Chapter 125: More Dangerous
Fin didn’t answer immediately. Grand design? His only design was to stop being hunted, to protect Meg, to carve out a space where they could be safe. If that meant dismantling the Association brick by brick, so be it. If it meant confronting Kings... he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
"They started it," he said finally, the words simple, cold.
Lyra nodded slowly. "They often do. Power abhors a vacuum, and new power is always seen as a threat by the established. The Association, for all its talk of order, is merely another player seeking to maintain its dominance." She took a small, deliberate step closer. "But Valerius is not Arclight. The Spire is the heart of their network. They will defend it fiercely. Director Gabriel is not a man to be trifled with, and he has... resources."
"I’m aware," Fin said. Mara’s fear had been genuine. Gabriel, Unit 7... he wasn’t underestimating the opposition.
"Are you?" Lyra’s gaze sharpened. "Do you know that your domain, while potent for one so new, is still vulnerable? Its energetic signature, though masked, is a beacon to those with the right senses. Your wards are rudimentary. A determined assault by a prepared force..." She let the implication hang.
"Jericho found me," Fin conceded. "He got in."
"Ah, yes. Operative Jericho." A flicker of something unreadable crossed Lyra’s face. "A blunt instrument, but effective in his own way. His... absence... will have been noted. It will have escalated their response." She smiled again, a thin, knowing curve of her lips. "Director Gabriel has likely already unleashed far more dangerous hounds."
Fin felt a chill despite himself. More dangerous than Jericho? More dangerous than Dan?
"You said you came to offer a choice," he reminded her, pushing past the unease. "Or an alliance."
"Indeed." Lyra’s expression became serious. "The Argent Covenant rarely intervenes directly. Our purpose is to preserve knowledge, to maintain a semblance of balance, however precarious, between the myriad powers that vie for control across the realms." She paused. "Your existence, your unique fusion with the Mana Cell, your nascent dominion... it presents both a threat and an opportunity to that balance."
"A threat to who?"