"Stop!"

The voice was female, authoritative, and cold as ice.

Celestia Singleton strode into the room. She wore a black power suit that looked like armor. Her heels clicked on the marble with military precision.

Behind her, twelve men in tactical gear flooded the room. They carried riot shields with the Singleton Global logo. They moved fast, forming a phalanx between Gideon and Julian.

The wall of shields blocked Julian's line of sight.

"Celestia!" Julian roared. "Get out of the way! This is my wedding!"

Celestia ignored him. She walked straight to Gideon. She looked him up and down, checking for wounds. Her eyes were wide, panicked, but her face remained stoic.

"Gideon Combs is under the protection of the Singleton family," she announced. She turned to face the balcony. "He is a contract holder. Taking him is my right."

The room gasped. The Singleton and Davidson families were rivals, but this was a declaration of war.

Gasper leaned over the railing. His face was twisted.

"You're starting a corporate war for a dead man's apprentice?" Gasper spat. "Are you stupid, girl?"

"It's about the integrity of the contract," Celestia said, though her voice wavered slightly.

Gideon looked at her. He saw the pulse jumping in her neck. She was terrified. She was defying the two most powerful families in the city for him.

"I don't need your help," Gideon said quietly. "Move."

Celestia spun on him. Her eyes flashed. "Shut up," she hissed. "You have no idea what you've done. That's Gasper Davidson. He will kill you."

Gasper raised his hand.

"Kill them all," Gasper said. "Leave the girl."

Side doors burst open. Davidson's elite guard entered. These men didn't have batons. They had automatic rifles.

The red lasers danced across the Singleton shields.

"Drop the weapons!" the Davidson captain shouted.

"Protect the asset!" the Singleton captain yelled.

The tension in the room was a physical weight. One loud noise, one twitch, and the Plaza Hotel would become a morgue.

Gideon sighed. He stepped out from behind the shield wall.

Celestia grabbed his arm. "Gideon! No!"

He shook her off gently. He walked into the open space between the two armies.

He looked up at Gasper. "You want to play the big game? Fine."

Gideon's left hand brushed his belt. In between his fingers, three small, silver capsules appeared.

Julian saw his chance. The shields were gone.

He fired.

Bang.

Celestia screamed.

Gideon didn't duck. He tilted his head to the left. It was a minimal movement, calculated to the millimeter.

The bullet grazed his cheek. It left a thin, red line, stinging like a paper cut.

Gideon smiled.

He flicked his wrist. The three silver capsules flew through the air. They didn't go toward the guards. They went into the large air intake vents near the floor.

There was a soft hiss. No explosion. No smoke. Just a sound like a tire deflating.

Gideon looked at Julian.

"Game on," he said.

Silence followed the gunshot.

Everyone waited for Gideon to fall. He didn't. He stood there, the blood trickling down his cheek, looking bored.

The Davidson guards raised their rifles.

Then the first man coughed.

It was a wet, hacking sound. He dropped his rifle. It clattered loudly on the floor. He grabbed his throat, his eyes bulging.

Then the second man dropped to his knees. He was clawing at his tactical vest, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

Gasper stared down from the balcony. His elite squad was falling like dominoes. There was no blood. No wounds. Just instant, incapacitating weakness.

Gideon moved.

He wasn't looking at the guards. He sprinted to the stage.

Chelsea was trying to crawl away. Gideon grabbed her wrist and yanked her up.

"Open," he commanded.

She struggled. He squeezed her jaw. The pain forced her mouth open.

He dropped a small white pill onto her tongue. He clamped her mouth shut and stroked her throat. It was a reflex. She swallowed.

Chelsea gagged. She shoved him away, clawing at her mouth.

"What did you do?" she shrieked. "What is that?"

Gideon leaned in. His eyes were dark voids.

"Judas Kiss," he whispered. "It contains a protein marker. Inert for now. But if you betray the contract again, it binds to your nervous system. The pain will be... educational."

It was a lie. The pill was a harmless composite, but it contained a trace isotope that would show up as an anomaly on any standard scan, confusing any doctor she hired without actually harming her.

