Catherine Reed had killed seventeen people that morning.
She wasn't particularly proud of the number.
She was considerably less pleased that seventeen hadn't been enough to prevent the destruction of half her facility.
The fighting had ended forty-three minutes ago. The last confirmed hostile had been driven beyond the eastern perimeter, and Northstar's surviving security teams were securing the grounds. Emergency crews had begun carrying the wounded to whatever medical rooms remained operational.
The dead were another matter.
Catherine stood in the courtyard outside the administrative building, watching two men lift a stretcher into an ambulance. A white sheet covered the body beneath it.
She recognized the boots.
Thomas Ellery. Senior security officer. Eleven years with Northstar. Two children, if she remembered correctly.
She did remember correctly.
That was part of the problem.
"Director?"
Catherine turned.
Marcus Hale, her head of security, approached with a tablet in one hand and a bloodstained bandage wrapped around his forehead.
He looked terrible.
She suspected she didn't look much better.
Her jacket was gone, burned beyond repair during the fighting. The left sleeve of her blouse had been torn away, exposing a forearm covered in angry red burns. A shallow cut ran along her cheek, and dried blood darkened the collar of her shirt.
Most of the blood wasn't hers.
"Report," she said.
Marcus glanced at his tablet.
"Seventeen confirmed dead. Twenty-six wounded, nine critically. We're still accounting for personnel assigned to the eastern research wing."
Catherine looked toward the damaged buildings.
Smoke rose from the collapsed upper section of the wing.
"Structural losses?"
"Extensive. The eastern perimeter is compromised, two security checkpoints are gone, and we've lost most of the surveillance network on levels two through five. The lower research section sustained major damage."
"Power?"
"Emergency generators are operational. Main supply is still offline."
"And the attackers?"
"Withdrawn. We have teams checking the surrounding area, but I wouldn't recommend pursuing them with our current numbers."
Catherine didn't answer immediately.
She looked across the courtyard.
An armored vehicle lay overturned near the entrance. The concrete around it was blackened, and a deep crack ran through the security wall.
She remembered that vehicle.
She'd destroyed it herself.
The attackers had been better prepared than she'd expected. Coordinated strikes, specialized equipment, multiple breaches within minutes of each other.
Not opportunists.
Not ordinary adventurers chasing a World Quest.
Someone had planned this.
Someone with resources.
Someone who knew how to attack a major guild facility.
"Any identification?" she asked.
"Nothing conclusive. Several bodies remain unidentified. Most of the attackers recovered their wounded and dead during withdrawal."
"Convenient."
"We did recover equipment. Weapons, communication devices, fragments of armor. Analysis is underway."
Catherine nodded once.
"Prioritize it."
Marcus hesitated.
"Director, there's something else."
She looked at him.
He seemed reluctant to continue.
Catherine's patience was already dangerously thin.
"Marcus."
"It's the Holloway girl."
Something cold settled in her stomach.
"What about her?"
"We can't find her."
For a moment, Catherine simply stared at him.
Then she said, very carefully, "Explain."
"Her transport team was caught in the explosion near Medical Three. We've located the laboratory and the surrounding corridor, but the subject wasn't there."
"Was she moved?"
"We don't know."
"Was she transferred to containment?"
"No transfer was recorded."
"Then where is she?"
Marcus looked down at the tablet.
"We don't know, Director."
Catherine closed her eyes.
Just for a second.
When she opened them again, her expression was composed.
"Take me there."
***
The eastern research wing looked worse from the inside.
Catherine stepped over a broken section of ceiling panel and followed Marcus through a corridor illuminated by emergency lights. Two security officers accompanied them, carrying portable lamps and wearing respirators around their necks.
The air smelled of smoke, dust, and burned wiring.
Water dripped steadily from a damaged pipe overhead.
They passed a medical station where several injured employees sat waiting for treatment. One of them recognized Catherine and tried to stand.
"Director—"
"Stay seated."
The woman sank back onto the bench.
Catherine continued walking.
She'd already spent the better part of an hour directing the defense, coordinating evacuation teams, and helping pull survivors from damaged sections of the facility.
Her left arm hurt.
The burns weren't severe enough to impair her magic, but they were unpleasant.
