Chapter 30 Fractured Shields
Stefan's POV~
The theft of Gideon’s USB drive, our evidence of Galden’s patent theft and crime, had blown a hole through our plan, leaving us hanging out there on a line. My office had become a graveyard of broken monitors. Anger raged through me but Valenticia's silent panic forced me to break out. I led her to a seat, my hand resting on her shoulder, an unspoken promise to save Clara amidst the madness.
Her fear shattered something in me. The engagement announcement had been intended to be a strategy— a fortress for Clawford and New Dream against Galden’s charge. But her courage, her defiance in the face of Natasha’s video threat, turned it into something greater. I saw her, holding Gideon’s bloody USB, her scream when he dropped. She wasn’t a piece to be moved around... she was a partner, and I certainly wouldn’t have Galen take her or take Clara.
Memories clutched at me — my mother’s face, white and blank, her death when I was twelve that had taught me, that love, was a weakness, a fault line for enemies to leverage open. Marcus’s betrayal years later had sealed it: trust no one, and need no one. Valenticia's hand in mine, her voice steady even under the taunts of the reporters, at the press conference had stirred something dangerous respect, perhaps, or worse, care for her in me. I suppressed the thought and concentrated on the present. Clara’s life, our battle, required that I remain alert.
As I poured Valenticia coffee, her hands still trembling, Carter called. “Gideon is stable,” he said, his voice hoarse. “But, Stefan, our moves are being leaked.
The USB theft, the office hit — it’s too precise.”
My jaw clenched.
There was a traitor in our circle.
This was an inside job.
Gideon’s loyalty remained, and the proof was his being in the hospital, but Carter’s involvement in all my plans. “Who?” ' I asked my voice hushed to protect Valenticia.
“Not sure,” Carter said. “Could be Lena. She knows too much about Galden’s network.”
Lena Korsakov.
Her information on Galden’s counterfeited permits had been gold, but her roots in his world were deep. I looked over at Valenticia staring down her coffee, she was visibly worried. “Get me a meeting with Lena,” I said to Carter. “ I need it to be tonight, at the Velvet Abyss. I’m bringing Valenticia.”
Valenticia’s head snapped up. “Why me?”
“I need your read on her,” I said, in clipped tones. “You’re sharp. If Lena’s lying, you’re going to see it.”
She nodded as a flash of determination passed over her fear. The Velvet Abyss was a thrumming pit of Seryne’s high-born; its glowing dance floor was a cover-up for deals and mistrust. We got there at midnight, and the whole place was lively. Lena was sitting in a corner booth, and her hair could even be seen catching some of the strobe lights, her eyes squinching up as we approached. Valenticia sat next to me, dressed in sapphire, her posture rigid, and eyes keen.
“Stefan,” Lena purred, looking up at Valenticia. “You brought company. Trust issues?”
“Clarity,” I whispered, leaning in. “ Galden’s getting our ideas of our moves from somewhere. The USB is lost, and my office is wrecked. You know anything?”
Her smile seemed practiced. “You think I’ll cross you? I handed you Galden’s licenses, Myles. I’m clean.”
Valenticia’s eyes remained fixed on Lena, and I insisted, “You're tight with Galden's folks. If you’re playing for both ends, I’ll know it.”
Lena didn’t blink, but her gaze shifted to a man at the bar. Tall, scarred, one of Galden’s enforcers maybe. The mistake was a momentary one, but Valenticia caught it, her hand tightening on my arm. “She’s lying,” Valenticia murmured in a low voice.
I waved at Carter, who was lurking in the shadows, to follow the thug. Lena leaned back, her tone chill. “You’re paranoid, Stefan. Galden’s the enemy, not me.”
“We’ll see,” I stood up. Valenticia stood up next, her eyes searching. When we got outside, she turned around to face me, her voice filled with urgency. “What’s the plan for Clara? We’re running out of time.”
I paused, her fear reflecting my own. “Carter has a lead — it’s a safehouse that Galden operates on the west side of Seryne. Clara might be there. I’ll scout it tonight.”
A stubborn light kept flickering in her eyes despite the panic. “I’m coming. Clara’s my responsibility. I won’t sit this out.”
“It’s too risky,” I said, and my voice was harsh. “I will go alone,” I told her, though her reluctance surprised me.
“I’m not fragile, Stefan,” she snapped as she walked towards me. “We’re in this together. I fight, or we lose.”
Her words landed, an accusation I could not refute. “All right,” I said, my voice lessened. “We go in there together, but you follow my instructions deal?”
She nodded a glimmer of trust in her eyes, deepening my guard. Driving back, Carter called, his voice strained. “The enforcer brought him to a warehouse—west side, old industrial area. But, Stefan, it’s rigged. Motion sensors, explosives. It’s a trap.”
I clutched the steering wheel and Valenticia’s eyes burned a hole in me. “Clara’s over there,” said she, her voice strong and without fear. “We have to go.”
Then, nodding, the city’s neon smeared as I pressed the accelerator. The warehouse stood before us, a towering ruin of steel and rot, its windows black but pulsing with threat. Valenticia’s hand swept past mine, a fleeting touch as we approached. The warehouse might be quiet but its silence was a lie, its shadows seemed to be lurking with danger.
As we got closer, there was a low, humming sound, and then a roar — the side of the warehouse burst into flames, an explosion tearing through the night. I dragged Valenticia behind a crate, my heart racing as we hid. “Get down,” I whispered. The fire roared and scorched, but then a form stepped out of the smoke, clutching Clara, her head swinging as though she was barely alive.
A feeling of relief flooded through me, but then I saw it — a sniper’s red dot, steady and deadly, dancing on Valenticia’s chest