Page 60

With terrifying elegance, an enormous Executor-class capital ship slid out of stealth and into the visible spectrum, vast, monstrous, and proximate.

Toofokkin’ close.

Savvine knifed up, herkahawaforgotten.

‘Is that the -?’

‘Tis theÚltima Sombra,’ came Mirage’s half-amused reply.

Savvine gaped. ‘The last I checked, the Signet dreadnought was millions of klicks away. I was expecting a three-hour journey at the very least.’

‘We always like shaking things up. My captain wanted a closer look-see, to get a lay of the land before letting you onboard.’’

‘Fokk, how did a capital ship that size slip so near, in range of our Bianchi safety perimeter and defense nets?’ Savvine murmured, amazed. ‘How the hell are you not lit up by every drone?’

Miral glanced at her, unbothered.

‘Because we’re not here to threaten. Also because, Commander, your drones never saw us coming.’

Savvine’s gut twisted. She stared at Signet’s destroyer, un-stealthed, less than an hour’s drift from theVenantia Eterna, and realized she had no idea how much power this company wielded.

Only that it was immense, and it wasn’t just their technology or their ships.

The Signet Group’s scope, deep pockets, and unbelievable tech made them truly dangerous, triggering Savvine’s pulse and tightening her throat.

Add to that their growing reputation for eliminating threats before they even rose to the surface.

Thesekinaiswere more deadly than the families and cartels now.

Somehow, their influence slipped through the cracks, making her question herself.Did she have what it took to stand up to them?

She sensed the Signet Company would overwhelm the Bianchi clan’s influence in time, if she let them.

It was inevitable. If she didn’t use all her cunning and wiliness, they wouldn’t just eclipse her family’s power.

They’d devour it, piece by piece, until nothing remained but a name whispered in the shadows of Signet’s dominance.

10

Wolf Among Wolves

SAVVINE

As the Corvette touched down in a plexiglass-floored hangar nestled into the massive rear cargo bay of the Signet capital ship, Savvine braced herself.

She wasn’t sure what she expected, probably hard lines, harsh lighting, gunmetal walls stained with old memories.

A prison with some polish, sterile corridors, and steely stares.

What she got was not that.

La Última Sombrawas a war-born leviathan, sleek and savage, forged in the deep void with the spine of a predator and the poise of royalty.

From the outside, it bristled with firepower: rail guns lined its flanks like sharpened fangs, swivel-mounted missile launchers tracked along its hull, and comms arrays spiraled like elegant antennae of a space-faring leviathan, always listening.

Her skin of blackened alloy was laced with voidglass, silent, light-absorbent, invisible when cloaked.

Inside, the dreadnought was all grace and grandeur.