Page 36

36

JACKSON

W e stay just long enough to make sure the compound will burn.

Kirin lays the final sigil on the outer pillars. Dez superheats the walls with a fire glyph that’ll leave nothing behind but ash and regret.

I watch Sera.

She stands by one of the inner columns, back straight, but the way her hands twitch and un-twitch at her sides gives her away.

She’s vibrating with something I can’t name.

It’s not victory. It’s not rage. It’s grief —but worse. Grief with teeth.

I walk up slowly.

“Place is gonna be nothing but bones and rumors by morning,” I say. “It’ll take them more than a while to find another place to hold any rituals.”

She doesn’t respond right away. Her eyes are fixed on the scorched circle at the center of the room—the one where they tried to use her as a doorway. Where they almost succeeded.

Then she says, “I’ve been thinking.”

That fucking tone.

Every hair on my neck stands up.

I move closer. “Sera.”

She turns to me, face unreadable. “We should sever the bond.”

The words hit me like a sucker punch to the ribs.

“No.”

Her brows lift, like she expected me to argue—but not like this.

“Sera, don’t.”

“It’s dangerous,” she says, voice flat. “They’ll keep coming for you. As long as it ties us, you’re a walking target. You’re the key, Jackson. You think they’ll ever stop hunting you?”

“I don’t care,” I growl. “You think I give a shit what they want? You think breaking this—us—is gonna fix anything?”

Her eyes flicker with something I can’t quite read.

Pain?

Hope?

Fear?

All of it?

“I’m trying to protect you,” she snaps.

“I don’t want to be protected!” I shout. “I want you. ”

The silence afterward is deafening.

I step closer, not touching her—yet. But I want to. God, I need to.

“You said this bond makes me the key,” I say. “Fine. Then let them try the door. Let them choke on it.”

Her breath hitches.

I lower my voice. “You and me—we’ve survived too much for you to toss it now. YOu and me, we don’t back down, so what makes this any fucking different? I don’t care if the whole fucking world burns. I’m staying. With you. ”

It takes her a second. Then she nods. Just once. And I swear my knees damn near buckle from the relief.

We surface right as the morning light creeps over the hills. What’s left of the compound collapses behind us with a roar that sounds like a dying god.

Rafe’s got comms running, trying to get updates from the other safe zones. The twins are securing the perimeter, making sure no one tracked us out.

Lio meets us halfway down the trail. His eyes are wide, wild. “Gods, I’m glad I found you. You need to see this.”

“One time, just once, do you think you could have good news for us?” I say sarcastically as we pick up the pace to follow him.

“Hopefully,” is all he says before taking off in shifter form to lead us in.

There’s a small outpost built into the cliff ridge—half ruined, half reinforced. It has a comm crystal big enough to tap the old frequencies.

We crowd around the screen while Lio rewinds the footage.

And there it is.

Broadcasted from somewhere in the ruins of Salem, grainy and unstable, but clear enough to wreck your entire fucking day:

Gideon’s Torch.

Typhon’s Brood.

Together.

Their flags flown side by side.

A single figure steps in front of the camera—hooded, cloaked in ceremonial red and black. A voice distorted through old enchantments speaks one clear message:

“We are united now. The age of false peace is over. Let Portland burn.”

The feed cuts.

The silence that follows feels like someone took the air out of the room.

Dez mutters, “Oh, fuck me running. ”

Sera just closes her eyes for a long beat. Then she looks at me and says, “We need to move fast.”

“No more waiting for orders?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No more asking. We take the fight to them.”

I feel the fire spark inside me, burning away the doubt.

This is it. We fucked up their ritual so now they pulled their last thread. The war’s not coming. It’s here.