Chapter five
1073 Words
Octavia’s POV
I looked into her blue eyes. They were full of a deep, burning hate. I realized then that Lyra wasn’t just an assistant. She was a woman who had lost her place in Cassian’s world, and she was looking for someone to blame.
"I feel like a prisoner, Lyra," I said. My voice was calm and flat. "That is the only thing I feel in this house."
Lyra’s lip curled into a sneer. She didn't believe me. She reached out and brushed a stray hair away from my face. Her touch was not kind. It felt like a threat.
"You are a good liar, Octavia. I’ll give you that," she whispered. "But Cassian doesn't want your heart. He wants your hands. He wants you to fix the things he broke. Once the Ghost gets what he wants, he discards the rest. Just look at me."
She stepped back, her heels clicking sharply on the marble floor. "He told you, you are interesting, didn't he? That’s the lie he uses to keep you in the cage. But you should ask yourself… if Cassian is so finds you interested, why was he caging you like a dog?"
She didn't wait for me to answer. She turned around and walked toward the door. "Think about that while you’re sitting in the dark, technician."
The door hissed open, and she stepped out. I heard her say something to Ronan in a low voice, and then the lock clicked with a heavy, final sound.
I was alone.
I didn't waste a second. I didn't care about Lyra’s warnings or her jealousy. I had a mission.
I waited until I heard the footsteps in the hallway fade away. Then, I dropped to my knees and crawled under the large marble bed. I reached into the dark space and pulled out the pieces of the digital clock I had hidden earlier.
My heart was beating fast, but my fingers were steady. This was what I was good at. I didn't understand people like Lyra or Cassian, but I understood circuits. I understood how electricity moved.
"Okay, Octavia," I whispered to myself. "Focus."
I sat on the floor with the parts spread out in front of me. I had a small circuit board, a few copper wires, and the battery from the bedside lamp. I needed to build a bridge. I needed a way to talk to the building’s brain without using the door scanners.
The Cloud Fortress was smart, but every smart building has a weakness. They all use a shared power line for the lights and the security sensors. If I could tap into the light fixture in the ceiling, I could send a signal back into the main server.
I looked at the ceiling. There was a long, thin strip of LED light running along the edge of the wall.
I stood up on the bed, reaching as high as I could. I used the metal hairclip to pry the plastic cover off the light. I saw the wires… red, blue, and black.
"Bingo," I murmured.
I spent the next hour working. I stripped the wires and twisted them together with the parts from the clock. I was building a "sniffer", a device that would allow my phone to see the data moving through the building’s walls.
My hands were sweating. If the system detected a foreign device, an alarm would go off, and Ronan would burst through the door with his gun out. I had to be perfect.
Finally, I connected the last wire to my phone.
The screen flickered. A wall of green text started scrolling down. It moved so fast I could barely read it.
Accessing Sub-Level 1...
Accessing Sub-Level 2...
Accessing Security Feed...
"I'm in," I breathed.
I sat back on the bed, my eyes glued to the screen. I started searching for the name "Draven." I expected to find a prison file or a photo of Harry in a cell.
Instead, I found something much more confusing.
I found a file labeled "Project Icarus." I clicked on it.
The file was full of blueprints for a high-tech engine… something that looked like it belonged on a spaceship or a top-secret drone. And at the bottom of every page was a signature.
Harry Draven. Lead Engineer.
My hands started to shake. Harry wasn't a prisoner. He was an employee. Or at least, he had been.
I scrolled further down. I found a video file dated six months ago. I hit play.
The video was grainy. It showed a lab filled with white light. My brother was there. He looked older, and his hair was longer, but it was him. He was talking to someone off-camera.
"It’s too dangerous, Cassian," Harry said in the video. His voice sounded tired. "If we finish this, anyone with the code can shut down the city’s power grid from a laptop. It’s a weapon, not a tool."
Then I heard Cassian’s voice. It was cold, just like it was in the garage.
"The world is a weapon, Harry. You just have to decide whose hand is on the trigger. Finish the code, or your sister pays for your conscience."
The video cut to black.
I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Cassian hadn't captured me by accident. He had been using me as a threat against Harry for years. And now that Harry was gone, he was using Harry’s name to keep me trapped.
They were playing a game with my life, and I was the only one who didn't know the rules.
Suddenly, my phone vibrated. A red alert flashed on the screen.
WARNING: Unauthorized Access Detected. Security Protocol 9 Active.
"No," I gasped. "No, no, no!"
I scrambled to pull the wires out of the ceiling, but it was too late. The lights in my room turned from soft white to a bright, angry red. A siren started to scream from the walls.
The door hissed open.
It wasn't Ronan. It wasn't Lyra.
It was Cassian.
He stood in the doorway, his chest heaving as if he had been running. He saw me standing on the bed, holding the stripped wires and the broken clock.
His face was a mask of pure rage, but beneath the rage, I saw something else. For the first time, the Ghost looked afraid.
"Octavia, get down from there," he commanded. His voice was a low growl.
- Writer
