"Vengeance is a poison, a slow death of self. Seek justice. Seek truth. But if you choose revenge over all else, you will lose more than your soul." - Kerri Maniscalco (Kingdom of the Cursed)

* * * *

The wind was soft tonight.

Sera stood near the wide window that spanned nearly half the length of the wall in Rex's office, no, his home, too.

The pane was thick and armoured, but the world beyond it still felt close. Through the layers of reinforced glass and the quiet hum of security seals, she could just barely hear the breath of Ashenridge: low chatter in the distance, the occasional bark of laughter from the people having their daily meal just down the road, and even that of boots scuffing against the walkways.

The village had grown since Aegis had last been here. A network of survivors, Gifted, and sympathetic Normals alike, bound together not by law or ideology, but by shared grief. Shared fear. And shared fury.

The remnants of those once hunted and broken had built something here. And yet, even here, the shadows reached long.

Sera turned her head slightly as the door clicked shut behind her. Zest stepped to her right, wordless, folding his arms and leaning his shoulder against the wall beside the map-board. His crimson eyes swept over the table in the center of the room—strewn with documents, sealed folders, data-pads, and even half-drunk mugs of tea gone cold.

He didn't say anything. He rarely did in meetings like this unless it was necessary.

Across from her, Rex sat back down in the armchair, fatigue in the tightness of his brow. His caramel hair had grown a little longer than the last time she saw him, and there were faint circles beneath his eyes that hadn't been there before.

His desk, usually meticulous, was cluttered now with reports and folders, some pages even yellowed from exposure. A fatigue not just in his face, but in his bones.

And to his right, Mara stood with a slight forward lean, her arms crossed but her gaze sharp. Her grey tunic was stained with what looked like oil and dust, and a half-dried cut marred her upper left arm beneath the torn fabric. She didn't bother hiding it.

They had been listening to Sera tell them everything that had happened for the past year, and what Aegis had been up to. Listening to everything without asking any questions.

Blackpool. The rescue of Wes. The bloody cost of escape. The sacrifice of Claudia and Ness. The defection of not one, but two elite ESA squads. And finally, the events at Kald. The betrayal by Maia. The massacre of the hunters. The surfacing of the truth behind Blue Pandora.

Now, the silence in the room wasn't just weighty. It was suffocating.

Rex finally exhaled, his voice low and gravelled. "I see."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

That was all he said. And yet, it landed like a hammer.

Sera folded her arms slowly, her gaze fixed on him. "I know it's a lot. We didn't want to dump this on you, but we didn't have a choice. Nicolosi's moves are escalating."

Rex's brows furrowed. "I still don't trust the ESA. Somewhat."

Beside him, Mara shifted her stance and gave a subtle nod. "Let them earn their trust. And their keep," she said, her voice steady. "This is my instincts talking, but I believe they're really sincere and truthful about their intentions. Besides, majority of them are Gifted. I'm honestly surprised they stayed in the ESA this long, considering that this madness had gone on for nearly a year now."

Sera exchanged a look with Zest. His jaw twitched just faintly. He wasn't the type to express open emotion, but she could feel it through the air. Tight and tense, like lightning before the crack.

"I'm honestly just waiting for the other shoe to drop," Sera admitted, drawing in a slow breath. "Leroy and the others are still in Zalfari, keeping an eye on things for us. But with everything that's happened? There's no way Nicolosi wouldn't retaliate. It's been nearly a week since everything. And the hunters have been quiet. Too quiet."

Zest's voice came then—low and smooth, but edged with something raw. "Abyss is in full lockdown. And Zalfari is locked up tighter than even Abyss." He glanced at Sera. "Nicolosi wouldn't target either of them. Not yet."

Sera finished the thought. "In that case, he'll go for the ESA."

Zest nodded. "Or maybe the Council. He's been testing Blue Pandora on himself, from what we know. His mental faculties…" He trailed off. "Let's just say Blue Pandora is definitely affecting his mind and his decision-making abilities. The old Nicolosi was dangerous, yes, but calculated. Cold. Cunning. The version of him now?"

"Is dangerous and unpredictable," Rex muttered.

Mara's lips drew into a line. "Which makes him terrifying. There's no control in it now. There's no order to his madness. We can't predict his next movements, or what he'll do. It's men like that that are the most dangerous."

Sera felt it, an icy shiver skimming the base of her spine.

Blue Pandora.

A drug crafted from the lifeblood of the Gifted. A synthetic monstrosity that burned through the body like wildfire, awakening Gifts where there were none, or pushing existing ones into volatile mutation. And in Normals, enhanced their senses and physical abilities, but at a cost.

They had learned it at Veridale. Karl had told them what he knew before he'd died. They had seen what the perfected Blue Pandora did since.

And Nicolosi… Nicolosi had been injecting it into himself.

"It explains the erratic behaviour," Zest said. "He's breaking from within, and he's dragging all of Eldario with him."

Rex leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, fingers clasped together. "And yet, he's still in power."

"That's the terrifying part," Sera murmured. "There's no pushback. None that lasts. The hunters are untouchable. The Council? They're either complicit, silent, or dead. And now? Entire towns have been turned into ghost cities. The underground's in chaos. The witch hunts are intensifying."

"They're not just killing Gifted anymore," Mara added. Her voice was like a blade. "They're doing things to them. Experimenting. Weaponising their bodies. Selling them like black market stock. We've had people come into Ashenridge with surgical implants burned into their skin. Stitched eyes. One of them—a boy barely nine years old had his spine replaced with synthetic coils. They turned him into a conduit. A battery."

Zest's hands curled into fists. Sera's chest clenched. She remembered the dead bodies at Veridale. The chambers. The scent of rot and ozone and blood.

"I saw a child in Zone 0 like that once," Sera whispered. "Long ago. Back during Project Nonary. She couldn't even speak anymore by the time they're done with her. They'd wired her larynx to suppress her Gift. She was four."

The silence that followed was brutal.

Rex rose from his chair, pacing. "And no one's standing against him at scale. No one that has the reach. We can't stay hidden forever."

"The resistance can't either," Mara added. "We're running out of corners to hide in."

Sera felt the weight in her chest grow. "The ESA agents—well, former ESA now, I guess. They're coping surprisingly well, all things considered."

Mara gave a small, almost sardonic smile. "To be honest, I think this 'defection' had already been on their minds for a while now. Leonid's face when you brought him here… It wasn't the face of a man who had just turned traitor. It was relief. Like he could finally breathe."

Sera nodded faintly. She had seen it too—in Elijah, in Jonan, even in Louis and Misha, and the rest of their teammates. That haunted look. That hollow quiet. They'd stopped being ESA a long time ago. They were just waiting for a reason.

Then, a knock at the door broke Sera out of her thoughts. All four within the room turned.

The door creaked open and a young man stepped in, his sleeves rolled up, with dust and sweat visible on his brow. One of the people of Ashenridge. Sera recognised him vaguely as one of those that lead the construction crews when building the homes and facilities that Ashenridge needs.

The man's voice was soft, but urgent, looking apologetic at interrupting. "My apologies." His gaze swept over the four of them. "Rex, you told me to come and get you, didn't you, once that guy's condition changed? Lucas Alescio?"

Rex's head snapped up. "I did, yes." He looked at Sera, something flickering in his eyes. "Has anything changed?"

The Ashenridge man nodded. "Yeah. He's awake."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.