The bidding for the Ares Key started at fifty million.
Silas watched the room, his hand under the table, holding Elara's hand. Not for the act, but because he needed to feel she was still there.
"The waiter," Silas whispered. "He's been circling us for ten minutes. On my signal, we move to the balcony."
"Wait," Elara said, her eyes fixed on the stage.
Tanaka held up a small, crystal vial. "And now, the main event. Project Chimera. The identities of the Ghost and the Viper."
The screen behind him flashed.
Silas froze. It wasn't just his file. It was a photo of him and Elara in Paris. In bed. Sleeping.
Someone had been watching them from the very beginning.
"One hundred million!" a voice called out from the back.
Silas turned. His heart stopped.
The man standing at the back of the room, raising his paddle, wasn't a stranger.
It was Leo. Elara's brother.
He wasn't the sick, dying boy they'd "saved" on the destroyer. He was dressed in a sharp suit, his eyes cold and calculating.
"Leo?" Elara gasped, her voice breaking.
"He's not your brother, Elara," Silas said, his hand tightening on his gun. "Look at his neck."
A small, blue light glowed under the skin of the boy's neck.
"A neural-link," Silas realized. "He's being remote-controlled. He's a human bomb."
Leo smiled at Elara—a horrific, robotic expression. "Hello, sister. Would you like to see how I end?"
He reached for his jacket.