Everything happened at once.
And in slow motion.
Like watching a car crash through water.
The guards moved—hands going for weapons. Bharat's arms tightened around the unconscious girl. Ayesha stepped forward, positioning herself between them and the guards, her hands raised in a gesture that wasn't quite surrender.
"WAIT!"
Her voice cracked the air. Sharp. Commanding. Nothing like the quiet girl who'd sat in temple corners pretending to be invisible.
This was different.
This was the Saint's Daughter.
And the guards hesitated.
Just for a second.
But a second was enough.
"I am Ayesha Kapur," she said. Each word deliberate. "Daughter of the Saint. Vessel of the Sacred Line. And I am invoking Code Sanctum."
Silence.
The guards exchanged glances.
"Code Sanctum?" the lead guard repeated. "That hasn't been used in—"
"Twenty years. I know. I'm using it now."
"You don't have the authority—"
"I have EXACTLY the authority. Check your protocols. Section 7, Subsection 3: Any direct descendant of the Sacred Line may invoke sanctuary protection for one individual during active rescue operations."
"This isn't a rescue operation."
"It is now."
Ayesha's hand went to her collar—pulled out a pendant Bharat had never seen her wear. Silver. Old. Inscribed with symbols that made his Contract Vision flare.
Temple hierarchy binding.
Real.
Undeniable.
The guards saw it.
And something in their posture changed.
From aggressive to uncertain.
"Ma'am, the protocol requires—"
"The protocol requires you to stand down and allow me to remove one sacrifice candidate under protective custody. Which is what I'm doing."
"The Elders won't—"
"The Elders will be informed. After. As per protocol."
The lead guard's hand hovered near his weapon. Indecision playing across his face like shadows.
"This is irregular."
"This is legal. Now step aside or I file a binding breach report that puts all three of you in front of the temple tribunal."
Long pause.
Then the guard stepped aside.
"You have ten minutes to clear the building. After that, Code Sanctum expires and you're trespassing."
"Understood."
Ayesha grabbed Bharat's arm. Pulled him toward the exit. The girl still unconscious in his arms.
They ran.
The alarm started thirty seconds later.
Not the guards.
Something else.
System alarm.
High-pitched.
Mechanical.
Spreading through the building like a virus.
Peacock's voice crackled:
"What did you DO?"
"Saved someone."
"You triggered the harvest monitoring system. Every temple facility in Mumbai just got pinged that a sacrifice candidate is missing."
"Can you stop it?"
"I can TRY. But Bharat—this is bad. This is very, very bad."
They burst through a side exit.
Into an alley.
Rain falling.
Heavy.
The kind that turns the city into a watercolor painting.
Bharat laid the girl down.
Checked her pulse.
Weak but steady.
"She's alive," he breathed.
"For now," Ayesha said. "But we need to get her somewhere safe. Somewhere the temple can't—"
Bharat's phone buzzed.
System notification.
But different.
Urgent.
Red text.
╔════════════════════════════════╗
║ ⚠️ WARNING: CRITICAL EVENT ⚠️ ║
╠════════════════════════════════╣
║ HARVEST PROTOCOL INTERRUPTED ║
║ TEMPLE RESPONSE: ACTIVE ║
║ PENALTY ASSESSED ║
╠════════════════════════════════╣
║ COUNTDOWN ADJUSTMENT: ║
║ -48 HOURS DEDUCTED ║
║ ║
║ NEW DEADLINE: 22:15:43 ║
╠════════════════════════════════╣
║ REASON: INTERFERENCE WITH ║
║ SCHEDULED SACRIFICE COLLECTION ║
║ ║
║ THE TEMPLE DOES NOT FORGET. ║
║ THE TEMPLE DOES NOT FORGIVE. ║
╚════════════════════════════════╝
Bharat stared at the screen.
At the numbers.
At the new countdown.
Twenty-two hours.
Not forty-six.
Twenty-two.
"No," he whispered.
"What?" Ayesha leaned over. Saw the screen. "Oh god. Oh god, Bharat—"
"I lost two days."
"Because you saved her."
"Because I interfered."
The bells in his skull EXPLODED.
GONG. GONG. GONG.
So loud he couldn't think.
Couldn't breathe.
His vision fractured—
Contract Vision activating—
Showing him the bindings reshaping:
Layer 1: The girl's contract
Severed. Cut loose. She was free.
Layer 2: His own binding
Tightened. Compressed. The temple's grip closing around his throat like a fist.
Layer 3: The cost
Visible now. Clear. Undeniable.
Every life he saved accelerated his own death.
Every interference with the temple's harvest shortened his deadline.
The system wasn't just tracking time.
It was enforcing consequences.
Bharat collapsed.
Knees hitting pavement.
Hands clutching his head.
The bells wouldn't stop.
WOULDN'T STOP.
