OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: OF VANISHING PRESIDENTS, PEACEFUL MORNINGS,

I blinked. "You watched a thirty-minute vlog?"

"I skipped through," she admitted. "But the guy used math. Like, scary math."

Xythe leaned closer and whispered with that maddening calmness. "We didn't wake you. You two looked peaceful"

"Figures," I murmured back. "Was erasing all traces of his existence part of the plan?"

Xythe only shrugged. "Saichel's idea. Added drama."

I pressed a palm to my forehead. Honestly? I was proud of the Court. Too proud.
They scrubbed KD's presence so well even conspiracy theorists were forming.
Remind me to high-five Tofer and Seb later. And then punch them.

Then—silence.

The Allievo Commons doors burst open.

And just like that, every sound collapsed into stunned silence.

KD stood at the threshold like a painting. Uniform crisp. Expression unreadable. Hair messy, like he didn't even bother pretending. Backlit by sunlight like some mythical creature returning from a quest.

Except—he was holding a Yakult in one hand and a red lollipop in the other.

He was snacking.
In broad daylight.
In front of everyone.
Like this was the most normal Tuesday of his life.

"For the record," he said coldly, "I wasn't kidnapped."

Oh no.

"I overslept."

OH NO.

"WHAT?" someone gasped.

"You weren't in your room," someone else cried.

KD didn't even blink. "I never said it was my room."

I froze.

Everything fell apart the moment KD said, "I never said it was my room."

It was like a spell detonated across the Commons.

Dozens of heads snapped in my direction.

Some whispered. "Eclipsa Sanctum is restricted isn't it?"

Other says, "The surveillance there is too tight. How does the President bypass it?"

KD crunched his lollipop like a smug little traitor.
I was going to strangle him.
Lovingly. But still—strangle.

Saichel raised his plastic spoon like a prophecy staff. "By the powers vested in gossip, I hereby declare you: Claimed. May the whispers never die."

The forums definitely weren't surviving this.

I peeked from behind my hands. KD was still beside me, sipping Yakult like a man untouched by law, logic, or dorm rules.

He bumped his knee against mine under the table.

Smug. Warm. Ridiculous. And for a moment, I almost smiled.

Until my phone buzzed—twice short, once long.

Court signal. Priority thread.

My smile dropped.

I slipped the device under the table, typing in the encryption pattern with practiced fingers.
The screen opened to a secure thread from Lockwire.

[PRIVATE: ARDENT LINE 08 | SEB]

SEB:
It's Rowan.
He's still active.
And Ari... there's a label you need to see.

An attachment followed.

My heart stopped.

Grainy footage.
Surveillance angle. A slouched body in a white coat.
Face turned away. But the wrist—tagged.

PROJECT: ROWAN
CODE: [REDACTED]
And scratched beneath it:

Echo-9.

I blinked once.
Twice.

My lungs wouldn't move.

It wasn't just a memory fragment anymore.
Not just a nightmare in KD's sleep.

This—was a leak.
A crack in the mask.
Something real.

I didn't even realize my fingers were moving until the Court thread opened.

ME:
The first signs of Echo-9 slip.

Send.

When I looked up, they were already watching.

Xythe. Lyle. Saichel. Thres. Seb. Tofer. Keryn. Alexie.

The shift in their eyes was instant.

Casual dropped.
Laughter gone.

This wasn't about gossip anymore.

It was about the weapon built to vanish—and what might happen when he came back.

Right beside me, KD was peeling open another Yakult. Like the world was fine.

I leaned into my hand, eyes forward, heart racing—not too much. Just enough for me to hide it from KD.

He didn't know. But something in him did.

And the Court felt it, too. We all did.