Darkness wrapped the mining road like a shroud, the sudden blackout from the helicopter plunging everything into chaos. The song echoed in my skull—
Silent night… holy night…
not just a whisper now, but a roar, syncing with the hum from the mountains. Luca clutched his head, groaning. Torin staggered forward, massive frame trembling like a tree in a gale.Mara's eyes glazing over as she dropped to one knee. Mia clung to my side, her small hand in mine, but even she shivered whispering the lyrics under her breath without realizing.
Mom raised the rifle, scanning the shadows. "Fight through it!"
Headlights flared back on—police cruisers pinning us in beams like spotlights on a stage. Doors slammed. Boots crunched snow. "Hands up! On the ground!"
Apex Veil troops melted from the trees six of them, matte-black gear blending with the night, suppressors on their rifles glinting under the cruiser lights. Not the public face. These were the cleaners. The ones who made problems disappear.
The blackout hit us all at once.
I moved first or the thing inside me did. Rifle up, firing controlled bursts into the dark. One trooper dropped, knee exploding in red mist. Luca lunged at another, tackling him to the ground, hands around his throat squeezing until cartilage popped. Torin roared, charging like a bull, grabbing a trooper by the vest and hurling him into a rusted mining cart—metal crumpling, bones shattering with a wet crack.
Mara was a blur, She caught one trooper across the face, tearing skin and gouging eyes. He screamed, firing wild. A bullet grazed her arm, blood blooming dark on her jumpsuit. She didn't stop. Knife from his belt in her hand now, slashing up under his chin deep, arterial spray arcing across the snow like spilled ink.
The cops fired back pistols barking loud in the night. Mom dropped low, returning fire cool, precise shots that took one officer in the shoulder, spinning him down. Mia screamed once sharp, terrified then went silent, curling behind the truck tire. I felt the Aether surge through me, turning fear to fuel. I vaulted over the hood, tackling a Veil trooper mid-reload. My fist connected with his helmet crack, visor shattering. I ripped it off, slammed his head back against the asphalt once, twice, until his skull gave with a sickening crunch.
"Elias!" Mom's voice cut through. "We have to run now!"
The song swelled—
All is calm… all is bright…
but the blackout held, bodies piling up. Two troopers left, retreating to the trees, firing suppressing bursts. A cop lay dying in the snow, gurgling blood, radio crackling: "Officers down suspects armed send backup!"
We broke for the ridge Luca dragging Torin, who'd taken a bullet to the leg, blood trailing red in the white. Mara scooped Mia onto her back. Mom covered our retreat, rifle barking until the clip ran dry.
We ran lungs burning, snow sucking at our boots. The mountains hummed louder, vibrating underfoot like a heartbeat. Behind us, shouts and sirens faded, but I knew it wasn't over. Crowe wouldn't let it be.
We crested the ridge, breath ragged, when headlights blinded us again—not cruisers. A black SUV, engine idling, door open. A figure stepped out familiar, calm.
Dr. Hale.
My therapist. Soft-spoken, kind eyes. Now standing in the snow with a small boy beside her maybe Mia's age, bundled in a coat too big, dark hair peeking from under a hood. He stared at us without blinking.
"What the hell?" I gasped, rifle swinging up instinctively. Mara tensed, Luca and Torin flanked us, blood dripping from wounds.
Dr. Hale raised her hands slow, peaceful. "Elias. Lower the gun. I'm here to help."
Mom stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "How did you find us?"
Hale smiled faintly, snowflakes catching in her hair. "I've always known where you were. From the first session. The Aether leaves traces. Like breadcrumbs."
Mia slid off Mara's back, peering at the boy. He didn't smile back. Just watched her with eyes that seemed too old.
Questions tumbled out—mine first. "Who are you really? Apex? Police?"
Hale shook her head. "Neither. I'm with the ones who gave you the gift. Valthorne. The country your people stole. The procedure wasn't torture, Elias. It was awakening. We woke the Aether in you in all of you. Harlan Kane's. He was one of ours once. A double agent. He passed it on."
Luca snarled. "Bullshit. You're lying."
Hale's eyes softened. "I wish I was. Draven sent me. To bring you back. The mountains are waking fully now. They need their vessels. You're not monsters. You're the key to reclaiming what's ours."
Mara stepped closer,"Draven's dead. Apex wiped them out."
Hale tilted her head. "Dead? Am not so sure about that.
Torin growled, limping forward. "Enough talk. We're not going anywhere."
The boy hadn't moved. Hale glanced at him, voice gentle but commanding. "Show them, Kai. Bring them home."
Kai's eyes changed—pupils dilating to black voids. He shrugged off his coat, small frame shivering once in the cold. Then his back arched unnatural, spine cracking like knuckles. Skin split along his shoulders, dark tendrils erupting thick, writhing tentacles slick with something like oil, tipped with barbs that glinted under the SUV's lights. They grew fast—meters long, coiling like living vines, pulsing with faint blue Aether glow. His face twisted—mouth stretching too wide, teeth sharpening, eyes glowing sick green. Not a boy. A monster. Or the Aether made flesh.
"What the fuck—" Luca fired first, pistol barking. Bullets hit the tentacles squelching into flesh that knit back instantly. Kai lunged tentacles whipping forward like strikes from a scorpion.
One caught Torin across the chest barbs sinking deep, ripping fabric and flesh. Torin roared, swinging his massive fist, but the tentacle coiled around his arm, squeezing. Bone cracked loud, wet. He dropped to his knees, blood pouring from gashes that smoked like acid burns.
Mara charged towards him. A tentacle intercepted wrapped her mid-swing, lifting her off the ground. She thrashed, knife slashing, but the barb pierced her thigh deep, twisting. She screamed raw, agonized as it pumped something into her vein. Blue lines spiderwebbed under her skin, the Aether spreading.
Luca fired again empty clip. A tentacle slammed him sideways, cracking ribs against a tree. He gasped, blood bubbling from his lips.
I shoved Mia behind Mom, rifle up firing bursts into Kai's chest. Bullets punched holes black ichor spraying but the boy-thing didn't fall. Tentacles regenerated, faster now. One whipped toward me barbed end grazing my side, fire exploding through my ribs. I staggered, vision blurring.
Mom fired the last rifle rounds hitting Kai's face, shredding cheek to bone. He howled not pain, but rage voice distorting into something ancient, echoing the song.
Hale watched calmly. "He's one of the awakened. Pure Aether. You can't kill him. Come willingly, or he'll take you broken."
Mia screamed as a tentacle snaked toward her coiling around her leg, lifting. "Eli!"
The Aether in me surged not blackout, but power. I charged knife out, slashing at the tentacle. It severed black blood spraying but another replaced it, slamming me down. Barbs pierced my shoulder agony, white-hot, spreading like venom. I felt it the Aether merging, whispering welcome.
We were losing. Badly.