“Without it, we’d end up like the Butchers. And you know how fast my uncle ended them.” As he speaks, his finger drifts toward his wristlink. A single, precise tap will trigger Coda’s emergency protocol.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Viper nods to the middle screen above the terminal.
Kane stills.
The display flickers on as an enforcer waves over the controls.
A video plays of Rafael eating food at a stall in the marketplace in real time. Kane can barely breathe. The angle shifts to his escort, a woman he vaguely remembers approving after Viper vouched for them. In their hand is a glock, trained at Rafael’s spine, where he can’t see.
Blood rushes to Kane’s ears.
A coup was one thing. Using Rafael…
“Don’t you dare,” he hisses.
“Or what?” Viper cocks his gun. Kane’s heart thunders.
“But I won’t hurt him. Rafael’s been nothing but nice to me. As long asyouplay bymyrules.”
Hearing his name in Viper’s mouth makes Kane’s fingers twitch.
Yet the crew is watching. And Rafael’s life is in their hands.
“Fine. What do you want? My surrender?”
“No.” Viper shakes his head. “We want you—and everyone not in this room—out of this district.” His hand sweeps out in front of him. “This territory. This site. The people. It all belongs to us. To Athena. To the Natural Order.”
Every instinct in Kane screams to fight. But the projection still shows Rafael laughing with the traitor escort, unaware of the gun inches from his spine.
For the first time in this war with Athena, Kane has no move left.
“This changes nothing,” he grits out. “You and Natural Order—Athena—you’ll never take Shreveport.”
Viper’s chin lifts. “We’re already halfway there. Stop stalling and make the order.”
“I need a window to arrange our exit. Twenty-four hours,” Kane barters.
“No. You’ll do it now.”
Something small and dense sails toward him. Kane snatches the object out of the air and peers down. He recognizes the casing immediately. Tracker tech. The same kind they’ve used on recon teams and synth drops.
“And put that on first,” Viper orders. “I want to know youwon’t run.”
Kane grunts and clips the tracker onto his wristlink. The device chirps once, syncing with the terminal in the room.
“Call your crew. Tell them to evacuate the district. Every last one of them. And don’t bother with any codes or clever tricks. We’ll be listening and watching.”
Defiance isn’t an option here. Kane taps his visor to activate his commlink and connects to every member in District 4.
“This is Baron.” His tone stays level despite the fury burning in his chest. “All units to evacuate District Four immediately. This is not a drill. I repeat—full withdrawal. No exceptions. Further instructions will follow.”
The channel closes.
He turns to Viper. “Do you understand what you’re doing? It’s not just you and your enforcers who’ll end up under Athena’s thumb. The civilians will too. Did that ever cross your mind?”
“You have ten minutes,” Viper says. “One wrong move or any attempt to counter—” He nods at the holo display streaming Rafael.
A chill runs down Kane’s spine. “This isn’t over,” he warns, then turns and strides for the elevator.