Chapter 30 Let Him take Me
The breathing persisted even after I withdrew my hands from the table.
It trailed behind me through the connection, unwavering and leisurely, reminiscent of how my father would breathe when contemplating something far beyond his immediate surroundings. The sound enveloped my chest before my brain could grasp its significance.
Meanwhile, Rafael was at the interface, frantically tracing signal patterns, his fingers moving quicker than the alarm that was forming in his eyes could be concealed. Beside me, Vince remained entirely motionless, his stillness indicating he was weighing the extent of the situation’s deterioration while maintaining perfect control.
"The signal is collapsing," Rafael said, his voice taut with urgency. "Whatever channel he integrated into the root architecture is shutting down. It was meant to activate just once and then seal off."
Before I could fully process this, I slammed my hands back onto the table, reestablishing the connection with everything I had absorbed at the harbor, forcing the channel open wide enough to sustain it. This time, the breathing returned, louder and closer, intertwined with the edges of something longing to articulate itself.
Then, it transformed into words, spoken in my father’s voice, preserved within the network through a structure I was still struggling to comprehend. The message surged through the channel to my consciousness, heavy with the weight of something long-awaited.
You were never meant to maintain the system, Isabella. You were meant to dismantle it. The agreements were designed to expire. I inscribed that expiration into your very being long before you were born. Everything Marco thinks he understands about your purpose is a version of the truth I allowed him to believe.
At that moment, the map table illuminated every zone simultaneously, and two of the amber regions shifted past their limits into an uncharted realm. Rafael made a noise under his breath, something almost wordless.
He will guide you to the stronghold. Let him. The root access you require is only obtainable from the original compact chamber, the one buried beneath the stone, and Marco will lead you there, convinced he is using you to trigger the system’s collapse when, in reality, the control of that detonation has always been yours.
Vince's grip tightened around my wrist, steadying me, and I felt his pulse align with mine—steady, which was less about calm and more about discipline.
Trust the woman you became when no one was watching. Your blood holds the correction. Not the crown.
Then, the channel closed.
The breathing ceased.
The map table dimmed for three full seconds before the system rebooted, returning online with all territorial lines adjusted two degrees closer to the compound's perimeter.
Rafael turned slowly from the interface, his expression revealing he had already calculated scenarios that offered no comfort.
"He’s already inside the outer ring," Rafael stated, and before we could react, the compound trembled, a deep rumble rolling through the walls from the eastern side, shortly followed by a compound-wide alarm that sounded distinct from the one at the harbor—deeper and more ominous.
Vince let go of my wrist and pivoted toward the door, speaking with authority as he did so. Before the door fully opened, I heard enforcers responding from multiple directions.
The war room emptied rapidly, strategists hurrying to their stations while Rafael approached the secondary interface. In the brief span of twelve seconds as the room restructured around the threat, I stood by the map table, grasping the full implication of my father’s message.
Marco was not coming to force me against my will.
He was coming to take me precisely where I needed to be, under the illusion that the plan was his.
The alarm from the eastern wall shifted to a higher pitch, and Rafael glanced up from the interface, his jaw tense.
"They’ve breached the secondary gate," he informed us. "Six wolves, coordinating their entry. They’re not heading for the war room; they’re going toward the upper corridors."
Toward my suite, I realized, the very room I had occupied since the harbor, a location any individual with access to the compound’s blueprints would know.
Vince reentered the room swiftly, halting as he noticed my expression.
"You’re aware of something," he said, his tone revealing impatience.
"My father embedded the detonation in my blood," I replied, keeping my explanation straightforward and direct as I watched his understanding unfold. "Marco has been operating under misleading information for years. He thinks I hold the key to triggering the collapse. He doesn’t realize I control the direction of it."
Vince’s gaze locked onto mine, and a weightier understanding hung in the air than anything we had exchanged back at the harbor.
"Then allowing him to take you," Vince said slowly, "is the strategy."
"The root access I need is within the original compact chamber," I clarified. "Marco will bring me there, convinced it’s where my blood becomes his weapon."
Rafael absorbed our exchange, his eyes shifting between us as he processed the implications.
"If we defend and hold the compound," Rafael suggested, "we safeguard the territory but lose the chamber. If we let the breach reach her—" He paused, exhaling, weighing the stakes. "You’d be alone inside a stronghold with a man determined to use your blood to bring down the entire system."
"He can’t dismantle it without my cooperation," I countered. "My father ensured that, and Marco has been basing his entire strategy on the mistaken belief that he can force that cooperation."
The alarm from the upper corridor joined the frequency from the eastern wall, and the sound of footsteps on stone echoed into the war room from above.
Vince regarded me with an expression that revealed the tension between his instincts and his certainty.
"If anything goes awry in that chamber," he warned, quieter now and stripped of authority, "there isn’t an extraction team quick enough."
"I understand," I replied.
The war room door buckled once from the other side, held firm, then buckled again. Rafael instinctively moved toward the secondary exit, and Vince positioned himself protectively between me and the door.
The door flew open.
Marco Romano entered with the calm assurance of a man who had never doubted his approach to this room. His coat carried the chill of outside, and his eyes locked onto mine with a recognition that signified ownership rather than warmth.
"Little wolf," he greeted.
Vince shifted, but Marco lifted a hand, commanding the six wolves behind him to advance in unison, as the room recalibrated itself to accommodate the new reality.
Marco’s gaze remained fixed on me.
"You heard it, didn’t you?" he stated, not seeking confirmation. "Whatever your father concealed in the network. You heard it."
"Yes," I confirmed.
A slow, confident smile spread across his face.
"Then you already comprehend that you must come with me," he declared.
In that moment, Vince’s eyes met mine for a lingering second, conveying everything he couldn’t articulate in front of Marco. I held his gaze long enough to silently answer the question he asked without words.
Then I stepped forward.
This chapter sets the stage for our journey to the stronghold while exploring Isabella's internal struggle and revealing Marco's true beliefs, laying the groundwork for significant revelations ahead.