cellar. We emerged into the biting mountain air, the snow swirling around us like white ash

the walls now, devouring the cedar beams and the servers alike. My old life, my old fears, the girl who

s the ground fell away, the win

is pocket and pulled out a small, gold coin the same one I'd seen him flipping in the boa

the helicopter banked hard toward the dark horizon. "To the end of the world, Lou

he coin in my hand the only things that felt real. The girl who woke up this