It had grown even dimmer, the deepening indigo of the evening sky swallowing the last remnants of fading sunlight. White stars began pricking through the darkness, delicate points of light scattered like scattered shards of glass across the heavens.

  There was no need to check a watch. Anyone with a shred of experience would know it was that hour. The one when the city streets should be abandoned, locked away behind monster-proof doors, as if the world itself had agreed that creatures of unnatural intent could roam freely in the shadows.

  Tee and Miko moved with quiet urgency, threading their way through the narrow alleys and construction zones, the metallic tang of the half-built skyscrapers filling the damp night air. They weren’t hunting just any monster—they were pursuing a creature that bore no resemblance to a Xenosapian, leaving Zod and Kie with the more predictable threat, Varrak.

  “Why are you moving so slow?” Tee snapped, frustration edging her tone as she glanced at Miko, whose pace had lagged slightly behind.

  Miko’s reply was calm, almost resigned. “Everywhere is wet.”

  Every step Miko took was a memory of a lesson learned too painfully. The last time she had tried to match her maximum speed, the earth itself had turned against her. Sade had manipulated the ground beneath her, wrapping it around her feet so violently that the bones and muscles connecting her lower legs to her knees had torn out of place.

  The pain had been unimaginable, a searing agony that lingered long after the injury had healed. She had promised herself she would never allow it to happen again, not even for a fraction of a second. That memory forced her to move cautiously, even though she could have outrun a laser beam with ease.

  They halted abruptly where the alley opened to the frame of the unfinished skyscraper. Metal walls lined either side, but here they ended, revealing the skeletal structure of the building. Darkness pooled between the beams and girders, swallowing any hint of depth, making it impossible to see all the way through. Tee’s frustration spiked.

  “Dammit!” she cursed under her breath, pivoting to Miko. “Miko, watch my back. When I activate my eye ability, I won’t hear a thing around me. If you need to pull me out, do it without hesitation.”

  Miko nodded, her own pulse quickening at the anticipation, and Tee blinked once, activating her foreseeing ability with an effortless motion. Her vision ripped past walls and metal beams, scanning the structure’s upper floors, leaping from shadow to shadow, over the empty staircases and partially completed floors.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him—a small figure, a boy crouching dangerously at the end of a flight of stairs. The stairs led to nothing, stopping abruptly in midair, a lethal drop waiting below. Every instinct in Tee’s body screamed at her to reach him immediately, yet another part of her mind registered the question. Why hadn’t he gone back up the stairs? Why linger at the edge of certain harm?

  “What is it?” Miko’s voice wavered, concern lacing her words.

  Tee remained silent, reminding Miko that Tee couldn’t hear through her ability.

  The decision flickered through Tee’s mind. Should she pretend she hadn’t seen the boy at all? Her eyes moved past him, up the staircase behind him, and into a doorway that opened onto the only second-story floors that were partially built. And there it was—the monster, crawling along the metal frame with predatory intent.

  The boy’s predicament was immediate and terrifying. Climbing back up the stairs would expose him, and the doorway offered no cover. Worse, the only completed stairway leading downward emerged directly beside the monster, a silent threat poised and waiting.

  Tee’s pulse quickened at the thought of the creature noticing him. She didn’t know if it was like a Xenosapian that would hunger for her flesh, but her experiences had taught her that any monster—Xeno or otherwise—would stop at nothing to inflict pain. The memory of the Leak from the foggy forest surged through her, making her stomach knot and sending a flush of adrenaline coursing through her veins.

  She forced herself to pull her vision back, drawing a mental map of the safest path to reach both the boy and the monster without alarming either.

  When Tee’s eyes refocused, Miko asked, “Did you see it?” Her voice trembled slightly, betraying her inner conflict. She wanted to know the truth, yet a part of her feared it. Facing the beast meant confronting danger head-on, and her heart wasn’t sure it wanted to do that tonight.

  “Yeah,” Tee admitted, her voice firm. “And I know the perfect way to sneak up behind it and end it. As soon as we step through that doorway, we’ll start throwing our swords toward the front-right corner. But first, we’ll need to play the hero.”

  Miko blinked, confusion knitting her brow. “Huh?”

  Tee offered no explanation. She bolted ahead, the rhythm of her footfalls striking sharp, deliberate notes against the wet metal. Miko followed, words repeating themselves in her head, trying to piece together the plan as they ignored the myriad warning signs: “Danger,” “Construction in Progress,” and the signs urging helmet use. None of it mattered. The mission and the boy’s life were their only concerns.

