[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"Stop moving, Lyon. If you reach for that sidearm again, they’ll put a bolt through your neck before you can even draw. Look at the shadows on the crystalline pillars. They aren't just guards; they are part of the architecture. If you fire, you’re just shooting at the walls until they decide to kill us. Put the gun down. Please. I can't lose you and Beatrice in the same hour."

Sofia’s voice was a jagged whisper that barely carried over the howling wind of the blizzard, yet it commanded the space with the authority of a woman who had spent a decade ruling boardrooms. She stood at...