terli

center usually never bothered me, but toni

y captain's uniform. As the newly transferred head of this district's enforcement sector, I

m echoed down the conc

... call someone

y the clang of a baton against steel bars. "Every petty thief suddenly goes

the stack of intake folders, tossing aside drunk drive

orate Espionage. Complai

n in the picture was pale, dark hair plastered to he

eath

ars curled upward into a delicate, unmistakably defined point-

ling roy

over my fingers, scalding my skin, but I hardly notic

sister was stolen during the chaos. For decades, our parents had searc

t: Orphan. No known family. Pr

ed ink: Subject is approxim

ated wood across the middle, and snatched up my e

cate the intake swab for inmate Aria Hayes in the bio-vault. Run a prioritized genomic match against th

nd the desk, and seized the desk sergeant by

block C," I gro

etallic air carried the unmistakabl

the corridor, followed by the w

his face turning paper-white. "He

into the damp plaster of the wall, her knuckles raw and scraped. Her spine arched in the grip of

steel latch clean off. "Clear the entire corridor! Move the emergency medical unit i

de the cot. Up close, the distinct crescent bi

glazed with fever and pain, st

voice a broken rasp. "Don't..

phone vibrated against my chest.

oice shaking with disbelief. "It's a one-hundred-percent match! Chromosoma

er my lashes, cutting

d over her cold, bloodied fingers, and

d, my voice thick with years of

ion mingling with the agony teari

m, lift her!

body onto the mattress, keeping my hand locked around hers until the team rus

light above the

eaving. With shaking fingers, I dialed the priority Sterling

nected on th

the voices of my mother, my eldest brother Julian, and our younger b

receiver until the casing creaked. "Jul

went de

my mother gasped,

ition of the clinic. "Aria. She has the royal ear tips and the crescent mark.

y the sound of Julian's chair crashing to the floor an

lry design. For twenty-three years, our vast fortune had meant little compared to the ache of losing the only daughter in our family. Non

n, cold fury vibrating through the speaker. "The private

She's in labor. She's

nd turned back t

suddenly peaked, followed by a sharp, piercing

and the lead doctor stepped out

he first baby is del

a second, furious wail

is here! A baby

ealm had just arrived into the world, and every debt