CHAPTER 39-

Twenty minutes is the kind of time that makes your chest into a metronome and your brain into a ledger. It’s enough minutes to change the world if you move like you mean it; it’s not enough if you hesitate. Nicole counted them like prayers as Harrow barked orders into his phone and Anders crouched over the little flash drive like it was a living thing.

“Imager is hot,” Anders said, voice flat, fingers moving like a drummer who’d practiced panic. “We’ll hash it, ...