Anger snapped through me, making my skin tight and hot over my muscles. I didn’t believe for a single second that Lacey had killed Dreyfuss in self-defense. She had been too eager about going, which told me only one thing: Lacey had gotten revenge for Ambrose’s death.

I’d be happy for her, if it weren’t so shortsighted. It was going to look mighty damned convenient to Sage and Scipio that he was killed when every other legacy we had grabbed so far had been taken alive. Not to mention the fact that his place in the entire conspiracy made him an essential live target, as he might be the only one who knew where the kidnapped women were being kept.

Thanks for the update, Quess, I thought before disconnecting the line. Cornelius, contact Lacey right now.

One moment, Champion.

I used the pause to move away from the others, not wanting my Knights to see anything of the exchange.

It was an accident, her voice buzzed in my ear. My jaw tightened at the irritated quality of her voice.

An accident? I transmitted, knowing my incredulity would come through loud and clear on her end. I thought it was self-defense. If you’re going to feed me a story, Lacey, then you should make sure it is a consistent one.

Look, I don’t really have time for this, and neither do you. You can go ahead and feel free to perform an autopsy and investigate the scene later if you don’t believe me.

Oh, I will, I promised her, my fury making me go ice cold. And if I find out you murdered him, I will drag your ass before Scipio myself.

You try that, and Strum will release the evidence of you tampering with—

That argument won’t hold weight when you hand over Tony, I interrupted her, folding my arms over my chest. Because I assume that’s how you were able to alter Scipio’s memories. Tony’s creative, right? Can manage any directive you give him, and help you cover your tracks by having Scipio sanction your operations and moves?

That was war, Lacey seethed. I did what I had to do to survive, and—

You’re just as guilty as these legacies of influencing Scipio, I said coldly. Which is why I expect you to bring Tony to the meeting today and surrender him. I’m still going to do my investigation, and if I find out you murdered Dreyfuss, I will come after you with everything I can. Not because you killed the rat bastard, but because you put our entire plan—the plan the three of us agreed to—at risk to get your revenge. If Sage and Scipio refuse to accept our story without him, it’s on your head.

I ended the transmission before she could reply, knowing that she would just continue to defend herself and her actions. And in a way, I could understand. After all, a fragment of my anger was coming from resentment about not getting to confront Dreyfuss myself. I wanted my moment alone with him. I wanted to demand satisfaction. But the bulk of it was that she had put our ability to find those women at risk. There was every chance he hadn’t shared their location with any of the other legacies, and now they were likely trapped, alone, and starving—possibly in various stages of pregnancy.

I was sickened to think of what would happen if any of the others didn’t know where they were. I doubted Sadie would tell us, even if she knew. If anything, she might hold it back out of spite.

But there was nothing I could do about it now. Dreyfuss was dead, and I had a council meeting in just under an hour. I could figure out a way to locate the women later; start by questioning the prisoners, and work from there. For any of this to work, I had to make it to the council meeting—and I was already at risk of being late, considering I needed to shower and change.

But then again, today was the one day that I could afford to be a little late. Especially when I had such a good excuse.

* * *

I tried not to gulp as the familiar white dome of the Council Room loomed closer. I was already five minutes late, and I could feel the pressure accumulating. Still, I somehow managed to keep my entire demeanor cool and confident, if not for me, then for the contingent of Knights that was sweeping down the path behind me, Dylan bringing up the rear.

To ensure that every member of the council would come in person, I had sent a request for a security briefing last night, notifying the council that the issues I had to discuss needed to be delivered in a private, closed-off session. Cornelius and Jasper had both assured me of the protocol, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the council would actually show up. They hadn’t last time. But then again, this was my first time exercising that little bit of authority. Maybe they’d show up just because they were curious.

No, scratch that. I was worried about what would happen if I arrived, and Sadie and Plancett were missing. If they had somehow been tipped off about all the arrests going down, they would be making their escape even now—going to some unknown fallback position to regroup and plan their next move. If that happened, not only would I be unable to arrest them, I would also be facing an attack from any forces Lacey still had in play.

The only source of comfort I had was the sound of Quess updating me with every legacy spy arrested in one of the three other departments, my group still going even now, when the council was supposed to begin. So far, they had grabbed eighteen of the twenty-one people remaining. The final three groups were just checking in now, as it had taken Lacey’s and Strum’s people more time to relay the messages.

Teams 13 and 31 have checked in, Quess reported. Just waiting on 28. How are you doing?

