Chapter 78 Operational Security (Sam POV)
Chapter 78 Operational Security (Sam POV)
"Tyler, who captured Lucinda?" I demand.
"Pedro Fernandez." Tyler sounds sick. "Echo says Pedro has Lucinda at his downtown penthouse. Says he's been holding her for the past forty minutes. Kieran, Pedro is demanding to speak with Sam. Demanding she come to his location alone before midnight or he'll..." Tyler stops. "Or he'll kill Lucinda and blame her death on angelic execution."
"Let him." Sam's voice is emotionless. "Lucinda's survival isn't mission-critical. If Pedro Fernandez wants to eliminate a compromised agent, that's tactically beneficial."
"Sam!" I stare at her. "That's your grandmother! The woman who raised you!"
"That's a compromised agent who may have been engineering my corruption for three years." Sam's logic is flawless and horrifying. "Kieran, if Lucinda has been serving Asmodai deliberately, her elimination removes a security vulnerability. If she's been serving unknowingly, her elimination prevents further manipulation. Either scenario results in improved operational security."
"You can't mean that." But I can see she does. At ninety percent corruption, Sam is capable of calculating her grandmother's death as tactical benefit. "Sam, please. I know you're corrupted. I know empathy is nearly gone. But surely some part of you remembers caring about Lucinda. Remembers three years of living with her. Remembers..."
"I remember." Sam's voice doesn't change. "I remember Lucinda Drewsbury raising me after my mother died. Training me in supernatural combat. Positioning me to investigate demon-related murders. Giving me the artifact that led to my current state. I remember all of it with perfect clarity. What I don't remember is why those memories should generate sufficient emotional response to override tactical assessment."
"Because she's family!" I'm shouting now. "Sam, family matters! Love matters! The connections we build with people matter even when corruption strips away our ability to feel them properly!"
"Your emotional investment is noted." Sam turns away. "However, my assessment stands. Lucinda's survival isn't worth the tactical risk of walking into Pedro's trap. If he kills her, he eliminates a compromised asset. If he's bluffing, he reveals information about his own vulnerabilities. Either outcome serves mission objectives better than mounting a rescue operation two hours before the ritual."
"I'm going." I start toward the parking lot. "Marcus, stay with Sam. Coordinate defensive positioning. I'll retrieve Lucinda and extract whatever truth she's hiding."
"Kieran, that's suicide." Marcus follows me. "Pedro Fernandez has been making deals with Asmodai for seventeen years. He's got resources, magic, probably defensive wards we can't counter. Walking into his penthouse alone is..."
"Is exactly the stupid heroic choice Sam would have made before corruption stripped away her empathy." I pull out my knife. "Marcus, someone has to care about Lucinda's survival. Someone has to value family connections over tactical calculations. If that's not going to be Sam anymore, it has to be me."
"I'll go with you." Marcus checks his weapon. "Kieran, you're right that someone needs to rescue Lucinda. But you're wrong that it should be a solo operation. We go together. We extract Lucinda together. We get answers together."
"And leave Sam unsupervised at Pike Place Market?" I gesture to where Sam is efficiently marking defensive positions. "Marcus, she's ninety percent corrupted. Who knows what choices she'll make without oversight?"
"Tyler and Echo will monitor through laptop communication." Marcus is already texting. "And Lord Ash is arriving with fae warriors in twenty minutes. They'll provide supervision while we're gone. Sam's not unsupervised. She's just...operating without emotional guidance."
"Fine." I head for Marcus's car. "But we move fast. Ninety minutes to retrieve Lucinda, extract truth, and return before the ritual. If Pedro kills Lucinda before we arrive..."
"Then we have our answer about whether she was worth saving." Marcus starts the engine. "Kieran, I know this is hard. Watching Sam transform into something cold and calculating while her grandmother gets captured by a corrupted tech billionaire. But we're still fighting. Still trying to save what matters despite impossible odds."
We drive toward Pedro's downtown penthouse in grim silence. My phone buzzes, text from Sam:
Your rescue attempt is tactically unsound. Probability of success is thirty-two percent. Probability of death is forty-one percent. Remaining twenty-seven percent represents capture or severe injury requiring resources we can't spare. Recommendation: abort rescue operation and maintain defensive positioning at primary location.
"She's calculating my death probability like it's weather patterns." I show Marcus the text. "Sam is...she's not wrong. This probably is suicide. But I can't...I can't let Lucinda die without trying. Even if she has been deliberately engineering Sam's corruption."
"Because you're still human." Marcus takes a turn toward the financial district. "Kieran, that curse you carry, the one that makes you feel every death you cause...that's what's kept you human for three centuries. Sam doesn't have that. She's lost the thing that makes emotional connections matter. All she has left is tactical assessment and mission focus."
"Can we restore it?" I ask desperately. "Marcus, after tonight, if we survive...can we reduce Sam's corruption? Bring her back from ninety percent to something more human?"
"I don't know." Marcus pulls into the parking garage beneath Pedro's building. "But if anyone can figure out how to reverse Nephilim corruption, it's the same team that's been fighting impossible odds all week. First we survive tonight. Then we research restoration methods."
We take the elevator to Pedro's penthouse...top floor, obscene wealth on display through floor-to-ceiling windows. The doors open to reveal Pedro standing in his living room, Lucinda bound to a chair with magical restraints that glow with demonic energy.
"Kieran Braut. Marcus Rivera." Pedro doesn't look surprised by our arrival. "I was expecting Sam. Where's the bridge?"
"Preparing defensive positions at Pike Place Market." I keep my hand on my knife. "Pedro, release Lucinda. Whatever game you're playing, it ends now."
"Game?" Pedro laughs bitterly. "Kieran, this isn't a game. This is justice. Lucinda Drewsbury has been lying to everyone for thirty years. Time someone made her confess the truth."
"What truth?" Marcus moves to flank Pedro's position. "What could Lucinda possibly confess that's worth kidnapping her two hours before apocalypse?"
"The truth about the artifact." Lucinda's voice is rough, like she's been screaming. "Pedro, please. Don't make me..."
"Tell them!" Pedro's voice rises. "Lucinda, tell them what you told me! Tell them what you've been hiding about that artifact!"