As the monster clawed at the sides of the Strider, Kato, Vinn, and Rhea sat frozen inside, trying to figure out how they were supposed to survive this thing.

  Then, suddenly, it stopped.

  Silence.

  “Is it gone?” Kato whispered, glancing at Vinn.

  “I don’t know,” Vinn muttered. “You check.”

  Kato shook his head immediately. “I’m not sticking my head out there. It’ll bite it off.”

  Before Vinn or Rhea could respond, the monster let out a deafening screech—then bolted.

  The entire vehicle rocked as it tore away, its heavy footsteps pounding toward the town.

  The three of them sat still, listening as the sound faded.

  Rhea slowly leaned toward the narrow viewing slit and peered outside.

  Her eyes widened.

  “This is bad,” she said under her breath. “It’s heading straight for Angelo’s location.”

  “Shit,” Vinn muttered. “Now what? We have to engage it.”

  He grabbed the door handle and started to pull—

  Kato caught his arm.

  “Wait. Think for a second,” Kato said sharply. “That Angelo guy took out all those Watchers and Angels by himself, right?”

  “Yes,” Vinn said cautiously. “Where are you going with this?”

  “Then do you really think he needs our help fighting one monster?”

  Vinn hesitated.

  Rhea did too.

  “Still,” she said, “we can’t just sit here. We need to observe him and report to HQ.”

  Kato released Vinn’s arm and gave a small shrug. “I never said we should sit here.”

  Vinn grabbed his rifle and checked the chamber.

  “If we’re keeping tabs on it, we move now.”

  “Agreed,” Rhea said. “Kato, bring the radio. We’ll follow.”

  Kato nodded, gathering the portable radio system from the Strider while Vinn and Rhea reloaded their weapons.

  The hatch creaked open. Cold air rushed in.

  Vinn and Rhea stepped out first, rifles raised.

  Kato followed, already keying the transmitter.

  “Iron Veil, this is Private Kato Drex of Echo Needle. Do you copy?”

  Inside the Warden, Lieutenant Asha Relin snatched up the receiver.

  “This is Lieutenant Relin. We hear you loud and clear. What’s your status?”

  “We were attacked by a monster,” Kato reported.

  Relin straightened in her seat. “Any injured?”

  “No, Lieutenant. No casualties. We tried to take it out, but it was too fast. We fell back to the vehicle. It’s now heading toward Angelo, and we’re following.”

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  Relin straightened immediately and turned toward Colonel Veltin.

  “Keep the line open,” Veltin ordered. “I’ll relay this to HQ. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary.”

  “Roger that,” Kato replied. “Maintaining live updates.”

  The three moved carefully in the monster’s wake, weapons up, tracking its path toward town.

  Inside the Warden, Veltin patched through to HQ and delivered the report directly to General Kaelen Mordane.

  “Tell them to send a live video feed,” Mordane ordered. “From now on, they report directly to me.”

  Veltin switched back to the field channel.

  “Echo Needle, new orders. Maintain distance from both the monster and Angelo. Initiate live video feed to HQ. You are now reporting directly to the General. Confirm.”

  “Confirmed,” Kato said. “Orders received. Sending live feed now.”

  Kato and Rhea set up the camera from the second bag Kato carried, locking the live feed to HQ.

  “General, confirm—video and audio clear? Any static?” Kato asked over the radio.

  Mordane’s voice came back crisp. “Feed is clear. No interference.”

  Through the lens, they watched the monster close in on Nero and Dorne—both armed and waiting.

  The beast slowed… then stopped.

  Its gaze locked onto Nero.

  Kato leaned toward Vinn. “Why did it stop like that?”

  A rifle shot cracked—the first from Dorne.

  The monster exploded into motion, lunging.

  “Do we assist, sir?” Rhea asked.

  “Negative,” Mordane replied flatly. “Engage only if it attacks your unit.”

  “But General,” Rhea pressed, “isn’t the objective to retrieve Angelo? What if he dies?”

  “If he cannot handle a single monster,” Mordane said calmly, “then he has limited value alive. If he dies, he becomes cleaner data. Less complication.”

  Rhea’s jaw tightened. Her eyes never left Nero.

  “Understood, General.”

  They watched.

  Dorne took a slash to the shoulder but kept firing. Nero’s shots forced the creature back—briefly.

  Then both weapons clicked empty.

  The monster charged again.

  It struck Dorne square in the chest.

  He was hurled backward, hit the ground hard, and skidded to a stop—bleeding, unmoving.

  “Man down, General,” Kato said, voice tight. “Do we step in?”

  “No,” Mordane answered immediately. “Maintain distance.”

  Kato’s fist curled. His teeth ground together.

  “Roger.”

  All they could do was watch as Dorne bled into the dirt.

  “Why isn’t Angelo moving away from the fire?” Vinn muttered.

  Kato frowned. “You’re right. He hasn’t moved at all.”

  Rhea noticed it first.

  The frost beneath Nero’s feet glistened under the moonlight.

  She raised her thermal scope.

  Looked through it.

  Then froze.

  “His body temperature is critically low,” she murmured. “Too low for viability.”

  She switched to the thermal imaging feed.

  “General… you need to see this.”

  Vinn took the scope. His eyes widened.

  “How is that possible?”

  Mordane’s voice came quieter this time. Almost thoughtful.

  “Ten degrees Celsius… he should be in cardiac arrest.”

  Before anyone could respond, Nero roared—

  “COME ON, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

  He stepped away from the fire.

  The thermal reading dropped further.

  The monster struck.

  Its claws drove into Nero’s chest—

  —and froze mid-snarl.

  Ice spread from the wound, crawling up the creature’s own limbs.

  Inside the Iron Veil, Lieutenant Relin stared at the monitor.

  “Negative twenty degrees Celsius… and falling. He’s weaponizing it.”

  The cold wasn’t clinging to Nero.

  It was radiating from him.

  Ice webbed across the monster’s arms. Its movements faltered.

  It tried to pull free.

  Nero held on.

  “You’re freezing with me,” he growled, laughing through the pain.

  Kato went pale.

  “Is he… laughing? And why isn’t there any blood?”

  Vinn didn’t look away. “Yeah. He’s laughing. And I don’t see any hemorrhaging either.”

  The monster thrashed, clawing wildly.

  Nero seized its other arm.

  Panic set in.

  The beast dragged him toward the fire.

  Kato’s eyes widened. “It’s going to—”

  “DIE ALREADY, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” Nero roared.

  With a violent screech, the monster hurled him into the flames.

  The fire surged.

  Kato exhaled sharply.

  “… Ah, shit.”