The screen recognized my face.
Then my thumb.
A single command sat in the center.
ICARUS.
I pressed it.
The phone vibrated once.
My breathing became perfectly steady.
“Execute Protocol Icarus.”
Harrison’s laugh died.
His phone started buzzing on the bed.
Once.
Then again.
Then repeatedly.
Chloe’s phone buzzed inside the pocket of my robe.
She flinched like it had burned her.
Harrison picked up his phone.
His smug expression disappeared line by line.
“What did you just do?”
I did not answer.
Not yet.
Because then my phone rang.
Unknown caller.
Encrypted routing.
No name.
No number.
I answered without speaking.
A woman’s voice came through, low and urgent.