She could have requested a healer.
There were people who needed one more.
"How many personnel were assigned to Medical Three?" she asked.
Marcus consulted his tablet.
"Two guards, Dr. Ashcroft, and two researchers at the time of the evacuation order."
"Status?"
"One guard confirmed dead. Both researchers confirmed dead. The second guard is unaccounted for."
"And Ashcroft?"
"Alive. She's being treated for a concussion and several fractures."
Catherine slowed.
"She survived?"
"She was found in an adjacent corridor. Apparently the blast threw her through an open doorway."
"Has anyone questioned her?"
"Briefly. She's confused, but she remembers the evacuation."
"And Evelyn?"
"She says the subject was still restrained when they left the laboratory."
Catherine stopped.
"When they left?"
Marcus looked up.
"They were moving her on the examination bed. The explosion occurred while they were transporting her."
"Then why wasn't she found with the bed?"
"That's what we're trying to determine."
Catherine stared at him.
Then resumed walking.
Faster.
***
The corridor outside Medical Three was almost unrecognizable.
A section of the ceiling had collapsed, leaving broken concrete and twisted metal scattered across the floor. Several overhead lights had been destroyed. One wall was cracked from floor to ceiling.
The bodies had been removed.
Dark stains remained where they'd fallen.
Catherine stepped around an overturned equipment trolley and stopped beside the ruined laboratory entrance.
"This is where they found the transport team?" she asked.
"Yes."
"And the bed?"
"Inside."
Catherine looked through the damaged doorway.
Then she entered.
The examination room was a wreck.
The observation window had shattered. A monitor lay broken on the floor, and one of the cabinets had been crushed beneath a fallen ceiling panel.
The examination bed was wedged against the far wall.
Catherine approached it.
The restraints were open.
All of them.
She stopped beside the bed.
"Who removed these?"
Marcus looked at the straps.
"No one, as far as we know."
Catherine reached for the restraint that had secured Evelyn's right wrist.
The leather was blackened.
Part of it had been burned completely through.
She lifted the damaged strap.
Examined the edges.
Not cut.
Not torn by force.
Burned.
Catherine stared at it.
"How?"
Marcus stepped closer.
"Could the explosion have caused it?"
"No."
She turned the strap over.
The damage was concentrated in a narrow section. The surrounding material was largely intact.
Enough to weaken the leather.
Not enough to destroy the entire restraint.
Catherine felt a slow, unpleasant realization forming.
"She had one skill."
Marcus looked at her.
"Director?"
"One unique skill. Undying."
She lowered the strap.
"And it wasn't fire magic."
Marcus glanced around the room.
"Perhaps one of the attackers freed her."
"Perhaps."
Catherine didn't sound convinced.
If an attacker had reached Evelyn, why leave the other restraints neatly unfastened?
Why burn through one wrist strap and release the rest?
Why leave the bed at all?
Unless Evelyn had done it herself.
Catherine looked toward the ruined doorway.
The girl had been terrified.
Exhausted.
Barely capable of looking at her without shaking.
And yet—
Ember.
The word came to her suddenly.
Not because Evelyn had mentioned it.
She hadn't.
But Catherine knew what certain kinds of magical abilities could do.
Small flames.
Heat manipulation.
A basic fire skill would be more than sufficient to damage leather.
But where would Evelyn have obtained one?
Catherine looked at the examination bed again.
Three deaths.
Three controlled experiments.
Toxic exposure.
Electrical trauma.
Thermal damage.
They'd been studying how her resurrection worked.
What if they'd been studying the wrong thing?
Catherine slowly released the strap.
"Marcus."
"Yes?"
"I want the complete recordings from every experiment conducted on Evelyn Holloway."
"We've already begun recovering the research data."
"Not the summaries. Everything. Every System notification she voluntarily disclosed, every medical reading, every observation. I want it reviewed from the beginning."
Marcus nodded.
"Understood."
Catherine stared at the burned restraint.
"And find out whether anyone on the research team possesses an Identification or Appraisal skill capable of examining a unique ability."
Marcus hesitated.
"Director, if she acquired something new—"
"Then I want to know what it is."
