Chapter 132

Rose hurled the empty bottle against the wall. It shattered into tiny pieces, much like their plans. On the television, news channels couldn’t stop talking about the Phoenix Grid’s successful launch. Camille’s face appeared on every station, her triumph complete.

“Turn it off!” she screamed, her voice raw from hours of rage.

Herod stood by the window of their shabby motel room, his back to her. They had been forced to hide here after abandoning his penthouse. His finger pressed the remote button, silencing Camille’s voice mid-sentence about “transformation” and “rising from the ashes.”

“All of it,” Herod said, his voice hollow with defeat. “All my planning, all my resources, all the time spent cultivating Walsh as our inside man, wasted.”

“We knew they discovered Walsh,” Rose paced the worn carpet, her movements sharp and erratic. “But how did they block the signal jammer too? That was supposed to be foolproof!”

Herod turned to face her. His expensive s