Astra's stomach dropped.
Her finger on the button had left a watermark.
Even if she'd used the smallest override.
Even if it had been six seconds.
Even if it had saved them.
Kael felt her tension and glanced back over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed. "What."
Astra swallowed. "It recorded it."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Of course it did."
Astra tasted blood. "I'm sorry."
Kael stopped crawling.
In the tight seam, he turned enough that his face was inches from hers. His voice was low and rough, and it was not gentle.
"Don't apologize," Kael said. "Not for choosing."
Heat flared in Astra's chest—sharp and painful.
Kael's gaze flicked to her mouth, then back to her eyes like he was forcing himself to stay angry instead of needy.
Astra's breath caught anyway.
Kael continued, quieter. "Apologize if you start liking it."
Astra's throat went tight.
That was the fear.
Not the system.
Not the Guild.
Not Seraphine.
The fear that power would taste good in her mouth.
Astra leaned closer until her breath warmed his jaw. She didn't kiss him. She didn't touch his collar. She didn't offer her throat.
She spoke like a vow made intimate.
"I don't like controlling you," Astra whispered. "I like you choosing me."
Kael went very still.
His eyes darkened.
His voice came out rougher. "Careful."
Astra's mouth curved faintly. "Consent."
Kael swallowed hard. "Always."
Behind them, Orin hissed, "Less vows, more moving."
Juno muttered, "Please."
Lyra's soft laugh drifted from ahead. "Let them. It's cute."
Kael's head snapped toward Lyra, lethal even in a crawl. "Quiet."
Lyra's smile was audible. "Make me."
Jealous heat snapped through Astra, hot and ugly—and she used it to push herself forward again.
They crawled until the seam widened into a low chamber—older stone, dead-sand gutters, a few rusted hooks. A place made for hiding people the Dominion didn't want in records.
Orin slapped a scar-sigil. The air thickened. Signal died.
Juno slumped against a wall, breathing hard. "We lost them?"
Orin shook his head once. "We delayed them."
Lyra leaned against a pillar, damp hem dark against stone. Her eyes stayed on Astra's throat. "They'll sniff harder now."
Astra's interface confirmed it with a cold flicker.
GUILD SEARCH: EXPANDEDLUMEN FOLLOW-UP: ACTIVEOWNER CHANNEL: LISTENING (BACKGROUND)NOTE: HANDLER PROTOCOL EXECUTION INCREASES OWNER INTEREST
Dorian's silk voice slid in, amused and satisfied. "You pressed it. Good girl."
Astra's stomach turned.
Kael saw her stiffen. "He's in."
Astra nodded. "Yes."
Kael's jaw clenched. "He's enjoying this."
Astra swallowed. "Yes."
Kael stepped closer—chosen proximity, not touch. His shoulders were tight, eyes burning.
"You can't let him frame you as the handler," Kael said.
Astra's throat burned. "I know."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "But you are the handler."
Astra turned her head slowly. "Temporary."
Lyra's eyes glittered. "Temporary still leaves stains."
Orin barked, "Stop baiting."
Lyra shrugged, unbothered. "I'm stating facts."
Kael's gaze cut to Lyra, cold. "Fact: you're still here."
Lyra's smile widened. "Fact: you like me here."
Kael didn't answer.
That silence made Astra's jealousy flare hotter.
Astra stepped closer to Kael until her shoulder brushed his chest—small contact, chosen, territorial without being childish.
Kael's breath hitched.
Lyra's eyes glittered. She saw it. Of course she did.
Astra didn't give her a reaction.
She gave her a boundary.
"Lyra," Astra said, voice low and sharp, "you don't speak our phrases. You don't touch his crest. And you don't provoke him when my trace is this high."
Lyra's smile thinned. "Or what."
Astra's mouth curved, razor-thin. "Or I use the role you keep teasing me about."
Lyra's eyes brightened—half anger, half hunger. "You wouldn't."
Kael's voice cut in, cold. "She won't."
Astra turned her head to Kael, eyes hard. "If I have to, I will."
Kael's jaw clenched.
Heat rose between them—dangerous, intimate.
Not romance.
Negotiation.
Kael stared at Astra for a beat, then forced his voice into control.
"Consent to that," Kael said low, "is still required."
Astra's throat burned. "It bypasses under threat exception."
Kael's eyes darkened. "Then we keep threat low."
