Page 19

KAIA

B oom.

The world tears open like the gods themselves just declared war—and I’m caught in the goddamn middle of it.

One second I’m walking through Central R&D with two rookies, barely paying attention to the bullshit protocol check we were assigned. The next? The floor lurches, a roar splits my skull in half, and the ceiling comes down like judgment.

Everything happens so fast.

I don’t scream. I can’t . My lungs are crushed by the shockwave as stone and steel rain from above. A wave of raw force slams into me, launching my body into the corridor wall. My head snaps back. Then, nothing.

Pain drags me back.

A white-hot lance straight down my spine. I taste blood. I smell fire. My ears ring like a goddamn church bell, and I realize I'm buried.

Trapped.

Can’t move. Can’t breathe.

"Fuck," I gasp, spitting dust and ash from my mouth. “What the hell just happened?!”

Panic claws its way up my throat like a living thing, but I slam it back down.

Focus, Kaia. You’re not dying like this.

I twist, one arm pinned under a collapsed pipe. My other hand’s free enough to grope for leverage. A hiss of pain slips through clenched teeth as I wedge my foot against a half-broken beam and shove .

The pipe gives.

Barely.

But it’s enough.

I roll onto my side, coughing, vision spinning. The world’s on fire—flames licking through busted conduits, smoke turning the air thick and choking.

And then I hear it.

A sound.

Not rubble shifting.

Not fire crackling.

A whimper.

High-pitched. Childlike. Broken.

What the?—?

I blink hard, rubbing blood from my eyes, crawling over a mound of cracked concrete. The whimper comes again.

I freeze.

It’s coming from behind a collapsed column, beneath it, maybe. The eastern vault hallway. The one I wasn’t supposed to go near. The one the map didn’t show but that’s humming under my boots every time I walk this route.

I wedge my shoulder into the gap between two slabs and push. “Hold on,” I rasp. “I’m coming. Just hold?—”

Another whimper. Muffled. Weak.

The column won’t budge.

Rage flashes behind my eyes. Pure, wild and unfiltered. My chest burns, a strange sensation buzzing low and deep—like something in my blood is waking up .

I slam both palms against the stone.

“MOVE!”

Light explodes.

Not fire. Not heat.

Magic.

A flash of golden light erupts from my skin, from my fingertips—no, from beneath them. The stone vibrates , groans, and then it splinters , shattering outward in pieces like the compound itself is obeying me.

I stumble back, panting, and just stare at my hands.

They’re glowing.

Not like a flashlight. Not like some tech glitch. No.

Something I've seen very little of before. Fae-light.

My blood turns cold and electric all at once.

The shimmer fades fast, but not before I see it: faint markings along the backs of my hands, curling up my forearms like vines etched in fire. Beautiful. Terrifying.

Real.

“What the fuck —” I whisper, heart jackhammering.

And then, the kid.

I dive into the space I just cleared. There’s a boy, no older than ten—curled in the corner. His skin is streaked with soot, one leg clearly broken, gashes lining his torso. His breathing is shallow, chest fluttering like a bird too far gone.

I crawl to him, hands shaking. “Hey, hey, you’re okay,” I murmur, even though I know that’s a lie. “You’re gonna be okay, alright? Just stay with me?—”

His eyes flutter open.

Yellow. Not like a sickly yellow. Like wolf eyes.

Shifter.

“Please,” he whispers. “Don’t let them take me back. Let me die if you’re going to return me.”

My breath catches.

He knows. He’s been here. He was caged here.

“Oh gods,” I whisper. “What the hell is this place?”

I look around and realize I’ve never seen this section of the lab before. There looks to be crushed cages everywhere. And the bodies…

He gasps. His whole body starts to spasm, lungs seizing.

“No, no, no—stay with me—shit—don’t you fucking die on me?—”

I press my hands to his chest without thinking, pure instinct.

And that feeling floods me again.

It’s not like anything I’ve ever known.

It’s not like my Order training, or adrenaline, or even survival instinct.

It’s warmth. It’s wildness. It’s like the earth breathes through me and the stars bend down to help.

And the glow returns.

Fae light erupts from my palms, threads of gold and white weaving into his skin, into the wounds, through the breaks.

The air crackles.

The boy gasps.

Suddenly, he breathes.

Even. Calm.

Alive.

I collapse forward, forehead hitting scorched stone.

Everything fades. My muscles give out.

But not before I see him.

Through the settling smoke, half-shadowed in the rubble.

Ice-blue eyes.

A flicker of ash-pale skin.

Elias.

He’s not close enough to touch. Just there.

Watching.

I blink and my vision goes black.

All I know is everything just changed.

Forever.