OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

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

Tofer's monotone finally cut through. "Fourteen active snares. Twelve encoded by the Supreme inner circle. Pulse interference suggests layered sabotage."

"Pulse-thread confirms." Lyle's voice now. "They're using repurposed scout tech. Matching to Council authorization signatures. Confirmed."

And the audience was no longer just watching a match. They were watching a coordinated military purge. Broadcast live.

More whispers rose in the gym.

"Is that... Saichel reading Lyle's tempo through his spine implant?"

"Xythe's not even looking. But he's already aiming... like he saw it coming."

"They're... linked. She's reading their pulse. That's how she's fighting blind."

Headmaster Lazaro leaned closer to his mic, expression unreadable. "They turned every heartbeat into a weapon."

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."

Riyee turned slightly toward her comms, a half-smile forming.

"Xythe."

"On you."

"Ready your shot. We're about to draw fire."

The gym held its breath. Then she stepped into the center of the mapped quadrant—fully exposed. A trap detonated behind her—a deafening blast of smoke and paint rounds. They fired in tandem from automated turrets camouflaged in the leaves.

But Xythe was already moving.

"Firing suppression rounds—NOW."

His sniper cracked once. Twice. Thrice. Three turrets exploded mid-cycle.

Keryn and Lyle burst through the eastern path like thunder. Thres flanked from behind. Saichel and Alexie dropped into crouch beneath the brush, clearing the arc from the south.

"All hostiles down."
"Remaining defense disabled."
"Final quadrant clear."

And then Riyee stood alone again. In the open. Untouched. Victorious.

The gym. after a stunned silence. erupted in cheers. Even KD's breath hitched. He didn't cheer. He just stared. At the girl who once ran. Now commanding her war with velvet steel.

Headmaster Lazaro raised a brow. "If she was still our student, she'd be ruling our council by now."

And still... KD's gaze didn't waver.

He watched her move toward the final extraction zone, her team regrouping behind her, the comms now quieter—just breath and footsteps and heartbeats.

His eyes tracked the screen—not just the figures now, but the live pulse lines flowing from Riyee's Artemis Collar. Every time Xythe fired, a line from her collar surged to his Monocle—like his bullet had her blessing. Every time Lyle gave a quiet command, the runes in his Crownsigil Ring glowed, pulling up visual battlefield feeds from the rings worn by Alexie, Thres, Keryn, and Seb. Riyee didn't need sight. She had a Court wired into her pulse.

She ran. Straight into the courtyard.

Gunfire—airsoft or not—thundered like an orchestra. Smoke grenades detonated along the trapline. Flash pellets burst in the grass. The AI-controlled turrets whirred and spun—

And missed. Because Riyee wasn't just fast.

She was deliberate.

Xythe's monocle flared with real-time overlay. "Two behind bench three. Third turret online in three seconds."

Riyee's hand rose. Not to aim. To signal her heartbeat. One-two—pause. Then three quick pulses. The Court moved.

Riyee twisted, back arched, pulse-synced with Saichel—who flanked opposite. Their timing was impossible. Until you saw their threads. Until you heard their hearts.

Riyee raised her hand. "Collapse sequence. Execute."

Nine moved as one. Keryn and Saichel stormed from the shadows. Seb dropped smoke pellets that split vision. Thres kicked open a fallen barricade to flank the right. Alexie slid into a crouch and fired upward into tree-mounted turrets. Tofer's trap signal flashed: EMP spike engaged. Enemy tech offline. Lyle surged last, gauntlet glowing—controlling drone overheads, mapping heat through smoke. And Riyee, she leapt straight onto the central platform, her boot slamming down the squad flag.

It was done.

A long tone echoed.

The scoreboard above the gym exploded in bright gold:

VICTORY: ARDENT COURT – 9 / 0 SURVIVING | 100 / 100 ELIMINATED

Silence. Screams. Roars.

The entire Aureum Gymnasium shook with the sound of a thousand voices erupting at once. The seniors jumped from their seats. Juniors screamed themselves hoarse. First years stared like they'd just witnessed gods descend from the mountains.

Even the professors were frozen. Some in disbelief. Others in awe.

KD still didn't move. He watched as the camera zoomed in—tight onto her face. Riyee. Paint-smeared. Breathing hard. Unbent.

Then, she smiled. Not the cold smirk from before. Not the broken girl who had once stood before a false tribunal.

No—this smile was made of steel and sunlight.

A Queen's smile.

At the top balcony, Headmaster Lazaro took a single step forward, his mic still live.

"Let this be remembered." His voice resonated. "The Ardent Court did not play a game today. They revealed the truth. Not one of legend or pageantry. But one of strategy, bloodlines, and earned silence."

Beside him, Headmaster Antonio nodded, folding his hands.

"And let it also be remembered who laid traps in cowardice." His voice was sharp. "Bianchi Madriaga. Lucian Ortega. Rowan Lopez. Their signature codes were found in every sabotage trigger. What the Court dismantled today... was more than a game."

The student body gasped. KD didn't react—not visibly. But inside, the pieces fell like ash. His council hadn't just failed him.

They had declared war. Down on the field, the Court began regrouping.

Tofer pushed his mask up and gave Seb a quiet nod. Alexie slung her weapon over her shoulder and looped her arm around Saichel's neck. Thres bumped fists with Lyle. Keryn high-fived a laughing Xythe who was pretending to dramatically nurse a fake arm wound.

"You didn't even get hit, idiot." she snorted.

But it was Riyee who stood alone in the middle for one final second.

She turned toward the central camera drone. Looked directly into it. KD knew she was looking at him. She raised two fingers. Tipped them once in salute. Then turned. And walked back to her Court.

KD closed his eyes for a heartbeat. Let the image burn into his memory. The girl who once flinched at the Council's glare. Now led the only real power Supreme Allievo had ever underestimated.

And as Riyee raised two fingers to the central drone camera, students realized—it wasn't just bravado.

It was command. A message. A declaration of dominance through synced blood. When she turned and walked back to her Court, all eight members converged behind her. A perfect diamond formation. Tacticians. Weapons. Chaos. Heart. Mind. Wall. Mask. Flame. Ghost. And at its center—her.

Someone near him whispered, still breathless. "How do you stop a team like that?"

KD opened his eyes.KD whispered back, "You don't. You survive them."

Then, quieter. "And if you're lucky... she lets you walk beside her."