Exodus Gamble

The sharp click of Ava's boots filled the silence as she spun back to the console, her fingers already flying over the interface.

Her usual smirk? Gone.

Her voice? Clipped. Urgent. Biting.

"Alright, lovebirds—"

She didn't even look up.

"Romantic trauma hour's over. We've got a problem."

Leah exhaled sharply, barely keeping herself grounded after everything they'd just uncovered. Her mind still burned with the weight of her mother's name, of Kael's father, of what she was.

But Ava?

Ava had her game face on.

And that meant shit was about to go south.

Leah's voice snapped, steady and sharp:

"Talk."

Ava didn't hesitate.

"The auction for Ark 0—" she flicked a projection into the air, data cascading across the room, glowing in sharp white and red— "—isn't what we thought."

Kael's silver eyes narrowed, deadly.

His voice dipped, lethal:

"Explain."

Ava's fingers stabbed at the bidding list—

[AUCTION PARTICIPANTS - RESTRICTED FEED]

Kael Orion Voss – STATUS: PENDING ENTRY

House Arlind – STATUS: CONFIRMED

Zion Group – STATUS: CONFIRMED

Merrick Industries – STATUS: CONFIRMED

Her voice dropped, sharp and cold:

"They've changed the game."

She turned, her dark eyes burning.

"The Ark isn't going to the highest bidder."

Her jaw clenched.

"They're holding a sealed competition."

Leah's breath hitched.

Her voice tight, cold:

"What kind of competition?"

Ava's fingers flicked.

A line of text exploded across the screen.

[ARK 0 ACQUISITION – STAGE 2: DIRECT CONTROL TRIALS]

[CONDITION: NO PROXY. ALPHA-LEADERS ONLY. LIVE ENTRY REQUIRED.]

Kael's silver eyes glinted.

His voice—low, smooth, dangerous.

"They want us to fight for it."

Ava's voice came cold, biting:

"Direct control. Meaning only you—" her eyes sliced to Kael, "—can enter. No teams. No tech. No outside interference."

Leah's chest tightened.

Her voice low, sharp:

"So it's a trap."

Ava's voice dropped.

Her eyes burned into Kael's.

"They're not selling a ship."

Her lips pressed tight.

Her voice, cold as ice:

"They're selling a General."

Kael's gaze hardened, his voice razor-edged:

"They want to own me."

Leah's voice cut through, sharp and fierce:

"They won't."

Ava's eyes flashed.

She hit the final update—

The screen shifted.

A single line appeared.

[DIRECT MATCH OPPONENT—CONFIRMED:]

[COMMANDER RAVENNA VOSS – STATUS: ACTIVE ENTRY]

Leah's breath stilled.

Her blood chilled.

Her voice—low, raw:

"Voss."

Kael's silver eyes darkened.

Something cold and lethal settled in his chest.

His voice, soft and deadly:

"That's my sister."

Ava's fingers flicked across the console, killing the projection with a sharp snap of her wrist.

She spun back to Kael, her eyes hard and calculating.

"Call her."

Kael's jaw ticked.

His silver eyes burned, cold as a blade.

"No."

Ava's voice bit back, sharp and fast:

"Yes."

Her arms crossed, her tone clipped and unyielding:

"You want to win this thing? Then you can't walk in blind."

Leah's eyes flashed to him, her voice tight and warning:

"Ava's right. Ravenna wouldn't be on that list without a reason."

Kael's voice, cold and lethal:

"Her reason is to bury me."

Ava's gaze narrowed.

"Then find out why."

Kael's eyes burned.

His voice—low, hard:

"She doesn't talk."

Ava's lips pressed tight, her voice cutting through the tension:

"Then don't ask for a conversation."

Her eyes glinted, sharp and dangerous.

"Ask for a deal."

The air thickened.

Charged with the weight of it.

Leah's voice, low and cold, pressed in:

"You said you needed a plan."

Her eyes burned into his.

"So make one."

A beat.

Then—

Kael's voice, soft and razor-edged:

"Fine."

His silver eyes glinted, and his hand reached for his comm.

His voice, low and lethal:

"Let's see if my sister still answers the phone."

The line rang once.

Twice.

Then—

A sharp click.

And a voice—smooth, cold, laced with silk and venom.

"Well, well. Kael."

Leah felt it—the shift.

The way his shoulders locked.

The way his grip tightened ever so slightly.

Ravenna's voice purred, soft and dangerous.

"Didn't think I'd hear your voice again."

Kael's silver eyes flickered.

His voice, smooth, clipped, sharp as a blade:

"Ravenna."

A pause.

Then—

A slow, calculated hum.

"You sound older."

A touch of mock concern.

"The years haven't softened you, I hope?"

Kael's jaw tightened.

His voice, measured, controlled:

"Dinner."

The air through the line shifted.

Cooled.

Turned calculating.

"Dinner?"

A slow hum.

"No 'how have you been, dear sister'? No 'long time no see'?"

