I used Madame’s connections—now completely under my control following Elara's betrayal and the Syndicate's internal purge—to gain access to Valerian's restricted underground sector. Grandmother handed me the key, her eyes brimming with tears, without uttering a single word.
"I want you to stay in Lianna's room, Madame," I told her before we went down. "If anyone tries to get in, call the new security team who are loyal to me."
"I will protect her, Cassian. I won't let you down again."
Lianna and I descended through a narrow corridor hidden behind a row of bookshelves in the old library. The air below was cold and dusty, as if we had stepped back twenty years in time.
"Here it is, Cassian. This thick steel door isn't on any blueprints I've ever seen," Lianna said, touching the cold meta
