The door swung open, and a woman stepped into the office with the grace of a stalking panther. She was dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, her silver hair pulled back into a knot so tight it looked painful. This was Elena Vance—no relation to Lian, but the woman who sat at the right hand of the Chronos board.
"Elena," Kai said, his voice dropping to a glacial temperature. He didn't move from his position, still shielding Lian with his frame. "I don't recall inviting you into my private sanctum."
Elena didn't flinch. Her eyes, sharp and calculating, flicked toward Lian. She didn't look at her like a person; she looked at her like a bug under a microscope. "I heard about Henderson. A sloppy mistake on his part. But I'm more interested in the 'miracle worker' who spotted his second phone."
Kai's grip on the desk tightened. *"Don't let her in, Lian,"* his voice roared in her mind. *"She's a Reader. Not like us—she doesn't have a bond—but she's trained to smell fear and secrets."*
Lian felt a cold sweat break out on her neck. She stepped out from behind Kai, refusing to be a shield. "I'm Lian Vance. The new Personal Assistant. I just have a knack for noticing when people are lying."
Elena smiled, a thin, bloodless line. "A knack? Or a connection?" She walked toward Lian, her heels clicking like a countdown. "Project Icarus is very sensitive, Ms. Vance. It requires... stability. Something that a 'Personal Assistant' might disrupt."
Suddenly, the monitors behind Kai's desk began to glitch. The violet heartbeat Lian had seen earlier turned into a jagged, chaotic red.
"What's happening?" Lian whispered, her head beginning to throb.
*"She's jamming the frequency,"* Kai thought fiercely. He turned toward the screen, his fingers flying across the holographic keyboard. "Get out, Elena. Now. Before I have security remove you for interfering with a Tier 1 project."
Elena laughed, a dry, rasping sound. "Oh, Kai. You still think you're in control. The board didn't just want Henderson's data.