Still too high.
And then—twist, sharp as a blade—another line appeared beneath the Guardian status.
Astra's stomach dropped as she read it.
GUARDIAN LINK: BIDIRECTIONALNOTE: PRIMARY HOLDER MAY ISSUE "RETURN" TO SUBJECT (CONSENT PREFERRED)
Return.
Not "return to safe house."
Return to Guardian.
Astra swallowed hard.
Kael noticed the change in her face immediately. "What."
Astra didn't want to say it. Saying it would make it real in the air between them.
But silence was how traps closed.
"It's giving you a 'Return' function," Astra said. "To me."
Kael went very still. His hand tightened at her waist, then loosened instantly as he caught himself—horrified by his own reflex.
"I didn't ask for that," Kael rasped.
"I know," Astra said.
Orin muttered, "The system loves leashes."
Juno's disk hummed, angry.
Kael's voice went raw. "Astra—tell me what you want."
Heat flared in Astra's belly again, sharp as a knife. Because the question was intimate in a way the system couldn't counterfeit: he was offering his power back to her as a choice.
Astra forced her voice steady.
"I want you to never use 'Return' without asking," Astra whispered.
Kael's jaw clenched. "Always."
Astra's throat burned. "And if command forces you."
Kael's eyes went lethal. "Then I refuse."
Astra swallowed. "Refusal will hurt."
Kael's voice was rough. "Let it."
Astra hated the martyr edge in that.
She grabbed his forearm hard, stopping him in the dark. Not throat. Not crest. Human grip.
"No," Astra snapped. "You stay alive."
Kael's breath hitched. "Astra—"
Astra leaned in close, almost a kiss, and made it a vow with teeth.
"Consent," Astra whispered, "to staying alive with me."
Kael stared at her, rain memory in his lashes, rage and want burning together.
"Yes," he rasped. "I consent."
The words hit Astra like heat and grief braided tight.
Then Orin hissed, "Shut up—listen!"
They froze.
Footsteps.
Not behind.
Ahead.
Soft, careful, not Hound boots.
A figure stepped out of a side tunnel into their path, hands raised, hood dripping with damp.
Astra's pulse spiked.
The figure lowered the hood.
Lyra Sable's eyes glittered in the dark like knives that had learned to smile.
Her hair was damp. Her throat was bare. No visible bindings. No Hounds at her back.
But she looked… too composed.
Too clean for someone who'd been grabbed.
Lyra smiled at Astra like they were meeting in a ballroom, not a sewer.
"You're welcome," Lyra said softly. "Your House hook is gone."
Astra's blood went ice. "How did you—"
Lyra's gaze flicked to Kael's wrist, then to Astra's throat wrap, and her smile sharpened.
"The Church cut it," Lyra said. "But the Church also stamped you with a mark. That's a new scent."
Orin snarled. "Where were you."
Lyra's eyes flicked to Orin like he was furniture. "Busy not dying."
Juno stepped forward, furious and relieved. "Did they hurt you."
Lyra's smile softened for a heartbeat. "Not in ways that matter."
Astra didn't buy softness in Lyra. Not for free.
"Why are you here," Astra asked coldly.
Lyra's eyes glittered. "Because you're about to lose Kael."
Kael went still. "What."
Lyra tilted her head, listening to something that wasn't audible. "Your Guardian deadlock is attracting an arbiter ping," she said. "And command found a cleaner way to end deadlocks than cages."
Astra's stomach dropped. "Which is."
Lyra smiled.
"They separate the holder from the subject," Lyra said softly. "They'll take Kael alive. And the system will re-resolve you to House by default."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Let them try."
Lyra's smile widened. "They already are."
A faint clean hum rose behind them—military signal cutting through muffler haze like a needle finding skin.
Astra's interface flashed.
ARBITER PROTOCOL: INITIATINGSTEP 1: SEPARATE PRIMARY HOLDERTARGET: KAEL RAITHE
Astra's blood went ice.
Kael's hand at her waist tightened—grounding, furious.
"Consent?" Kael rasped, immediate.
Astra's throat burned. "Yes—hold."
Lyra watched them like she was tasting their bond.
Then she spoke, quiet and sharp.
"I can get you out," Lyra said. "But you'll owe me. And not truth this time."
Astra's eyes narrowed. "What."
Lyra's smile turned dangerous. "A permission."
Astra's stomach twisted.
Arc 3. Underchain permissions. Of course Lyra would offer a door shaped like a trap.
Kael's voice went low, lethal. "No deals."
Lyra's gaze flicked to him, amused. "You're already a deal, Hound."
Astra's interface flashed again, brighter.
ARBITER STEP 1: EXECUTE — 00:00:10
Ten seconds.
Orin swore. Juno's disk screamed softly.
Kael's breath was harsh at Astra's ear. "Astra. Tell me."
Astra's mind raced, cold and sharp.
If Kael was taken, she lost her Guardian anchor and the system could snap to House. If she clung to Kael, arbiter would cage them both. If she accepted Lyra's "permission," she might buy escape—but at a cost that could haunt chapters later.
Astra looked at Lyra's glittering eyes.
Then at Kael's furious, honest face.
Then at the timer burning down.
And Astra realized the coldest truth in Eidolon:
You never escape without paying.
Astra inhaled, tasted damp stone and blood, and spoke with deliberate clarity.
"Lyra," Astra said, voice like steel, "state the permission."
Lyra's smile widened, delighted.
"I want temporary access to your PERMISSIONS module," Lyra said softly. "One command. Stored. Released when I choose."
Ghost Command.
Astra's stomach turned.
Kael's jaw clenched, rage flashing. "Astra—"
Astra cut him off with a look. "Consent," she whispered to him, urgent, "to trusting me."
Kael's breath shuddered.
"Yes," he rasped. "I consent."
The arbiter timer hit 00:00:05.
Astra's throat burned.
She looked at Lyra.
"Consent," Astra said coldly, "to one command only. It cannot harm Kael. It cannot surrender me. It cannot bind me to House or Church."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "Fine."
Astra didn't believe "fine." But she didn't have another door.
She opened PERMISSIONS and felt the system buzz with hungry interest.
Kael was primary holder.
Lyra was offering a hand on the interface.
Astra hated it.
She did it anyway.
And as she granted Lyra a narrow, conditional window—one command, constrained—the tunnel behind them filled with clean bootsteps that were too close now to be outrun.
Kael tightened his hold at Astra's waist, voice rough at her ear.
"Black water," he breathed.
Astra answered, fierce and shaking with rage—
"Black water."
Then the arbiter protocol executed its first move, and Kael's crest flared bright as a brand—
as a hand reached for him out of the dark.