Chris's POV
The visit to Skylar's chamber had ended without chaos—but not without impact. Her silence as we left lingered like smoke after fire. I could feel Amara's tension beside me, and Classic, though calm, was visibly calculating something.
Back in the imperial war chamber, the door shut behind us with a quiet finality.
I turned, eyes on both of them.
"We've addressed Skylar," I said. "Now, we deal with the missing piece."
Amara tilted her head. "Christiana."
Exactly.
I sat at the head of the long obsidian table. A table where laws had been written, alliances broken, and wars decided.
"Tell me," I said, voice low but firm. "Where is she?"
Amara frowned. "Last we checked, she was in Sector 9 under house arrest. But then—"
"She vanished," Classic cut in.
I turned to him slowly.
"You knew?"
"I knew the moment the guards went silent. No reports. No surveillance updates. She's off the grid, and whoever helped her is high-level."
I leaned back, resting my hand on the black marble. "Classic, how many men can you summon discreetly?"
He didn't hesitate. "A hundred loyal to me. Possibly more if I dig deeper."
"Start digging," I said. "I want to know who let her out. I want to know where she's been hiding. I want to know what she's plotting."
Amara's eyes narrowed. "You think she's coming back?"
"I don't think," I replied. "I know. She's not the type to disappear unless she's preparing to strike."
I turned back to Amara. "She was your friend once. Do you think she'd go to Skylar?"
Amara scoffed. "Skylar barely trusts herself right now. No. Christiana will go underground. She'll build in silence—just like I did."
And that was what I feared most.
Because Christiana knew the entire inner system. The codes. The backdoors. The people.
She was my enforcer before she became unstable. And if she's out there, unsupervised, with a vendetta?
The Empire may be headed for a storm we're not ready for.
I rose slowly.
"Find her. Bring her in alive—if possible. If not…" I paused, looking at both of them.
"You know what to do."
To be continued...