OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

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

"And if someone triggers it?" Keryn asks.

"Then we don't get Khaizer Dela Vega," Xythe answers, voice flat. "We got Lucem. Echo-9. The version Halcyon built. And if he doesn't know what he is when it happens-he won't know who we are either."

Lyle's jaw tightens. "What did they ask of us?"

Xythe looks at him. Then us.

"They asked us to protect him."

He lifts the letter—but doesn't open it. He doesn't need to. He's memorized it.

Protect our son-from the world, from the Pact... and if it comes to it, from himself. If you ever looked at him and saw a weapon... I'm asking you now-see the boy. Not the programming. Not the code. The boy.

It's Amara's voice in his memory. I can hear it too.

Don't tell him yet. Protect his mind first. He doesn't know what they planted. But if it blooms, it'll be instinct first-questions later.

"To them, he's not just a boy. He's a timebomb. One we're meant to disarm."

Seb speaks, voice measured. "They want us to intervene. But only if the code resurfaces."

"Not just intervene," Xythe corrects. "Guard him. Watch him. Even if he hates us for it."

Keryn crosses her arms. Voice calm, but with the quiet steel of someone stating a fact everyone else has been dancing around. "We are already protecting him. They don't need to ask."

"Because they weren't aware," Xythe replies. "But I told them anyway. Told them they were late. That Khaizer Dylan is already under the protection of the Ardent Court."

"And if Halcyon regains access?" Thres asks, voice low.

Xythe meets his gaze. "Then we stop them. Before they finish what they started."

There's a long, cold silence.

Tofer speaks next, his fingers already flying across his tablet, "Do they think it's already happening?"

"They're not sure," Xythe admits. "But... They warned me about triggers. Symbols. Voices. Emotional memory anchors."

His eyes flick to me. I feel it before I hear it.

If they can't break him, they'll go through her.

My breath stills.

Protect Arielle. Always. Not because she's weak. Because she's the one thing that could shatter him-and they know it.

"Great," I scoff under my breath. "So I'm a live-wire liability. Great."

"No," Saichel says gently. "You're more than that."

And for once, he's not being sarcastic. That's what breaks me more than anything.

Seb follows, voice quiet. "We've always protected Ari."

He turns toward me.

"Even when she's the one holding the blade."

My throat tightens.

Because I do carry the blade. I've carved out lies. Defenses. Enemies. I've held the line when it blurred. But I never wanted to be his weakness.

"Is the Halcyon Pact really moving now?" Alexie asks, breaking the silence.

Xythe turns to her. "They said your parent's Veillfall system is fracturing. It required recalibration every few years to maintain complete invisibility from Halcyon PulseTrack, surveillance AI, and memory-linked data crawlers."

Alexie's voice cracks. Panic flickers in her eyes.

"But I haven't talked to them since I was eight. They disappeared."

It's the first time I've seen Alexie's voice crack. And not because she's pretending it didn't.

"Tofer?" Lyle asks.

"I'll try to locate them again," Tofer mutters. "I tried after we came back from Home for Angels. Still offline."

I step closer. "Xythe... did they tell you anything else?"

He exhales. And that breath? It carries something lethal beneath it.

If one day it's us who become compromised... finish what we started.

It's Caelum's voice this time. And it chills the room.

"We act if they can't," Xythe confirms. "No matter what it costs."

"No matter what it costs," Lyle echoes, steeling his voice. "We protect him. Even if it's from himself."

There's no argument.

We all nod.

A pact reborn. Not in blood—but in loyalty.

Ardent Court now stands as Khaizer Dylan Dela Vega's shadow guard.
Unseen. Unheard. Unyielding.
Until the day he remembers.

Or the day he becomes something we can't protect anymore.

Whichever comes first...

We'll be there.
And we will not flinch.