Orin snorted. "Sure. Let's tell the Empire to calm down."
Astra exhaled slowly. "No. We do it our way."
Kael's gaze sharpened. "How."
Astra swallowed. "We define 'threat' for the system."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Can you."
Astra's interface pulsed. Write(Other) limited was open like a cut. She could touch Kael's crest clauses now, and the handler protocol had modified consent gates.
She hated that she could.
She needed it anyway.
Astra looked at Kael and made it explicit, because she refused to become the thing Dorian wanted without naming it first.
"I can write a definition into the handler protocol," Astra said softly. "It will hurt. It will raise trace. Consent?"
Kael didn't answer fast.
He looked at Astra's face—blood at her lip, exhaustion in her eyes, spine still hard.
Then he nodded once, grim and chosen. "Yes. One."
Astra nodded back. "One."
Astra leaned in and took Kael's wrist crest casing in her hand—two fingers, light, deliberate.
"May I," Astra whispered.
Kael's voice was rough. "Yes."
Heat flickered low in Astra's belly—because permission from him felt like oxygen.
Astra opened the handler protocol clause space and carved a line shaped like a weapon:
THREAT EXCEPTION TRIGGERS ONLY IF: EXTERNAL FORCE DIRECTLY CONTACTS SUBJECT'S COLLAR/SEAL OR SUBJECT LOSES CONSCIOUSNESSNOTE: VERBAL PRESSURE / EMOTIONAL DISTRESS DOES NOT QUALIFY
Astra's skull lit up with pain. Her vision flashed white. Trace buzzed like a hive under skin.
She bit down hard.
Kael's fingers tightened around her forearm—not throat, not collar—bracing her.
"Breathe," Kael rasped.
Astra forced air in.
Her interface flickered.
WRITE (OTHER): COMMITTEDTRACE: 85.1%HANDLER PROTOCOL: THREAT EXCEPTION NARROWED
Orin stared. "You just told the Empire what 'threat' means."
Astra wiped blood from her lip with the back of her hand. "I told this clause."
Lyra's eyes glittered, soft with something like awe. "Gods."
Kael's gaze stayed on Astra, dark and furious. "How many more times can you do that before you lock yourself."
Astra swallowed. "Not many."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Then we don't give them chances."
Astra nodded. "Agreed."
Lyra pushed off the pillar. "So what now, Handler."
Kael's head snapped toward her, lethal. "Don't call her that."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "Why. Afraid she'll start believing it."
Astra's jealousy flared again—hot and ugly.
Astra stepped closer to Kael, pressing her shoulder to his chest again, and let her voice turn low, sensual, and strategic all at once.
"She doesn't get to name me," Astra murmured, eyes on Lyra. "Only I do."
Kael's breath hitched.
Lyra's eyes glittered, pleased and irritated. "Fine. Name yourself."
Astra's gaze slid back to Kael.
In the dim, his eyes looked almost black. He looked like a man trying not to beg.
Astra wanted to press her mouth to his and make him forget the Empire existed.
She didn't.
She chose the version of intimacy that kept them alive.
She whispered, "Ally."
Kael's jaw flexed. His voice came rough, quiet. "Yes."
The word warmed Astra more than it should have.
Then the witness seal under Astra's cloth wrap vibrated—sharp, sudden.
Astra froze.
The dead sand should have smothered signal.
So why did it hum like it had found a clean path?
Orin's face tightened. "What."
Astra's interface flickered, cold and bright.
GUILD WITNESS SEAL: SIGNAL ACQUIRED (WEAK)SOURCE: INTERNAL — HANDLER PROTOCOL EXECUTION LOGNOTE: SEAL CAN BROADCAST VIA CUSTODIAN PATH
Astra's stomach dropped.
The seal didn't need an external relay.
It could broadcast through Kael.
Custodian safety.
Handler log.
A pipeline.
Kael saw her face change. "What did it do."
Astra's throat burned. "It found a path through your crest."
Kael's jaw clenched, fury turning lethal. "No."
Astra swallowed. "Yes."
The seal vibrated again—eager, hungry.
A broadcast prompt pulsed.
CUSTODIAN SAFETY REPORT: READY TO SENDCONTENT: HANDLER ACTION EXECUTED + LOCATION VECTOR (APPROX)SEND? AUTO IN 00:00:06