Chapter 84. Shadows on the Lens

The elevator climbed in silence.

Harper kept her eyes on the city’s edge—not for comfort, but to remind herself how far a fall could go. Knox stood to her left, but not close. Not yet. His silence wasn’t stiff—it was charged. Something between aftermath and anticipation.

The door opened directly into Forge Tower’s command suite.

Lucien didn’t greet them. He was already pacing before the main interface, face washed in cold-blue light. The projection wall looped one encrypted thread: flickering visual fragments. A tight angle from above. An unmistakable curve of Harper’s cheekbone. A glimpse of silver-blond hair tucked behind one ear. A blurred hand reaching out.

She froze.

“That’s from—” she began.

Lucien turned. “Yes. Bastion. The auction room.”

Harper’s throat tightened. That latency in Bastion—the one she’d ignored—hadn’t been a glitch. It had been a warning.

Knox stepped forward. “There weren’t cameras allowed. No drones, no feeds.