OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER TWELVE: OF THREADS, TRAPS, AND THE COLLAPSE OF KINGS

Xythe's Aether Mirror flashed data overlays. "Tripwire linked to Supreme Council energy codes. Confirmed sabotage."

Lyle's Crownsigil lit all eight anchor runes at once. He didn't need to speak.
Execute.

Back on the field, the Court moved like shadows in a dance only they knew. Trees became obstacles. The terrain became math.

"Drone sweep in thirty. Xy, rotate thirty degrees east. Saichel, you and Lex flank north. Keryn—trap reveal. Now."

"About time," Keryn's voice purred through the feed. "Lyle, if I survive this, you're buying me dinner. A real one. No tactical briefings allowed."

"I let you shoot first in every game we play. That counts as romance."

"It doesn't."

"It does."

"It doesn't if you die in the first three minutes again."

"I love how confident you are," Alexie chimed in, her tone all mischief. "Saichel, she just declared you second place."

"Still a podium finish," Saichel quipped. "Unlike Lyle's last attempt at flirting."

"Focus," Riyee snapped, but her grin could be felt. "Or you'll all be eating pellets for breakfast."

KD's fingers clenched around the gym rail. His jaw was tight, but his eyes... his eyes never left the girl who commanded with bite and brilliance.

She was alive in the fire, dancing in it.

"Switching to infrared. I see the trip triggers." Xythe again, voice clipped. "Trap layout's too clean. Pattern suggests someone from Supreme's inner logistics."

"Call them out," Riyee ordered. Her tone dropped. Regal. Dangerous.

A pause.

"Bianchi. Lucian. Rowan."

The gymnasium erupted.

Students turned to each other in shock.

"She said Bianchi?"
"Lucian? Rowan? Those are council heads!"

KD's heart sank. The bile of recognition flooded his throat. His council. His own ranks.

The tactical mind in him was already recalculating. They'd turned the battlefield into a trap to humiliate the Court. But instead of folding, the Court danced through the knives.

On-screen, Riyee clicked into a new channel and said, "Thres, Tofer—time to teach them why you never underestimate Ardent ghost."

From the treeline, Thres moved like a storm, airsoft rifle slung low, eyes already reading the wind. Tofer, silent and unseen, tapped twice into his wrist module.

Then a series of clicks echoed through the gym speakers—snap-snap-snap—as hidden traps across the forest lit up like fireflies, neutralized.

"Did they just deactivate all the tripwires—"
"What the hell is this team?!"

"Ghosts," KD muttered under his breath. But his eyes were still on her.

Riyee stepped into a clearing, weapon raised, hair tied high in a sharp braid that swung like a blade behind her.

"This is Rielle Del Rio. Confirmed trap layers: Bianchi, Lucian, Rowan. All devices neutralized. Area clear."

And when Thres and Tofer began their sweep—Tofer using his Acoustic Sensor Clips to bounce false sound paths and scramble drone reception—the trap reveals began to spark like fireworks across the forest floor.