She turned away from the bed.
Her expression hardened.
"And I want to know how the hell we missed it."
***
Outside the laboratory, Catherine stopped beside the collapsed section of corridor.
"How much of this has been searched?"
Marcus consulted his tablet.
"The accessible corridors and rooms have been cleared. Search teams are working through the collapsed sections."
"How many?"
"Three teams."
"That's not enough."
"Director, we're also securing the perimeter and recovering casualties."
"I'm aware."
Catherine looked toward the damaged ceiling.
Concrete.
Steel.
Collapsed floors.
There were dozens of places someone could be trapped.
Evelyn could be beneath any of them.
Alive.
Dead.
Regenerating.
The distinction barely mattered.
"She could still be here," Catherine said.
Marcus followed her gaze.
"Under the rubble?"
"Of course."
He hesitated.
"Wouldn't that kill her?"
Catherine looked at him.
"Marcus. That's rather the point of her ability."
"Yes, but if she's trapped—"
"Then she stays trapped until someone removes the obstruction."
She considered the possibility.
An entire section of ceiling collapsing onto Evelyn.
Crushing her.
Killing her.
Her body regenerating.
Only to be crushed again.
A repeated cycle.
Potentially dozens of deaths.
Perhaps hundreds, depending on how long the debris remained in place.
Catherine frowned.
Not out of sympathy.
Because she had no idea what repeated resurrection under those conditions might do.
It was another variable they hadn't tested.
Another uncertainty.
And one she couldn't afford to ignore.
"Expand the search," she said. "Every accessible room, maintenance shaft, service tunnel, ventilation passage, and collapsed section. I want structural engineers working with the recovery teams."
Marcus nodded.
"And the perimeter?"
"Every exit. Every breach. Every damaged section of fencing."
"We've lost most of the cameras."
"Then use people."
"We're short on personnel."
Catherine turned toward him.
"Then recall every available Northstar member within reasonable distance. Cancel leave. Suspend nonessential assignments. I want teams searching the surrounding roads and woodland."
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"Director, the facility still needs defending."
"Obviously."
"We can't strip the remaining security teams."
"I'm not asking you to."
"Then we'll need time."
Catherine stared at him.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she stepped closer.
"Listen carefully, Marcus."
He straightened.
"The most valuable person we've encountered since the System appeared was in our custody this morning. Now she's missing, half my facility is destroyed, and seventeen of my people are dead."
Her voice remained controlled.
Barely.
"I understand perfectly well that we have competing priorities."
She pointed toward the ruined laboratory.
"But I will not accept 'we don't know' as the final answer."
Marcus held her gaze.
"No, Director."
"Find her."
"We will."
"Inside the facility. Outside the facility. Under the rubble if necessary."
Catherine's jaw tightened.
"I don't care how long it takes."
***
By the time Catherine returned to the administrative building, the preliminary casualty count had risen to nineteen.
Two of the critically wounded had died before a healer could reach them.
She read their names in silence.
Then she signed the authorization for emergency compensation to their families.
Marcus stood across the desk, waiting.
The office they were using belonged to one of the facility's senior administrators. Its windows had survived the attack, though a long crack ran across the glass overlooking the courtyard.
Catherine had refused to return to her own office until the building was declared structurally safe.
Not because she was particularly concerned about herself.
Because she had no intention of dying beneath a ceiling while there was still work to do.
"Anything from the search teams?" she asked.
"Nothing confirmed." Find the original chapter at g.com.
"Nothing?"
"We've located several survivors in the eastern wing. No sign of Holloway."
"And the external teams?"
"Still deploying."
Catherine set down the casualty report.
"Any indication the attackers took her?"
"No confirmed evidence."
"Any indication they didn't?"
Marcus paused.
"No."
Catherine leaned back.
Wonderful.
They didn't know whether Evelyn was alive, dead, buried, captured, or halfway across the countryside.
And the girl could survive dying.
That made the list of possibilities considerably longer than it should have been.
"There's something else," Marcus said.
Catherine looked up.
"We've begun reviewing the recovered equipment."
"And?"
"Some of it is military-grade. Modified System-compatible armor, encrypted communications, specialized breaching charges."
