Lira stepped forward, aware of the media drones hovering closer, capturing her every movement.

“Citizens of New Found Haven,” she began, her voice carrying through the live feed at her back, “we gather today to witness the union of two worlds. The Heart and the Boundary, joined in sacred Vow.” The words tasted like ash on her tongue, but she spoke them clearly, playing her part one final time. “The ceremony has now begun.”

The drones shifted, focusing now on her father as he moved to stand behind the altar. Maximus raised his hands, a gesture that silenced even the whispers that had begun to stir in the crowd.

“The Heart endures,” he intoned, and paused as thousands of voices echoed the words back to him. “This is a day of great celebration, a promise of a brighter future for our great city. Unity between rings. A symbol that will forge bonds.” His voice rolled across the plaza, practiced and powerful. “Greyson, Shadera, you may face each other now and join hands across the altar.”

They turned toward each other slowly, lifting their hands until they met across the altar. Lira could barely breathe, could barely hear anything over the sound of her own pulse as she watched their fingers wrap around each other’s. Even from where she stood, Lira could see the tension in their bodies, the forced nature of the gesture.

Maximus continued the ritual, his voice rising and falling in the familiar cadence of the Vow ceremony. Words about duty, about honor, about the sacred traditions of the Heart.

It was static. All of it was static.

What the fuck is she planning?

Callum’s mind raced through possibilities, each more terrifying than the last. Her voice had been calm—too calm. The voice of someone who’d already accepted the consequences of their actions. Who’d made peace with them.

He leaned closer to the screens, scanning every angle of the plaza. Security patterns normal. Veyra positions unchanged. Nothing visibly amiss.

Callum’s fingers flew over his keyboard, checking the status of Jameson’s teams. Still in position. No movement. Jaeger’s assassins remained hidden among the crowd, and perched on rooftops waiting for his signal.

He could hear Maximus’s voice through the feeds echoing through every channel. Callum forced himself to focus, to think like the strategist he was rather than the man terrified for the woman he loved.

He reached for his security override panel, the digital interface that controlled his backdoors into the Heart’s surveillance systems. His password flashed red. Access denied.

That isn’t possible.

He tried again. The same error message pulsed on the screen, mocking him.

“No, no, no,” he muttered, fingers flying over the keys as he tried a different approach. Another rejection. A third.

Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. Someone had changed the security protocols. Someone had located him in the system and locked him out.

Callum grabbed his tablet, punching in Farrow’s emergency code with trembling fingers. She answered immediately.

“I’m a little busy—”

“Cut the power grids,” he interrupted, the words rushing out. “Now. Right now.”

“That wasn't the plan—”

“Fuck the plan,” he snapped, his voice rising. “Something’s wrong. Cut the power to the checkpoints now.”

“I’m trying,” Farrow said, her voice tight with concentration. “The access isn’t working.”

“What do you mean it isn’t working?” Panic clawed up his throat. “Use the bypass codes.”

“I am,” she insisted. “They’re not going through. The system is rejecting them.”

Callum’s heart slammed against his ribs. “Try again.”

“Nothing. It’s like someone changed everything. Like someone knew exactly what we were planning.”

His stomach bottomed out.

If Farrow couldn’t cut the power to the internal checkpoints, Jameson’s teams couldn’t move beyond the Entertainment District. They would be trapped there.

He would be trapped there.

“Lira called you,” Callum said frantically. “What did she want?”

“What?” Farrow said, confusion fusing with her panic.

“What fucking plan did she make with you?” His words were a snarl now.

“Tonight. At the final ceremony, she was going to release documents to the public of her father’s corruption. She asked me to help her make copies without the Heart knowing.”

That couldn’t be what she meant. That was too simple, that was too easy. “What else?”

“Nothing, Callum. What is going on?” There was a breath’s pause. “Oh God. Did she—”

“No.” He refused to believe it. She wouldn’t betray them. She wouldn’t lock them out of the system. She wanted this as much as any of them.

“Shoot it,” Callum said. “Fry the whole fucking power grid if you have to, just get those checkpoints offline.”

Lira was sure she’d faint from breathing so hard. Each shallow breath barely sustained her as she stood rigid beside her mother, watching the ceremony unfold with the inevitability of an execution.

Maximus turned to Shadera, the tilt of his golden mask conveying benevolent authority as he asked the question that had sealed the fate of countless women before her.

“Do you, Shadera Kael, accept this Vow? Do you vow to uphold the honor of bowing to your husband, of bowing to the Heart and the laws of New Found Haven?”

Lira watched Shadera’s chest rise with a deep breath, watched her straighten despite the pain that must have lanced through her body.

“Yes.” The word carried across the plaza, broadcast through speakers that would send it to every corner of the city. A single syllable, devoid of emotion.

Lira’s fingernails bit into her palms.

Her father turned to Greyson now, his posture shifting subtly—from benevolent ruler to stern patriarch. “Do you, Greyson Serel, accept this Vow? Do you vow to uphold your duty as the head of the family, the educator of the family, and to bow to the Heart and the laws of New Found Haven?”

Greyson’s “Yes” was firmer than Shadera’s, almost challenging in its clarity. Even through his mask, Lira could feel the rage radiating from her brother, the violence that simmered beneath his exterior.

“By the sacred laws of the Heart,” Maximus declared, raising his hands in a gesture that would be captured by every camera, broadcast on every screen, “your vows have been recorded into history.” His voice swelled with practiced emotion. “You may now witness each other’s faces as husband and wife.”

At his command, the veil descended, the golden cylinder lowering smoothly around Greyson and Shadera. It would give them their minute of privacy—the only moment in the ceremony not broadcast to the watching city.

Lira focused on her breathing, forcing each inhale and exhale to steady and slow. She’d planned this moment methodically. Had moved pieces on the board with a patience that would’ve made her father proud, had he known. Had created contingencies and fail-safes, backups for backups.

But still, doubt crept in. Doubt and fear and the terrible weight of consequence.

It all rested on Greyson and Shadera now.

The minute passed in silence, the crowd waiting with collective breath held. Her father stepped forward again, his posture radiating satisfaction and control.

“The veil will now rise on the newlywed couple,” he announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the plaza. The golden cylinder began to ascend, inch by slow inch, revealing first Greyson and Shadera’s joined hands, then their formal attire. “Citizens of the Heart, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Greyson Serel.”

The Heart remained utterly silent.

No applause. No murmurs of approval.

No reaction at all save for a collective inhale that seemed to suck the very air from the plaza.