OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: OF BLOODLINES, BULLETINS, AND THE GHOSTS THAT NEVER LEFT

I nodded, stiffly. "Yeah. Her orphanage."

But the word orphanage felt like a punch. Why there? Why build your redemption in a place full of innocent kids—then drag them into the blast radius?

"Secure a meeting. Protect her at all costs. Verify her data on the Halcyon Pact's return. Determine if she holds suppressed data on new child-targeting protocols."

Even Lyle—Lyle, the most calculating, composed Crown we've ever known—tightened his grip on the table.

Because the next line... The next name hit harder.

DECLASSIFY: CARLOS EMMANUEL DEL RIO – FORMER SOVEREIGN SHADOW OPERATIVE

My father's name.

Carlos Emmanuel Del Rio.

His name sat beside phrases like former military intelligence, sovereign surveillance, and covert fund transfers.

I felt the world split under me. Like someone had been holding this secret just long enough to hand it over now—when it would cut the deepest. He wasn't just the quiet man who taught me how to ride a bike. He was one of the original covert operatives of the Ardent Court. And he never said a word.

"Possible protector. Possible betrayer," the document read. "Direct connection to Dana Ysabel Del Rio's disappearance. Funded illegal surveillance to keep her hidden. Involvement with... Khaizer Dylan Dela Vega and the Dela Vega Family."

That last line shouldn't have chilled me, but it did.

"Why is Dad connected to KD and his family?" I whispered, barely audible.

No one answered.

Lyle's jaw tensed—but not in confusion. Recognition.

Carlos Emmanuel Del Rio wasn't just my dad. He was his uncle. His Tito Carlos. Which makes Dana, my mother, his Tita.

They weren't just keeping secrets from me. They were protecting me. The funds. The silence. The questions never answered. Suddenly, they weren't failures. They were shields.

"Did he help her disappear?" Tofer asked.

"Or did he cover it up?" Thres countered.

I didn't speak.

Because all I could hear was my pulse. Hammering down the thread. Slamming into the Tri-Havoc pulse sync like an alarm no one could turn off. And possibly alarming KD's Elarin band too.

Xythe's hand slid into mine. Warm. Grounding.

"Breathe, Ari," he whispered "You can't be too shaken. Your pulse will alert Khaizer. We don't want him storming the Sanctum thinking someone hurt you."

I nodded.

But it felt like my bones were shaking. Because it wasn't just my parents on the table. It was Lyle's bloodline too. And mine. And now, KD's.

This wasn't a mission. It was a map of who we used to be—and who they want erased.

THE HALCYON PACT – HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS & ACTIVE THREATS

The second directive opened like a punch to the teeth.

The Pact is back. Not hypothetically. Not whispered. Not hidden.
Phase II is active.

"So they are the one who is after the Frost Monarch," Keryn read aloud. Her voice didn't waver, but her hands curled. "They've marked him."

And in that moment, I couldn't feel fear. Only that cold, sharp kind of rage. The kind that says—they touched something sacred.

"His parents—Amara Lucille and Caelum Dominic—former defectors. Their son is the consequence."

Tofer was already pulling data threads. Seb had three suspect profiles up in seconds. Keryn went eerily still. She was reading everything. Logging it faster than the rest of us could blink.

"Does he know?" I asked. Quiet. But urgent.

"That's what we need to confirm right now," Lyle said.

At first, we thought we were protecting KD from the school board. From their twisted, underground rules. But this— This was bigger.

"We need to know if..." Xythe's spoke quietly, but every word cut like a blade, "... if they wanted him dead or alive."

My nails curled into my palms. A silent scream trapped in bone. "We make sure he's staying alive."

"Of course. We're not losing the Frost Monarch in the Operation Winterspine. Not Tita Dana. Not Tito Carlos. Not Dad. Not you Ari. And definitely not me." Lyle confirmed.

I didn't know I was gripping the edge of the table until I saw the pale crescent dents my nails had left in the steel.

KD. My KD.

They want him—but we don't know why. We don't know how. We don't even know if they see him as weapon, threat, or prize.

They want my mom—erased. They see my dad as a liability. And me? To the Halcyon Pact, I'm the daughter of the woman who broke them. The niece of Celestine's Headmaster Lazaro Soriano—the man who burned their empire down. The heir to a system they never could corrupt.

Across the table, Lyle's pulse flared in my vision—a single spike, sharp and fast. He buried it fast, but I saw it. They're targeting him, too. Because he's the next-gen shield. The Crown that won't bow.

Temporary Executive Command granted to Lyle Raizen Soriano and Xythe Nathaniel Alcantara.

Command. Not just leadership. Lockdown-level authority. The kind that meant the Crown and Tactician could rewrite everything, if needed.

"Two targets in this room," Alexie said slowly. "Confirmed."

I didn't look around. I didn't need to. I could feel them looking at me.

"You okay?" Saichel asked—quiet, for once. No jokes. No smirk. Just concern.

I nodded. Then lied. "I've been worse."

But inside? I was shattering. Quietly. Silently. Like glass cracking beneath the weight of truths too heavy to hold.

Mom. Dad. Tito Lazaro. Lyle. The Pact. KD.

This wasn't a coincidence. This was curated. Deliberate.

Our bloodlines built the Ardent Court. Now, they were the ones being hunted. And me? I'm the girl with a blade in each hand, a thread around her neck, and legacy carved into every step she takes.

They should've finished the job the first time. Because we're not just survivors. We're the retaliation.