"Bharat!" Ayesha's hands on his shoulders. "BHARAT, STAY WITH ME!"
But he couldn't.
Couldn't focus.
Couldn't see anything except the countdown:
22:14:09
22:14:08
22:14:07
Less than a day.
Less than a fucking day.
His phone rang.
Peacock.
Ayesha answered.
Put it on speaker.
"—at did you expect would happen? You think the temple doesn't have failsafes? You think they'd just let you steal their merchandise without consequences?"
"She's not merchandise," Ayesha snapped. "She's a person."
"To the temple, she's an asset. A resource. And you just cost them a scheduled harvest. They're going to compensate by accelerating yours."
"There has to be a way to reverse it."
"There is. Put her back."
"WHAT?"
"I'm serious. Return her to the facility. Let the harvest proceed. The countdown resets."
Silence.
Just rain.
And bells.
And the sound of the girl breathing.
Unconscious.
Unaware she was the price of Bharat's survival.
"We're not doing that," Ayesha said quietly.
"Then Bharat dies in twenty-two hours. And Mira inherits the curse. And everyone you're trying to save dies anyway."
"There's another option."
"What?"
"We get the three keys faster. We break the binding before the countdown ends."
"You have twenty-two hours. You haven't even secured ONE key. The ring heist is in two days. The sanctum infiltration needs a week of prep. The bell—" Peacock's voice caught. "—the bell is in that building you just ran out of. You literally had it. Thirty meters away. And you chose HER instead."
Bharat looked at the girl.
At her face.
Young.
Peaceful in unconsciousness.
Unaware of the choice he'd made.
The trade.
Her life for his.
"I'd do it again," he said quietly.
"What?"
"If I had to choose again. Right now. Knowing what it costs. I'd still save her."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"Probably."
"You're going to die."
"Eventually. Yes."
"In TWENTY-TWO HOURS."
"Then I'll have to work fast."
He stood.
Legs shaking.
Vision still fractured.
But standing.
"Ayesha, get her somewhere safe. Somewhere the temple can't reach. Use your Code Sanctum authority if you have to."
"What are you going to do?"
"Get the keys."
"In twenty-two hours? That's impossible."
"Probably."
"Bharat—"
"The ring heist is in two days. I don't have two days. So I'm moving it to tonight."
Peacock's voice crackled:
"Tonight? Rajan won't be vulnerable tonight. The cleansing ritual is—"
"I don't care when the ritual is. I'll make him vulnerable."
"How?"
"Haven't figured that out yet."
"This is suicide."
"This whole thing has been suicide since the moment I signed that contract. At least now I'm choosing what I'm dying for."
He picked up the girl.
Handed her carefully to Ayesha.
"Take care of her."
"You're really doing this."
"Yes."
"You're really going to try to steal the ring, infiltrate the sanctum, find the bell, and break the binding in less than a day."
"Yes."
"You're insane."
"So people keep telling me."
Ayesha looked at him.
Really looked.
Like she was trying to memorize his face.
"If you die doing this—"
"Tell Mira I'm sorry. And that the marriage was the realest thing I've done in years."
"Bharat—"
"Go."
She went.
Carrying the girl.
Disappearing into the rain.
Bharat stood alone in the alley.
Phone in hand.
Countdown burning:
22:08:34
Peacock's voice was quiet:
"You know this won't work."
"Probably not."
"You know you're going to die."
"Everyone dies. Question is whether it means something."
"And saving one girl means something?"
"More than dying with a clean conscience and dirty hands."
Pause.
Then:
"You're either very brave or very stupid."
"Can't it be both?"
Peacock laughed.
Sharp.
Bitter.
"You want my help?"
"Yes."
"Even though it's hopeless?"
"Especially because it's hopeless."
"Why?"
"Because hopeless is when people like you do your best work."
Silence.
Then:
"Ring heist. Tonight. Rajan's estate. I'll have a plan in three hours."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me if you survive."
The call ended.
Bharat looked up.
Rain falling.
City drowning.
The bells screaming.
GONG. GONG. GONG.
And beneath them—
A new sound.
Faint.
Familiar.
The prayer bell.
Still in that building.
Still thirty meters away.
Still impossible.
His phone buzzed.
Text from Mira:
"I heard what happened. I heard what you did. And I heard what it cost."
Pause.
Three dots.
Then:
"I would have done the same thing."
"PS: Come home alive. I'm not ready to be a widow yet."
Bharat smiled.
Bitter.
Broken.
But real.
"Neither am I," he typed back.
He looked at the countdown:
22:03:17
Looked at the rain.
Looked at the impossible task.
"Alright," he whispered to no one. "Let's see how much I can break in twenty-two hours."
The city didn't answer.
Just kept drowning.
Just kept waiting.
For him to save it.
Or die trying.