  They paused beneath the incomplete stairway, staring upward at the boy crouched at its dangerous end. Miko finally understood what Tee meant by playing the hero. Her heart clenched at the sight of him, small and terrified, lips bitten raw, eyes wide with unspoken panic. One finger pressed to her own lips, she signaled him to remain silent before using her famous lip-speaking skill to assure him they were there to help.

  The boy nodded shakily, trembling, a bomb waiting to detonate in tears. Miko scanned the stairs behind him and saw the doorway Tee had mentioned—the probable path the monster had taken. Any sound could draw its attention, and the boy would be its first target.

  Tee’s focus was entirely tactical. She wasn’t concerned with emotions. She was concerned with execution. The boy had to be moved silently, and they had to land softly to preserve the element of surprise for the monster above.

  “If only we had a ladder,” Miko whispered.

  Tee’s lips tightened. “Then we make one,” she said, lowering her voice, forming her hands into a cup. “Step inside. I’ll lift you high enough to reach him and lower you gently.”

  Miko nodded, understanding the logic instantly. Tee’s spiked boots would dig mercilessly into her skin, and with the added weight of the boy, it would be more painful.

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  “Look,” Miko gasped, eyes widening at something behind Tee.

  Several extension ladders leaned against a wall. They hurried over and propped the ladder against the wall. Water dripped from it and splashed loudly onto the ground—so loud it could’ve been mistaken for a man relieving himself right there. Both Tee and Miko froze, startled by the sound, and the little boy nearly jumped at their sudden expressions.

  Tee squeezed her eyes shut and reached out with her senses, scanning frantically for the monster. Her heart sank when she realized it was no longer on the second floor—it had already climbed to the third, scaling the metal beams of the building’s frame. There went her surprise attack. Dammit.

  “Keep moving,” Tee instructed. Her voice was calm but carried an underlying tension.

  The relief was palpable for Miko, though tempered by the monster’s absence. They moved the ladder together, wet floors threatening to betray them with every step. Extended and secured against the stairway, they stared at the boy, whose wide eyes reflected terror and disbelief. Tee climbed first, controlling her temper. The boy reached for her instinctively, his small hands clutching her.

  Then Tee saw it. A black smoke-like mark on his left hand. Her blood ran cold. The mark mirrored her own, and panic screamed in her mind. She froze, forcing herself to remain calm, to act naturally, rolling down the sleeve to conceal it from Miko. The boy, clinging tightly, was already terrified enough. Revealing he was a Xeno-victim could compromise everything.

  Tee descended carefully, one hand securing the boy, anger bubbling beneath her control. MG officials had been using that child—selling him like livestock to Varrak. She gritted her teeth, silently promising to praise Kie if the bastard met his end.

  Once on solid ground, Tee scanned for safety. Miko followed, hearts pounding, breaths shallow. They found a construction machine—a possible refuge. The doors were locked. Tee’s fist shattered the window, her motion precise, controlled, yet brutal.

  “Tee!” Miko screamed. “What are you doing?”

  Tee ignored her, placing the boy inside the cab. “Stay here. I’ll come for you when it’s over.”

  Miko nodded, tears threatening to spill, as Tee’s attention returned to the hunt. Tracking targets with her eyes, Tee climbed atop stacked shipping containers, assessing the MG officials below. Miko’s confusion mounted.

  “I thought we were after the monster,” she whispered.

  “The real monsters are the MG officials,” Tee said coldly, summoning a sword, eyes locked on the unsuspecting man. “Watch closely as I eliminate one. It will be a fast and painless death,” she said coldly, her voice steady and void of mercy. Her pale eyes never left the clueless official hiding below on the ground level.

  Miko felt her stomach twist. Something about Tee’s tone wasn’t right. It wasn’t one of her jokes or heated threats. She was serious. Deadly serious.

  Before Miko could say anything, Tee’s arm flicked. Her sword spun through the air like a silver disk, slicing through the mist and heading straight for the man’s chest.

  “Tee No!” Miko shouted.

  Acting on instinct, Miko summoned her own sword and hurled it at the flying blade. The clash of metal rang out through the air as the swords collided, Tee’s weapon deflecting away with a violent spark.

