OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CCHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: OF SIGILS, SHADOW GUARDS, AND THE GIRL WHO COULD

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: OF SIGILS, SHADOW GUARDS, AND THE GIRL WHO COULD BREAK HIM

Riyee's POV

Eclipsa Sanctum - The Sigil Heart Hall

One week since the chandelier tried to kill the Ice President in the Allievo Commons.

Well-almost.

It missed KD by about a second. Xythe took the brunt of it instead, and a dozen students got injured from the explosion of crystal shards. Chaos, blood, screaming. The kind of thing that should've shut the school down.

But no.

Classes resumed. Lockdown lifted. And the investigation? Closed.

They blamed the chandelier's fall on structural failure and outdated wiring. Case closed. Classic.

Except we all know that's a lie. The chandelier didn't fall. It was cut.
A warning. A message.

The Halcyon Pact is already coming for Khaizer Dylan Dela Vega—that's Lyle's theory. Tofer and Seb say it might be someone else. Something else. Shadows we haven't met. Or maybe shadows we already have.

I honestly don't know what to think anymore.

Supreme Allievo Academy was supposed to be a safe haven. A quiet school obsessed with academic rankings. Not a stage for secret wars and near-death experiences. But here we are—turning the campus into a battlefield and making sure the rest of the student body has no idea. Especially not Khaizer freaking Dylan.

Xythe summoned us here in Sigil Heart Hall. Which is code for "this is not a drill, bring your spine and maybe a flamethrower."

He's already seated when we arrive—posture perfect, voice precise, like he didn't just spend the last week stapled together by medics and guilt.

"They talked to me."

Silence. A pause sharp enough to cut.

"Who?" Lyle asks, though he already knows.

Xythe's voice is low. Precise. "Dr. Caelum Dominic Dela Vega and Amara Lucille Villarico-Dela Vega. Frost Monarch parents."

KD's parents. Correction: KD's bioengineers.

Nobody breathes.

I do. But only so I can ask, "You what?"

"The night of the Chandelier Incident. Right after I stabilized. They came in alone. No security, no guards. Just... two people who used to be something else."

He opens the drawer beside him and places a folded letter on the table.
Unmarked. Unsealed.

"Tofer swept the room for recorders. Nothing's bugged. So I'll say what they wouldn't let me write down."

He exhales.

"This wasn't a mission briefing. It was a cry for help. Not from a Commander. From a father."

Xythe's voice falters for half a second-just enough for the room to notice.
"They're scared. Not just of the Halcyon Pact. But of what's inside him."

I blink. "Inside? You mean the Echo-9 Lucem?"

He nods once. "Just like what your father said Ari, Echo-9 wasn't just a designation. It was a system. A weaponized identity."

Alexie's voice is quieter than usual. "But Tito Carlos said he doesn't remember."

"Yeah, he can't." Xythe says. "They said the memories were buried—possibly severed, possibly hidden. But the effects? They're still there. Reflexes. Instincts. Combat skill he shouldn't have."