Astra exhaled like she'd been holding her breath since the annex.
Kael's arm tightened once, instinct, then loosened.
"You just—" Kael started, voice raw.
"I know," Astra said. "I know what I did."
Vell smiled like a man who'd just been paid in blood and was satisfied.
"Good," he murmured. "Now I keep my end."
He snapped his fingers again.
The corridor behind them hummed. Chain-links in the wall shimmered, and the sound of boots—Hound boots—bent sideways, muffled, redirected.
Astra's interface flickered:
UNDERCHAIN LOCK: ACTIVE (LOCAL)EFFECT: PURSUIT DIVERTED (60s)NOTE: CONTRACT FULFILLED
Orin exhaled hard, hate and relief tangled. "One minute."
Juno's shoulders sagged. "Thank—"
Orin cut her off. "Don't thank him."
Vell laughed softly. "She can thank me if she wants. I like gratitude."
Kael's voice went low. "You're enjoying this."
Vell's eyes glittered. "Yes."
Astra's throat burned.
She turned away from Vell and looked at Kael—at the man whose mouth Dorian had tried to use, whose crest Rusk tried to pull, whose arm was still around her waist like a chosen anchor.
Heat flared low in her belly—intense, sharp, messy.
Astra stepped closer, inside his breath.
"Consent," she whispered, "to you letting go for one second so I can stand alone."
Kael's throat worked. He looked like the request hurt.
"Yes," he said, rough. "I consent."
His arm eased away—slow, deliberate—leaving Astra upright on her own feet.
The penance weight in her chest pressed, searching for posture. The collar pulsed, confused without Kael's proximity.
Astra forced her knees locked, chin up.
Kael watched her like he wanted to grab her again and wouldn't without permission.
Astra's lips parted—heat and pride and fear twisting into something sharp.
"Good," Astra murmured. "You can let go."
Kael's jaw clenched. "I didn't want to."
Astra stepped closer anyway, brushed her fingers along his forearm—human touch, not system touch.
"You don't have to want it," Astra whispered. "You just have to choose it."
Kael's breath shuddered.
"Consent," Kael asked, voice low, almost broken, "to me wanting you even now."
Astra's pulse kicked hard. She didn't soften. She didn't make it sweet.
"Yes," Astra whispered. "Wanting is allowed. Taking isn't."
Kael's eyes darkened, and the tension between them snapped tight—one breath away from a kiss, one breath away from losing strategy.
Lyra watched from the wall, eyes glittering with something that looked like jealousy and something that looked like calculation. She masked it with a smile.
"Touching," she murmured.
Astra's gaze cut to her. "Not for you."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "Everything is for someone."
Astra's throat burned. "Not my choices."
Vell clapped once, slow, amused. "I enjoy watching people pretend they aren't owned by their appetites."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Stop talking."
Vell's eyes flicked to Kael. "Or what, Guardian."
Kael shifted—protective, dangerous—then caught himself, breathing hard, refusing to be baited.
Astra saw it and felt heat flare again—because his restraint was starting to feel like devotion, and devotion was the most dangerous currency of all.
Orin hissed, "We move. One minute is nothing."
Vell pointed down a side corridor. "Exit's there. Back to Lantern surface. Your mask will hold now that debt is cleared—briefly."
Astra's interface confirmed:
MASK: STABLE (TEMP)NOTE: ADMIN SOURCE REGISTERED — RISK OF TARGETED HUNT
Targeted hunt.
Astra swallowed blood. "So now they hunt me by name."
Vell smiled. "They already did. Now you're just… officially interesting."
Lyra pushed off the wall. "Come on," she said softly. "Before Dorian decides to buy the Underchain."
Orin shot her a look. "He can."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "I know."
They ran.
Through the side corridor Vell indicated, up a sloping throat that smelled less like drains and more like human life. A hatch ahead trembled with street noise above—Lantern District, breathing, pretending.
Behind them, the Underchain lock held.
For now.
Kael moved close again, not touching Astra until he asked.
"Consent," he rasped, breathless, "to holding while we climb."
Astra's pulse kicked. "Yes."
Kael's arm returned to her waist—warm, steady—and the collar eased like it hated itself for wanting the anchor.
They climbed.
The hatch opened into a narrow alley behind a lantern shop. Rain misted the air. Red silk banners flapped softly. Perfume and smoke and wet stone—Lantern's sweet rot.
Orin checked the alley mouth, then waved them out.
Juno exhaled like she'd been holding her breath for hours.
Lyra glanced back once, eyes glittering into the dark where Vell had been.
"Thanks, Vell," she called, too cheerful.
Vell's voice drifted up from below, amused. "Anytime. You're welcome, Astra."
Astra didn't answer.
She didn't want to give him her voice.
They moved deeper into Lantern—backstreets, side doors, shadows. The mask dulled House scent, but it couldn't dull Kael's signal. And now Astra had something worse than debt:
A registered Admin source tag.
A name written in the Underchain ledger.
Astra's interface flickered once—quiet, lethal—like it wanted to remind her who had the receipt.
UNDERCHAIN LEDGER ENTRY: ASTRA VEY — LOCAL ADMIN SOURCENOTE: COLLECTOR ACCESS POSSIBLE
Kael felt the shift in her breathing. "Astra."
Astra swallowed. "He can find me now."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Then we cut it later."
Astra's throat burned. "Later keeps getting farther."
Kael's arm tightened at her waist, grounding. "Consent," he asked softly, urgent, "to me staying with you no matter what they call me."
Heat flared low in Astra's belly—sharp, fierce, terrifying.
"Yes," Astra whispered. "Stay. But keep asking."
Kael's breath shuddered. "Always."
They turned a corner—
—and the alley ahead was blocked by three clean-coated figures in black.
Imperial Hounds.
No Rusk in sight, but his presence rode their posture like a shadow.
The lead Hound lifted his chin, calm as paperwork.
"Guardian Raithe," he said evenly, "command requests you present the subject."
Astra's collar pulsed, eager. The Guardian link tugged.
Kael's spine tried to straighten.
Astra stepped into Kael's space and pressed her mouth close to his jaw, breath hot in the rain.
"Black water," she whispered.
Kael's breath shook. "Black water."
The lead Hound's eyes flicked to Astra's throat wrap, then to Kael's waist hold.
"Denial will escalate," the Hound said calmly.
Astra's interface flickered—cold, brutal:
COMMAND REQUEST: PRESENT SUBJECTNOTE: UNDERCHAIN ADMIN SOURCE REGISTERED — TARGET PRIORITY INCREASEDWARNING: SAFE RESOLUTION (ARBITER) PROBABILITY RISING
Astra tasted blood and understood the new shape of the trap:
She'd cleared the Underchain debt—
and in doing so, she'd painted a brighter target on her own name.
Kael's hand tightened at Astra's waist.
"Consent?" he rasped, urgent. "To running again."
Astra swallowed hard.
"Yes," she said—
—and from above, a voice that wasn't Rusk and wasn't House drifted down from a lantern roofline, smooth as silk and far too pleased.
"Run if you like," the voice said. "Your name is in the ledger now."
Astra looked up.
Vell stood on the roof edge like a shadow wearing a smile, lanternlight catching his eyes.
Then he tipped his head slightly, as if offering a toast, and spoke the one line that made Astra's blood turn to ice:
"Next time," Vell called softly, "the Underchain will collect in permissions, not pain."