"Not surprising."
"The attack was coordinated. Whoever organized it knew our security layout."
Catherine's expression darkened.
"An inside source?"
"Possibly. Or very good intelligence."
She considered that.
Several organizations had the resources to mount an attack of this scale.
Very few had the motivation.
Fewer still would be willing to accept the political consequences.
One name came to mind immediately.
Cassian Draven.
Iron Dominion.
Catherine didn't say it aloud.
Not yet.
A suspicion wasn't evidence.
And Cassian was far too experienced to leave an obvious signature on an operation like this.
"Keep investigating," she said.
Marcus nodded.
"There's also been a message from the IAA."
Catherine looked at him.
"Of course there has."
"Arthur Bennett is requesting an emergency meeting with representatives of the major guilds. He wants an explanation for the fighting."
"Does he?"
"Apparently there are already reports circulating about an attack on a Northstar facility."
Catherine gave a humorless laugh.
"Reports. How wonderfully discreet of everyone."
"He wants the meeting as soon as possible."
"Tell him I'll attend."
Marcus hesitated.
"Director, given the circumstances—"
"I said I'll attend."
He nodded.
"Understood."
Catherine looked toward the cracked window.
Outside, another ambulance was leaving the courtyard.
She watched it disappear through the damaged security gate.
Then she turned back.
"One more thing."
"Yes?"
"Do not release any information about Evelyn Holloway."
Marcus straightened.
"To anyone?"
"Anyone outside the authorized investigation."
"What about the IAA?"
"Especially the IAA."
He nodded.
Catherine folded her hands on the desk.
"If the other guilds learn that she's missing, every opportunist in the country will start searching."
"Some of them probably already are."
"Then we don't need to make their jobs easier."
Marcus was silent for a moment.
"Director, if the attackers were specifically targeting her—"
"I know."
Catherine looked at him.
"I know exactly what that means."
***
An hour later, Catherine stood alone in a small bathroom adjoining the temporary office.
She'd washed the blood from her face.
Most of it, anyway.
A faint red stain remained beneath her fingernails.
Her burned arm had been treated with a healing salve. The pain had faded to a dull ache, though the skin remained discolored.
She'd changed into a clean blouse and a dark jacket.
Her hair was tied back neatly.
The woman in the mirror looked almost like the Catherine Reed who had entered the laboratory that morning.
Almost.
She studied her reflection.
Nineteen dead.
Twenty-four surviving wounded.
A facility that would take months to repair.
An unknown enemy willing to launch a direct assault against one of the most powerful guilds in Britain.
And Evelyn Holloway.
Missing.
Catherine thought of the girl lying on the examination bed.
Terrified.
Crying.
Begging them to stop.
Then she thought of the burned restraint.
The neatly opened buckles.
The empty room.
She had underestimated Evelyn.
Not her courage.
Not her intelligence.
Her ability.
There was something happening with Undying that Catherine didn't understand.
And she had allowed that uncertainty to remain.
A mistake.
One she intended to correct.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Marcus.
Search teams report no confirmed contact with Holloway. Investigation ongoing.
Catherine read it twice.
Then locked the screen.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Somewhere out there, Evelyn Holloway might be running through the countryside.
Or hiding in a maintenance tunnel.
Or buried beneath several tonnes of concrete, dying and returning over and over again.
Catherine didn't know.
And she hated not knowing.
Her phone vibrated again.
IAA emergency session confirmed. Awaiting your attendance.
Catherine exhaled slowly.
She adjusted her jacket.
Straightened her collar.
And practiced the expression she intended to wear when she faced the other guild leaders.
Calm.
Professional.
Composed.
It took more effort than usual.
Especially when she thought of Cassian Draven.
If Iron Dominion had been responsible for the attack, there would be consequences.
Serious ones.
But first, she needed answers.
Catherine turned away from the mirror and opened the door.
"Marcus," she called.
He appeared in the adjoining office.
"Director?"
"Keep the search running. I want an update the moment anything changes."
"Yes, Director."
"And Marcus?"
He paused.
Catherine looked at him.
"Find her."
Her voice was quiet.
"Whatever it takes."
Then she walked into the office and prepared to face the IAA.