[POV: Lyon Monroe]

"Check the perimeter again, Zara. If the King’s hounds picked up even a whisper of our thruster wake, this bunker becomes a tomb in under ten minutes. Are the dampers holding? I don't want a single stray watt of energy leaking into the snow. We are invisible or we are dead. There is no middle ground left in this world."

Lyon Monroe slammed the heavy hydraulic lever into place, the sound of the reinforced titanium doors sealing shut echoing through the cavernous entry hall of the Alps facility. He didn't wait for a response, his hands moving with a practiced, frantic rhythm across the diagnostic pad. His...