"If you ever try to break the contract again," Gideon said, his voice smooth as silk, "the toxin activates. You'll bleed out from every pore."

Chelsea collapsed. She was sobbing, hysterical, clutching her stomach.

Julian saw her fall. The rage overtook the pain in his ribs.

He raised the gun again. "I'll kill you!"

He fired blindly.

The bullet went wide. It hit the chain of the massive crystal chandelier above them.

The chain snapped.

Gravity took over. Two tons of crystal and steel plummeted.

It crashed between the Singleton shields and the Davidson guards. Shards of glass flew like shrapnel. Dust billowed up.

Gasper was coughing now. He held a handkerchief to his mouth.

"Gas!" Gasper wheezed. "Masks! Put on your masks!"

The Davidson guards who were still standing fumbled for their masks. Their movements were sluggish, uncoordinated.

Gideon walked back to Celestia. She was staring at him with horror. The gas hadn't reached her yet; the airflow was pushing it away from the door.

"You did this?" she whispered.

"Sedatives," Gideon said. "Short half-life. They'll wake up with a headache."

A deep, rhythmic thumping sound vibrated through the floor. It grew louder.

Helicopter rotors.

Bright, blinding searchlights cut through the tall windows, washing the ballroom in stark white light.

A voice boomed from a loudspeaker outside.

"THIS IS THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. DROP YOUR WEAPONS. THIS AREA IS UNDER MILITARY LOCKDOWN."

Gasper's face went gray. The police he could buy. The FBI he could stall. The military? That was a different beast.

Gideon looked at the window. He wiped the blood from his cheek.

"Finally," he muttered.

The windows shattered inward.

Ropes dropped. Men in black tactical gear rappelled into the ballroom. They moved with a fluidity that made the private security look like amateurs.

Within seconds, every armed man in the room was face down on the carpet, zip-tied.

The double doors opened again.

General Mullins walked in.

He was a mountain of a man in a dress uniform. Four stars on his shoulder. His face was a map of old scars.

Gasper Davidson stumbled down the stairs. He was sweating profusely, the effects of the gas making him wobble.

"General!" Gasper shouted. "Thank God. This terrorist attacked us! He used a biological weapon!"

Mullins stopped. He looked at Gasper.

"Silence," Mullins barked.

He walked past Gasper. He walked past the sobbing Chelsea. He walked straight to Gideon.

Gideon stood next to Celestia. He had his hands in his pockets. He looked relaxed.

Celestia stepped in front of him. Her voice was shaking, but her chin was up.

"General," she said. "He is my employee. He was acting in self-defense."

Mullins looked at her. Then he looked at Gideon.

His eyes fell on Gideon's left hand, specifically the ring on his ring finger. It was a simple band of black iron. But etched into the metal was a tiny symbol. A wolf's head with three eyes. The Shura.

Mullins's eyes widened. His spine snapped straight, the muscles in his neck cording with sudden tension. His right hand twitched upward, a reflex honed by decades of service, beginning to form a salute.

Gideon locked eyes with him. He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.

Mullins froze. He caught the motion mid-air. He awkwardly turned the salute into a gesture of smoothing his lapel, clearing his throat loudly to cover the lapse.

He turned to Gasper.

"Who fired the first shot?" Mullins asked.

"It was him!" Gasper pointed at Gideon.

"Ballistics will tell us," Mullins said coldly. "But I see automatic rifles on your men, Mr. Davidson. Those are illegal in a civilian zone."

Gasper sputtered. "General, I am a donor to your-"

"You are a suspect," Mullins cut him off. He stepped into Gasper's personal space. "If you say one more word, I will have you arrested for domestic terrorism."

The room went dead silent.

Mullins turned back to Gideon. His voice changed. It was softer, respectful.

"Sir, we need to take you in for questioning."

"Of course," Gideon said. "I have nothing to hide."

Julian was being loaded onto a stretcher. He lifted his head.

"He poisoned her!" Julian screamed. "He fed her poison!"

Mullins looked at Gideon.

"Vitamin C," Gideon said. "She looked pale."

Mullins didn't smile, but his eyes crinkled.

"Clear the room," Mullins ordered. "Seize all footage. No one speaks to the press."