---Red---

Flames lick hungrily at the edges of the shattered windows, casting the room in flickering orange light. Smoke begins to crawl across the ceiling, thick and acrid, stinging my throat with every breath. The fire alarm screams overhead, its shrill, relentless wail only adding to the chaos.

Everyone struggles to their feet, brushing off shards of broken glass and the dust coating their clothes. The air feels heavy, oppressive, like the weight of what just happened is pressing down on us all.

Claire clutches her tablet, her face pale and frantic as she scans the screen. "No, no, no-damn it! The military. They're breaking into the lobby downstairs. How the hell did they get here? Why now?!" Her voice trembles, barely masking her panic.

I glance at Alyse, sitting frozen near the edge of the broken window, staring out into the night. Her hands tremble as they grip the ledge, and her voice breaks in a whisper that grows into a raw scream. "He took Dylan... Dylan..." Tears stream down her face as her knuckles turn white against the jagged glass. "Fuck!"

"Alyse, we need to move! Now!" Kylen barks, his tone cutting through the chaos. "The military is coming, and they'll be here any second!"

I rush to Alyse's side, dropping to one knee beside her. "Alyse, look at me. We'll get him back, I swear, but we can't do it if we're captured or killed here. Right now, we have to go." My words feel like they're bouncing off a wall. She doesn't respond, her body rigid and unyielding.

"Keegan! Kat!" I call, my voice sharp with urgency. "Help me get her up!"

Keegan and Kat rush over, each grabbing an arm as we hoist her to her feet. Alyse doesn't resist, but she doesn't help either, her legs like dead weight as we drag her toward the elevator. Behind us, Hail smashes the elevator button, urging the lift to move faster.

The flames have spread, now consuming the walls and sending plumes of black smoke curling toward the night sky. As the elevator doors slide open with a ding, Hail waves us in, and we cram inside, the heat of the fire pressing against our backs.

"Come on, come on," Kylen mutters under his breath as the elevator begins its slow ascent. The tight space is filled with shallow, panicked breaths, the smell of smoke clinging to us all.

When the doors finally open to the rooftop, we spill out into the cool night air. The helicopter's blades are already spinning, whipping up wind and scattering ash as Hail, Claire and Kylen leap aboard. Keegan and Kat lift Alyse into the chopper, and I follow, glancing back just in time to see the elevator doors below us blast open.

Soldiers pour out, their rifles gleaming in the firelight as they take position. They stop short of shooting, their eyes following us as the chopper lifts off, their expressions as grim as ours. Below, Smith Tower is a blazing inferno, the fire raging unchecked as the building slowly succumbs.

I slump back in my seat, every muscle in my body taut with exhaustion and fear. The team sits in silence, Alyse clutching her knees to her chest, her tear-streaked face buried between them.

"What the hell do we do now?" I whisper, my voice barely audible over the roar of the helicopter.

---Hail---

The helicopter hums as it cuts through the night sky, the rhythmic thrum of its blades drowning out the chaos we just left behind. The air inside feels heavy-stifling even-despite the cold wind slicing in through the open sides. No one speaks at first, and the weight of the silence settles like an anchor in my chest.

Alyse sits with her arms crossed, staring out at the dark expanse below. Her hair is a tangled mess, and her face is streaked with ash and smoke. She hasn't said a word since we left Smith Tower.

I watch her, the tension in her shoulders, the way her nails dig into her arms. She's barely holding herself together, and I don't know if she'll even make it through the night without breaking.

"I'm sorry," she says finally, her voice small, almost swallowed by the noise of the chopper. "This is all my fault."

Red looks up from where he's been gripping the edge of his seat, his knuckles white. "What?"

Alyse doesn't turn to face him. "I should've been smarter. I shouldn't have gone to that first crash site as myself. If I'd gone as Arc Angel, maybe... maybe the military wouldn't have figured out who I was or tracked us back to the tower. I blew our cover. I'm the reason they're onto us now."

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, the cold metal of my mask pressing against my face. "Alyse, you couldn't have known. You did what you thought was best."

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"It wasn't enough," she says, her voice trembling. "All I've done is make this worse. If I'd just handled it differently-"

"No one blames you," Kat cuts in, her tone firm but not unkind. She sits next to Keegan, her fingers gripping the edge of the seat as if grounding herself. "You did what you had to do to get the information Keegan and I couldn't. If you hadn't stepped up, we wouldn't know anything about Vermidia's involvement. We'd still be in the dark."

Keegan shifts uncomfortably, glancing between Kat and Alyse but saying nothing.

Alyse shakes her head, her voice thick with frustration. "But at what cost? Dylan's gone. The tower is gone. We're running blind, and now the military is breathing down our necks. How is that not my fault?"

