[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"Step away from that terminal, Caelum. I am not going to ask you again. The gold in your veins won't protect you from a kinetic round to the skull. If you don't release the lock on that nursery door, I will make sure the last thing you see is the destruction of everything you’ve built."

Sofia’s voice was a low, dangerous vibration that seemed to harmonize with the humming of the Royal Spire’s central core. She stood in the heart of the Glass City’s command center, her pulse-pistol leveled at her brother’s chest. Her eyes, usually the calculated amber of a high-stakes negotiator, were now a molten,...