Chapter 6

The red emergency light from the communicator pulsed against Benedict's flushed skin.

He looked down at his wrist. The embarrassment vanished from his face in a fraction of a second, replaced by the cold, hardened mask of an Empire General.

He tapped the screen. A stream of encrypted military data scrolled across the holographic projection. He cursed under his breath, a harsh, violent sound that made Allegra flinch.

"Classified border skirmish. A localized threat, but it requires my immediate tactical oversight," Benedict muttered, his eyes darting across the text.

He turned his back to Allegra and barked a series of rapid, lethal tactical commands into the comms. His voice was a weapon, sharp and unforgiving. The sheer force of his authority made the air in the boutique feel heavy.

A deafening roar rattled the glass windows of the storefront.

A light assault hovercar, painted in matte urban camouflage and bearing the crest of the Imperial Military, slammed onto the pavement outside.

The passenger door flew open. A young officer leaped out. He had a pair of stark white Arctic hare ears standing at rigid attention on top of his head.

Lieutenant Caleb Vance sprinted into the boutique and snapped a flawless salute.

"General! The strike team is prepped and waiting in orbit," Caleb reported, his voice breathless.

Benedict turned back to Allegra. He stepped close to her, his massive frame towering over her. The ice-blue of his eyes softened just a fraction, filled with a fierce, possessive need to protect.

"I have to leave immediately," he said, his voice dropping to a low rumble meant only for her.

Allegra nodded quickly. She was terrified of the military situation, but a small part of her was incredibly relieved. With him gone, she wouldn't have to deal with the awkward tail-petting dynamic anymore.

Benedict reached out and pressed the limitless black card into her palm. His fingers lingered over hers.

"Buy whatever you want. Do not leave the commercial district," he ordered. "I will find you the moment this is handled."

He didn't wait for her to reply. He turned to Caleb. His eyes turned back to glacial ice.

"You do not leave her side," Benedict snarled, pointing a finger at his lieutenant's chest. "You protect her with your life. And you get her Bio-ID registered immediately. Understood?"

Caleb glanced at Allegra, his rabbit ears twitching. He recognized the extreme possessiveness in his commander's tone.

"Yes, Sir!" Caleb shouted.

Benedict gave Allegra one last, burning look, as if trying to brand her image into his retinas. Then, he spun on his heel, marched out the door, and vaulted into the assault hovercar. The vehicle shot into the sky, disappearing into the clouds in a blur of speed.

The roar of the engines faded. The boutique fell into a suffocating silence.

Caleb turned to Allegra and offered a tight, professional smile.

Amber, the cat-eared clerk, crept out from the back room. She signaled to a delivery drone outside, loading dozens of high-end shopping bags into its cargo bay.

Amber walked over to the counter and picked up a sleek, silver portable terminal.

"Your purchases have been sent to the General's estate," Amber said, her retail smile back in place. "Now, I just need to bind this new personal comms terminal to your Bio-ID, and you'll be all set."

Allegra's heart slammed against her ribs. The moment she had been dreading was here.

She looked at Caleb, panic rising in her throat. "Can we do this later? Maybe back at a military base?"

Caleb shook his head, his posture rigid. "Negative, ma'am. The General ordered it done immediately. The commercial scanners are the fastest."

Amber held up the scanner. A flat beam of blue light projected from the device. "Left wrist, please."

Allegra swallowed hard. Her palms were sweating so much she wiped them on her new cashmere dress. She had no choice. She slowly raised her left arm and hovered her wrist over the blue light.

The scanner beeped. The blue laser pierced the top layer of her skin, searching for the metallic neural pathways of a microchip.

One second passed. Then two.

The screen remained blank. The blue light began to flicker, emitting a low, static hiss.

Amber frowned. She tapped the side of the machine. "Strange. It's not catching the signal. Try your right hand."

Allegra switched hands. She held her breath, praying for a machine malfunction.

The scanner activated again. This time, the machine didn't just hiss. It shrieked.

A massive red 'X' flashed across the holographic display. Beneath it, bold black letters spelled out a fatal diagnosis: NO NEURAL LINK DETECTED. BIOLOGICAL HARDWARE ABSENT.

Amber's face drained of all color. She stared at the screen, then slowly looked up at Allegra. Her eyes were wide with pure terror.

Even if a chip was broken, the scanner would detect the neural scarring. To have zero hardware meant only one thing in the Empire.

She was a Ghost. An unregistered, illegal biological entity. A spy, a rebel, or a monster from a black lab.

Caleb's Arctic hare ears snapped flat against his skull. His military training took over instantly. His hand dropped to his waist, his fingers wrapping around the grip of his electromagnetic pistol.

Allegra yanked her hand back. She took a step away from the counter. "Wait, I can explain-"

Amber didn't listen. She dove under the marble counter and slammed her fist onto a hidden panic button.

Instantly, the soft lighting of the boutique snapped off, replaced by a localized, pulsing yellow security strobe. A silent alarm was immediately dispatched to the district's Capital Security Force, while the store's internal automated defense protocols activated with a low hum.

The trap had been sprung.