of the security frequency while filtering out everything else. I gritted my teeth and kept going.
I made it into the secondary hangar without anyone stopping me, but Ian had ordered my ship watched. I stopped in an alcove out of sight of the main landing bay and tapped into the security system.
The video showed Aurora was in the first berth. Four men in House von Hasenberg uniforms lingered near the ship’s cargo ramp. They weren’t even trying to be inconspicuous.
I set off a fire alarm in the storage area on the far side of the hangar. The guards in the video looked at one another. Come on, come on. Finally, three of them shrugged and ambled off toward the back of the hangar while the fourth reported it.
I drew the shock pistol from the holster. It had been years since I’d actually needed to shoot someone. I hoped that muscle memory would be enough or this escape would be going nowhere fast.
I was already in motion by the time Ian’s voice ordered the men back to their posts. I ran silently toward Aurora. The sole remaining guard stood next to the cargo ramp, facing away, toward the alarm. The other guards had not reappeared.
I said a prayer of thanks for small favors, then waited until I was close enough that I couldn’t miss. I shot the guard in the back with a silent apology.
He screamed as he fell, but I was already climbing the cargo ramp. I swiped my real identity chip over the control panel and the cargo door slid upward. The other guards shouted a question, but they would be too late.
Once the door was high enough, I ducked inside. “Aurora, how many people are onboard?”
“You are the only passenger, Captain,” the ship replied.
“That’s what I like to hear,” I murmured. I used the cargo bay control panel to close and lock the door and retract the ramp. “Aurora, take us into orbit.” The ship chimed, and I felt the subtle vibration of the engines engaging.
I had to get off the ground before Ian locked the hangar doors or denied me launch clearance. I would worry about a destination once I was free of the building.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough.
“Permission to launch denied,” Aurora said. “Ground control requests an immediate shutdown.”
“Emergency override code F8H07Z4.” It was Ferdinand’s personal override code. If they hadn’t locked it down, it would have priority access to nearly any von Hasenberg system.
I held my breath until the ship said, “Override approved.” The engine noise changed as the ship launched.
My com vibrated and Ian’s info reappeared on my glasses. The five-minute block had expired. I confirmed Aurora was on course for orbit, then accepted the video link as voice-only on my side—I could see him, but he couldn’t see me.
If I’d thought I’d seen Ian at his angriest before my meeting with Evelyn, I’d been dead wrong. I’d never seen him as furious as he was right now. His face was set in lines of granite and his eyes blazed with temper. His jaw was clenched so hard I was afraid he’d break his teeth.
It seemingly took him a force of will to open his mouth. “Lady Bianca, return to the ground. Now,” he gritted out.
“No.”
“Every resource I have to waste tracking you is a resource that’s not looking for Lord Ferdinand. Is that what you want? Your brother to die because you’re being stubborn?”
Adrenaline and fear and anxiety mixed into a potent tempest that pounded through my system. “My brothers and sisters are everything to me,” I argued, deeply insulted. I pressed my lips together to prevent an angry tirade from spilling out.
There were so many things I could add: how Ferdinand used to take my punishments when I was sick or injured, all the way back to the faint edge of my earliest memories; how Hannah had shown up after Gregory’s death and bundled me home without a single question, despite the righteous fury in her eyes at my weak condition; how my siblings were the only people in the ’verse who loved me for me.
I would personally storm the gates of hell for any of my brothers or sisters. To claim otherwise was to fundamentally misunderstand me as a person.
Realization dawned. Ian was far too clever to make such a mistake; he was trying to use my love for Ferdinand against me. It would be so easy to underestimate Ian Bishop, to be blinded by his gorgeous features and miss the