Page 124 of Ruthless

At the far end, in the final cell, a figure sat on a simple bench. Even from a distance, I would have recognized him anywhere.

Luka.

The moment I saw him, my heart nearly stopped. Without thinking, I rushed forward, outpacing the guard, who called sharply after me. I didn't care. Nothing mattered except getting to him.

When I reached the transparent barrier of his cell, I pressed my palms against it, the cold surface shocking against my feverish skin. "Luka," I whispered, my voice cracking open like thin ice.

He rose from the bench immediately, wincing with the movement but pushing through the pain. His face showed evidence of his violent struggle with Prometheus—bruises blooming purple and black across his cheekbone and jaw. The bullet graze at his side had clearlygone untreated. But what struck me most was his expression—alert, calculating, unbroken despite everything.

He pressed his hand against the barrier to mirror mine, our palms separated by mere inches of transparent material that might as well have been miles.

"Vincent," he murmured, leaning his forehead against the barrier. I did the same, closing my eyes briefly, imagining I could feel his warmth through the cold surface between us.

"Forty-five minutes," the guard reminded us before retreating to a position at the corridor entrance.

"Well, look at you," Lo said, his voice deliberately light. "Finally found accommodations worthy of your sparkling personality. Love what they've done with the place. Very minimalist chic. Very you."

Luka's mouth twitched in what might have been the ghost of a smile. "Didn't think they'd let anyone in," he said, his voice hoarse as if he'd been screaming. Or as if someone had tried to choke him. The thought made my hands curl into fists.

"We're here," Lo confirmed. "And I had to call in every marker I've collected since 2012 to get that, so make it count."

Luka nodded, then shifted his gaze fully to me. "Vincent," he said, my name carrying a weight of meaning I couldn't fully decode.

"You're hurt."

"I've had worse," he said, the familiar deflection somehow comforting in its predictability.

"No, you haven't," I contradicted gently. "Not like this."

He sighed, his hand moving briefly to the untreated bullet graze at his side, then wincing as the movement pulled at his injured arm. "It was worth it. I killed him, Vincent. Prometheus is dead."

I nodded, my brain clinically noting my contradictory responses: relief flooding my system with endorphins while dread simultaneouslyconstricted my throat. Classic trauma response. I'd probably diagnose myself with acute stress disorder if I weren't so focused on Luka. "You did it, Luka. You saved Ana."

Luka's expression shifted, a complex mixture of joy, pain, and disbelief crossing his features. "She remembered me. When she heard him confess what he'd done... and then she shot him."

"Shot him?" Lo interjected, leaning forward with sudden interest. "Ana shot Prometheus?"

"Yes," Luka confirmed. "She's the key, Vincent. Her testimony about what he did to her, to both of us... the Pantheon has rules about asset treatment. He violated nearly all of them. And Prometheus wasn't just violating asset protocols. He was working against the Pantheon itself. He confessed to killing Apollo right in front of me. In front of Ana. He was talking about challenging Zeus.”

"Jasper thinks Zeus is planning some kind of internal purge,” Lo said. “His current theory is that Prometheus was his primary enforcer."

"That confirms what he told me at the penthouse," Luka said grimly. "Prometheus admitted he was testing my loyalty because he needed absolutely loyal assets for whatever Zeus was planning. He was preparing for some kind of power struggle."

"Exactly," Lo said. "Jasper's been digging through the Pantheon archives and records—the original ones, not the revised garbage they use now. He thinks there might be enough evidence to convince the tribunal to show leniency."

Luka's eyes narrowed. "And Jasper thinks this evidence might help at the tribunal?"

"It provides context," Lo replied. "Shows that your actions weren't just personal revenge, but potentially saved the Pantheon frominternal corruption. Jasper believes there's enough evidence to argue that Prometheus was betraying the organization's core principles."

"That's why Rhadamanthys didn't just execute me on the spot," Luka murmured thoughtfully. "He's giving me a chance to present evidence at the tribunal."

"Or setting you up for a very public failure," Lo cautioned. "Never trust a Judge entirely."

"We need to prepare," I said, my mind already racing ahead. "If Ana testifies about what Prometheus did to both of you, and we present Jasper's evidence about Prometheus eliminating other directors on Zeus's orders..."

"We might be able to convince the tribunal that Luka acted not just in self-defense, but in defense of the Pantheon itself," Lo finished.

"They'd still want me dead," Luka said quietly. "I killed one of their own."

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