"It's not," Red says, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. He looks at Alyse, his usual cocky demeanor gone. "We're all in this mess together. We'll figure it out, but blaming yourself isn't going to bring Dylan back. If anything that's my fault for letting Domnik escape the first time."

I bite my tongue, knowing well it's my fault for even killing Domnik in the first place. I led him into the hands of his mother in that moment. I was too blinded by vengeance. If they knew I caused this-I can't even think about that right now.

She finally looks at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I just... I just wanted to help. And now I don't even know if I can."

"You can," I say, my voice quiet but certain. "We all can. But not if we tear ourselves apart over things we can't change."

If only I knew Red would say the same thing to me if he found out what I did. He wouldn't take it this lightly, that I'm sure of.

The helicopter dips slightly, and I glance at the horizon. The sun is just starting to peek over the edge of the world, its light breaking through the darkness. I let out a breath, the smallest sliver of hope sparking in my chest.

The tension in the helicopter is suffocating, and I can feel the frustration boiling over inside me. Without thinking, I drive my fist into the wall, the impact reverberating through the cabin. Frost creeps out from my hand, snaking into the metal like veins of ice.

"What the fuck do we do now?" I demand, my voice sharp and ragged.

Red leans back in his seat, rubbing his temples as though trying to stave off the weight pressing down on all of us. "Honestly? I have no clue. The tower's gone. We've got no base, no plan. I'd say the Bridge Lab, but government agents are probably crawling all over it by now. And on top of that, this country's about to be overrun by Spawn."

His words hang in the air, heavy and bitter. I rake a hand through my hair, feeling utterly useless.

Claire, seated near the cockpit, glances back at us over her shoulder. "Well, the part about not having anywhere to go... that's not entirely true."

Her voice cuts through the gloom, and we all turn to her. I narrow my eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose, the faintest trace of a smirk on her face. "Let's just say I've been working on something in my spare time these last few years. It's at the Smith Inc. facility in Texas. And now feels like the perfect time to show it to you guys."

"What kind of 'something' are we talking about?" Kat asks, her tone skeptical but curious.

Claire doesn't answer right away. Instead, she taps furiously on her tablet, her fingers flying over the screen. "You'll just have to wait and see," she says, the faintest hint of smugness creeping into her voice. "I've uploaded the coordinates to the nav system. We should be there in a few hours."

Kylen leans back in his seat, arms crossed. "Alright then. Looks like we don't have much choice. Everyone sit back and try to relax. We've got a long ride ahead of us."

I exhale sharply, my hand still stinging from the punch. The ice begins to melt, leaving a faint patch of frost on the wall. "Relax," I mutter to myself, shaking my head. "Yeah, easier said than done."

As the helicopter glides forward, I stare out into the sunrise, the light cutting through the remnants of smoke and chaos from the night before. My mind churns, unable to quiet the storm. We've lost too much in just a few hours-Dylan, the tower, our footing.

Whatever Claire's been working on, it better be good. Because right now, it feels like we're barely holding on by a thread.

---Keegan---

I glance over at Alyse, her gaze distant and fixed on the horizon beyond the helicopter window. "You doing okay?" I ask, keeping my tone light but knowing the answer is probably no.

She sniffles and brushes away a tear with the back of her hand. "Yeah... just thinking, that's all."

I offer her a small smile, leaning back slightly. "Do you always cry when you think?"

That gets her attention. She groans, shoving me lightly, a laugh breaking through the cracks of her sadness. "No, you smartass. I'm thinking about your best friend."

"Dylan's a tough guy," I say, my voice steady. "I've known him my whole life. If anyone can handle this, it's him. I promise you, spiraling over it isn't helping him-or you."

She sighs deeply, her shoulders slumping as her walls begin to crumble. "Well, what else am I supposed to think about, Keegan? Should I think about how we're criminals now? How we've lost our home-again? How one of my best friends, who I thought was dead for four years, just showed up brainwashed by his psychotic mom and kidnapped my boyfriend? Or maybe I should think about how this world is about to be overrun by daem, just like Naurus?"

The words spill out of her like a flood, raw and jagged. For a moment, there's only the sound of the helicopter blades slicing through the air.

"Well, when you put it that way..." Kat mutters from across the cabin, her voice dry but soft enough to cut some of the tension.

I lean forward slightly, meeting Alyse's tired eyes. "Think about the people who are still here, Alyse. The ones still fighting with you."

She pauses, her lips twitching into the faintest smirk. "Right... glass half full," she murmurs, the smallest glimmer of hope creeping back into her voice.

"That's the spirit," I say, trying to match her smirk. Deep down, though, I can feel the same weight pressing down on all of us. Dylan's out there somewhere, and everything feels like it's hanging by a thread. But for now, we just have to hold on to whatever we can-because that's all we've got.