  The sound startled the man below. He flinched, twisting his head around to see what had happened. Though the sky had grown darker, he could still make out two silhouettes high above him—two girls standing on the stacked containers. The white-haired one was staring right at him with eyes sharp enough to pierce steel. The look on her face made his heart lurch. He gasped, almost screamed, then turned and bolted through the mud.

  “No! He’s getting away!” Tee’s voice cracked like thunder.

  Without hesitation, she jumped down and darted after him. Her boots splashed through the water as she summoned another sword in a flash of light. It zipped toward the man’s legs—but Miko once again intervened, throwing her weapon to intercept. The sword barely missed, grazing the man’s boot and slicing the leather clean off. The force of his sprint tore the rest away, leaving one bare foot slapping against the cold, muddy ground as he ran for his life.

  “Tee, stop!” Miko screamed, tears blurring her vision.

  But Tee didn’t hear her—or didn’t care to. The chase consumed her. Her eyes were locked on her target, her breathing quick and harsh. Every ounce of reason drained from her expression, replaced by something darker, something Miko had never seen before.

  The man stumbled over a puddle and fell hard, crying out in pain. Miko’s heart dropped. She sprinted forward, appearing in front of Tee in a burst of speed. “Tee, stop!” she shouted, spreading her arms out.

  Tee’s glare snapped to her. In a heartbeat, she shoved Miko with both hands, her strength sending her teammate stumbling backward. Miko’s boots slipped on the wet ground, and before she could recover, she toppled over.

  That should’ve been enough to make Tee stop. But it wasn’t. Miko’s shriek made the man look back in terror. His entire body shook. He tried to stand, but his ankle had twisted when he fell. He managed one hop before collapsing again, his breath ragged, his heart hammering against his ribs.

  And then he saw her.

  Tee was charging toward him, eyes burning with fury, her face shadowed by the dim light. She didn’t look human at that moment. She looked like a vengeful spirit, a predator closing in for the kill.

  But before she could strike, a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her from behind.

  “Tee, stop!” Miko’s voice rang out, full of desperation. She had recovered, sprinted back, and tackled her friend just in time. Her grip was firm, trembling, but she refused to let go.

  Tee’s balance faltered. As she fell backward with Miko holding her, she caught a glimpse of the man sprawled on the ground just inches away. In that split-second opening, she raised her leg and kicked with brutal precision.

  Her boot connected with his jaw—hard.

  The crack of bone echoed through the empty lot like a whip. The man’s head snapped to the side, his body spinning from the impact. He rolled several times, splashing through shallow puddles before landing face down, still and silent.

  The world went quiet.

  Tee’s chest rose and fell rapidly, her breath sharp and uneven. Her eyes, still fixed on the man, searched for any sign of movement. When there was none, she tore herself out of Miko’s grip.

  “Let go of me!” she snapped.

  Miko’s hands fell away, trembling.

  Tee stood, her expression hardening again, and began walking toward the motionless body. She had to make sure he was dead.

  “Tee, stop!” Miko screamed, her voice cracking in panic.

  The shrill plea hit Tee like a slap. She froze mid-step, turning to see Miko’s face—her eyes wide, glistening with tears, her lips quivering. That expression broke something in her. Miko wasn’t angry. She was terrified.

  Miko scrambled up from the ground and rushed forward, grabbing Tee’s arm with both hands and pulling her in the opposite direction.

  “Please, Tee,” she said, her voice shaking. “I think something’s wrong with you. You need help.”

  Her words hit harder than any strike.

  Tee just stood there, her body tense. She wanted to lash out again, to deny it—but the sound of fear in Miko’s voice made her hesitate. Miko reached for her telecom, fumbling to report what had happened, but Tee jerked her arm free.

  “You think I need help?” Tee hissed, emphasizing the word as if it were poison. She took a sharp step toward Miko, slamming her boot into the ground with enough force to make the puddles ripple. “Fool! Can’t you see what they’re doing?”

  Her anger burned through her words, but the moment she saw Miko’s wide, innocent eyes staring back, her fury faltered. Miko didn’t understand—she couldn’t.

  Tee’s lips pressed tightly together. She wanted to tell her everything—the truth about the abductees, the horror behind what the officials were doing, the secret that tied it all together. But if she said it with this much emotion, Miko would know. Miko would suspect her.

  And Tee couldn’t afford that.

  Not when she was one of them.

  Dammit.