A pause.

Her voice, soft, full of knives:

"You must want something."

Kael's lips curled into something cold.

"I do."

His voice, low and absolute:

"Your time."

A longer pause.

Then—

Ravenna exhaled, slow and leisurely.

"Interesting."

She let the word linger, savoring it.

"You never call unless you're about to do something stupid."

Kael's silver eyes narrowed.

His voice even, lethal:

"Then you won't want to miss it."

A beat.

Then—

"Fine."

A smirk in her tone.

"My place. Tomorrow. 20:00."

The line went dead.

Kael lowered the comm, his jaw tense, his eyes burning cold.

"She wants me on her ground."

Ava's lips curled, sharp.

"Good. She's already nervous."

Leah's eyes, cold and steady, met his.

"Then make her shake."

Ava's fingers snapped across the console.

Her voice crisp, electric:

"Heads up—auction feed's live."

The room flooded with shifting bids, private entries, encrypted withdrawals.

A battlefield of power, greed, and desperation—laid bare.

[AUCTION PARTICIPANTS - LIVE STATUS]

House Arlind — STATUS: HOLDING POSITION

Zion Group — STATUS: WITHDRAWN (ASSET FREEZE DETECTED)

Merrick Industries — STATUS: WITHDRAWN (LIQUIDITY COLLAPSE)

Tyne Collective — STATUS: TRANSFERRED ENTRY (UNKNOWN PARTY)

Ava's eyes flashed.

"We're not the only ones making moves."

Kael's silver gaze burned.

"People are folding."

His voice dropped, razor-sharp.

"Why?"

Ava's fingers danced, slicing through encrypted streams.

"Zion Group—" she smirked, "—got hit with a regulatory freeze. No funds, no ship."

Leah's eyes narrowed.

"Someone took them out."

Ava's grin turned wicked.

"Merrick Industries? Sudden liquidity collapse. Margin calls through the roof."

She flicked her fingers.

"They're drowning."

Kael's voice, cold and surgical:

"Who's buying their scraps?"

The feed shifted.

Ava's smirk vanished.

Tyne Collective — TRANSFERRED TO: 'ORION HOLDINGS' (SHELL ENTITY)

Her voice tightened.

"Someone's laundering their bids."

Kael's eyes—hard, silver razors—

"That's not a shell."

His voice, flat and deadly:

"That's a signal."

Leah's chest tightened.

Her voice low and sharp:

"Signal for what?"

Ava's fingers flew.

Then—

A ping.

ORION HOLDINGS — AUTHORIZED BY: RAVENNA VOSS

The air cracked.

Ava's voice—flat, cold:

"She's buying players."

Leah's voice—fierce, burning:

"She's stacking the board fast."

Kael's silver eyes—cold fire.

His voice dropped, soft and lethal:

"She's making damn sure—"

A breath.

"That I lose."

The feed flickered.

Ravenna's move branded across the screen like a warning. It was a grand opening game.

The room pulsed with tension—hot, tight, ready to snap.

Kael's silver eyes burned.

"She's locking down every angle."

His voice, low and sharp:

"Burying us before we step in."

Ava, voice tight, cutting:

"She's got proxies on proxies. If we show up solo, we're outbid before we breathe."

Her eyes narrowed.

"We need a backer."

Kael's jaw flexed.

His voice, clipped, absolute:

"We don't have one."

But Leah—

Her eyes burned.

Something cold, dangerous, certain.

"We do."

Ava's gaze snapped to Leah.

Sharp. Searching.

"Who?"

Leah's voice—low, steady, iron-cut:

"We only need one player."

A breath.

Her chin lifted.

Her eyes flashed, deadly.

"And I have one."

Kael's gaze cut through her.

"Who."

Leah's lips pressed tight.

Then—

Her voice, cold, certain:

"Jace Solen."

The room stilled.

The weight of Jace Solen's name still hung in the air.

Sharp. Unshakable.

Kael stared at Leah, silver eyes unreadable. Measuring. Calculating.

Jace Solen.

A kingmaker. A ghost. A man who didn't move unless the world was already tilting in his favor.

And yet—

Leah had just said, He owes me.

Ava let out a low whistle, rocking back on her heels. "So let me get this straight."

She tilted her head, lips curling into something sharp. "You want to put all our chips on the one guy who's never taken a gamble in his life?"

Leah didn't flinch.

Didn't waver.

She simply met Ava's gaze and held.

Her voice, cool. Certain.

"He doesn't need to gamble."

A pause.

"He just needs to pay up."

James exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Assuming he sees it that way."

Leah's eyes flashed. "He will."

Kael hadn't moved.

Hadn't spoken.

But Leah felt him.

That quiet, heavy stillness.

The sharp edge of his mind working through the angles, watching her like a weapon waiting to be drawn.

And when he finally spoke—his voice was ice.

"Tell me what he owes you."

Leah's chest tightened.

The past stirred, old ghosts knocking against her ribs.