“I’m almost there,” I said out loud, my head aching slightly from all the activity on the net. “Dylan and her team of Knights will be standing at the ready outside, to make the arrests, and I’ll notify you when I want you to send them in.”

How are Jasper and Rose doing? he asked, and I glanced over my shoulder at Dylan, who was carrying two modified hard drives and their external batteries. It would keep the AIs alive for twenty-four hours, thanks to Quess’s ingenuity. However, I doubted we would need them that long. I studied the boxes closely and watched for the blinking lights that told me they were receiving a steady power supply.

They seem fine.

And Dylan has no idea what she’s holding?

I smiled. We hadn’t told anyone about the AI fragments, but in order to explain why we needed the hard drives, we had convinced her that all of Sadie’s files were on them both. She had bought it hook, line, and sinker. Not a clue.

Although, I was starting to feel a little bad about leaving her in the dark so much. She had certainly proved herself through and through. Still, I wasn’t going to say anything to anyone until I was certain that Sadie and Plancett were in the Council Room, and that we had secured every legacy.

Just got the final report in. We got ‘em all, Liana, including Dr. Smiley, the guy in IT. Dinah helped us cover our tracks in and out, so I don’t think Sadie has any idea that we got them. You should be good to go for your dramatic reveal.

I smiled at his joke but felt a grim sense of satisfaction as we crossed the final manmade stream via a wooden bridge, our footsteps making heavy clomping noises as we walked across. Dr. Smiley, their plastic surgeon, had been the man accompanying Baldy in the Medica the day we killed Devon—Plain-Face, I had called him. I hadn’t suspected him of being their surgeon, but then again, I had only ever seen him once. That’s it, then. And it all comes down to this. Wish me luck.

Good luck, he replied.

I moved around one of the fountains, barely glancing at the insignias from the departments engraved on each column, and headed for the massive door. I paused just in front of it and glanced toward Dylan. “Be ready for my call,” I told her.

She nodded. “We’ll be here.”

I turned away and slipped through the door, now seven minutes late. I walked around the middle table and to the door, pushing it in and entering the circular chamber.

My eyes immediately darted over to Sadie’s position, and I saw, to my imminent relief, that she was sitting there, a displeased scowl on her face. They all were; Lacey and Strum had even beaten me here, and Scipio’s holographic projection was represented as sitting, one cheek resting on his fist in abject boredom.

“I apologize for my tardiness,” I said, coming to a stop in front of them and offering a respectful nod of my head that was only directed to about half of the group in attendance. “I assure you, it has everything to do with my security briefing, but I believe that is last on the agenda.”

“Indeed,” Scipio said, leaning forward slightly. “Please take your seat.”

I hurried to the door just under the carving of my department, opened it, and climbed up the tight stairwell to the seating area above. Dropping into my chair, I tapped the screen on the terminal, and then gave Scipio a pleasant smile. “Ready when you are.”

There were thirteen items on the list, and since my request was the last one in, we wound up going through the other twelve first, most of which were departmental jurisdiction issues. There were only two that I cared about, but just like in the previous session, Sadie requested an extension on the vote to dissolve the expulsion chambers. I voted yes, only this time, there was a savage pleasure in doing it. Sadie’s insistence on delaying the vote only meant those chambers would still be in use when she was arrested. If the trial went quickly, Sadie would be executed for her crimes in one of them.

And it would be all her fault.

The second to last issue was Sadie’s report on the malfunctioning assistants. Lacey had triggered her quarters to reset the night before last—when I had given her the virus—and Sadie was reporting her findings to the council. With any luck, it would be the last report she gave.

“It’s my opinion that the glitch in the assistants is due to a software update that proved to be faulty. We have corrected the problem with Scipio’s assistance, and will be sending a new update to the council server within a few hours.”

I sat up a little straighter as I realized my security briefing was next and tried to prepare myself mentally.

“Will the update damage or change our assistants in any way?” Sage asked.

“No,” Sadie replied with a soft shake of her head. “The patch will just keep the program from ever reading that their council member has died before they actually have. That’s all.”

“We thank you for your thoroughness,” Scipio intoned formally. “I trust this issue is now resolved?”

“Yes,” she said. “I yield the floor to the next item of business.”

“Which is Champion Castell’s security briefing,” Scipio said, turning his glowing blue gaze toward me.

I smiled and stood up from my chair, surreptitiously wiping my suddenly sweaty palms on the sides of my hips. “Thank you, Lord Scipio,” I said, while simultaneously transmitting, Enter the room in five seconds, to Dylan. “Let me begin by ordering the arrests of CEO Sadie Monroe and Head Farmer Emmanuel Plancett.”