Chapter 55. The Reckoning (1)

Every empire has its reckoning—every lover, too.

The war room still smelled of scorched data and blood. Not a drop spilled, but something deeper had been wounded—something between them.

Harper Quinn stood at the far edge of the chamber, her silhouette cut in half by the flicker of emergency lighting. The countdown was gone. The node had erased itself. The console sat black and quiet. But the silence screamed louder than any detonation.

Across the room, Knox hadn’t moved. Neither had she.

He looked like he could take another bullet.

She looked like she’d just fired it.

“You knew about the root access,” she said, her voice low and leveled—not a question, but a scalpel.

Knox didn’t flinch. “I knew someone was manipulating it. I thought it was Arthur. I didn’t expect the path to trace back… to me.”

“I clipped that clasp on you knowing it might be the last time,” he said. His voice cracked—not from guilt, but from grief. “And I did it anywa