The city lights faded behind them as Raine guided Lian through twisting backstreets. She moved like she had walked these paths a thousand times—silent, fast, and alert.
Lian struggled to keep up. His lungs burned, and every few seconds, the warmth under his skin pulsed again, reminding him of the power that had exploded from him earlier.
Finally, Raine stopped in front of an old convenience store with a flickering sign.
SOLIS MARKET
Lian blinked.
"Is this… yours?"
Raine ignored the question. She tapped a hidden panel beneath the counter and whispered something Lian couldn't hear. A dull click sounded, and the floor behind the shelves slid open, revealing a staircase descending into darkness.
Lian stared.
"Seriously? A secret basement? Are you some kind of spy?"
"Not a spy," Raine said.
"A survivor."
She motioned for him to follow.
The Descent
The stairs spiraled down farther than Lian expected. The air grew cooler, and the hum of machinery echoed faintly from below.
When they finally reached the bottom, Raine pressed her palm against a metal door. It scanned her hand, then slid open with a hiss.
Inside was a dimly lit room filled with monitors, maps, and shelves of old books. A soft blue glow came from a crystal-like lamp on the desk, casting strange shadows across the walls.
Lian's eyes widened.
"This… is your hideout?"
"Safehouse," Raine corrected. "One of them."
Lian swallowed.
"If you have a place like this… what exactly are you?"
Raine didn't answer immediately. She walked to a table and picked up a small metallic device, then turned back to him.
"Sit."
Lian sat hesitantly.
Raine pointed the device at him. It emitted a low hum.
"Hold still. I'm checking your resonance."
"My what?"
"Your body is reacting to the Ember Core fragment," Raine explained. "Your power awakened too fast. It could overload."
Lian flinched.
"Overload? You mean… explode?"
"Not explode."
She paused.
"Burn."
Lian's stomach dropped.
"Great. Fantastic. Burning from the inside. Love that for me."
Raine actually smirked—just a little.
"You have jokes. That's good. Fear kills clarity."
The device beeped. Raine's expression darkened.
The Truth Starts to Unfold
"What?" Lian asked. "What does that beep mean? Something bad? Something really bad? On a scale of one to—"
"Lian."
Her voice was calm but firm.
"You're not just reacting to the Ember fragment. Your body is synchronizing with it."
Lian blinked.
"Synchronizing? Like… syncing Bluetooth?"
Raine sighed.
"Something like that, but far more dangerous."
She set the scanner down and looked directly at him.
"There's a reason those men chased you. A reason the Red Moon appeared tonight. A reason the Ember energy chose you."
Lian felt a chill crawl up his back.
"Why? I'm nobody."
"No." Raine shook her head.
"Someone hid the truth from you. Your family… isn't what you think."
Lian froze.
"What do you mean? What truth?"
Before Raine could answer, every monitor in the safehouse flickered to red.
A warning message flashed:
INTRUSION DETECTED.
HOSTILES APPROACHING.
Raine's eyes sharpened.
"They found us."
She grabbed Lian's arm.
"Stay behind me. If they capture you now, everything is over."
Lian's heart pounded. His skin heated. The embers inside him stirred violently, responding to danger.
He took a shaky breath.
"Raine… I don't know how to control this."
"I'll teach you," she said, pulling two glowing blades from a hidden compartment.
"But first—"
The metal door shuddered as something slammed against it.