Novels by Gem

The hideout didn’t feel like a hideout anymore. It felt like the headquarters of three very stressed, very dramatic teenagers who were about to do something extremely stupid. And honestly? Davion wasn’t sure if he was ready for it.Maps were scattered all over the floor—actual printed maps because Irene said “paper can’t be hacked.” Beverly sat cross-legged with a pencil behind her ear, hair sticking up in ten different directions, looking like a chaotic genius. Irene typed loudly on her laptop, muttering curses at code like it personally offended her.Davion stood near the doorway, pacing.“You’re wearing a hole in the floor,” Beverly said without looking up.“Funny, you said the same thing yesterday.”“Well,” she said, circling something on the map, “maybe stop pacing like someone’s dad waiting for the bill.”He glared at her. “You’re hilarious.”“Thanks. I try.”Irene slammed her laptop shut. “Okay, we have a problem.”Beverly groaned. “We have like eighty problems.”“No,” Irene sa

The hideout felt way too quiet that night. Like the walls were holding their breath, same way the whole city seemed to be ever since Iron Hand went down. Davion lay on the old mattress near the back wall, staring up at the cracked ceiling like it was supposed to give him answers. It didn’t. It just sat there, dusty and disappointing—kinda like everything else lately. Across the room, Beverly paced back and forth with her hands buried in her pockets, muttering something about “patterns” and “timing.” She looked stressed. Like, the kind of stressed where even her hair was mad. “You’re gonna wear a hole in the floor,” Davion said finally. She stopped pacing but didn’t look at him. “Something’s off.” “Yeah. The whole world is off.” “No, I mean tonight.” She rubbed her arms like the air suddenly got colder. “Doesn’t it feel weird?” Davion pushed himself up on his elbows. “Everything feels weird since we blew up Genesis.” She gave a weak laugh. “Fair.” But the laugh didn’t stick. Sh

The air in the hub felt different after Reika’s words.Like it thickened. Like the room itself exhaled.Davion didn’t move for a moment. He just stared at Reika, hoping maybe she’d laugh, roll her eyes, say she was joking. Say she misread the data. Say Malcolm wasn’t actually on his way, and everything wasn’t about to explode.She didn’t say any of that.Instead, she whispered, “Time to panic now.”Beverly stepped forward immediately. “How close?”Reika tapped her screen with shaking fingers. “Close enough that we won’t make it out if we start running now.”Wilson threw his hands up. “Awesome. Perfect. My dream scenario—dying in a dusty basement full of dead computers.”Lina grabbed his hoodie and yanked him down. “Shut up! Let her think!”Reika paced once, twice, her boots leaving prints in the dust. “He’s coming with a strike team. A full one. Enhanced units. Probably drones. Possibly worse.”Davion felt something cold bloom in his chest. “So he knows where we are.”Reika hesitated…

The warehouse smelled like smoke and metal, like the whole world had burned and then tried to cool too fast. Davion sat on the edge of a broken table, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. His breaths came uneven, shaky, like his lungs didn’t know if they were supposed to keep going or give up entirely.Beverly stood in front of him, pacing, running a hand through her hair every five seconds. “You’re not listening,” she snapped, her voice sharp but cracking at the edges. “Davion. Look at me.”He didn’t.“Davion.”She stepped closer.He lifted his head, and Beverly froze. His eyes were red—not from tears, but from the smoke and adrenaline draining out of him. His face looked hollow. Older. Like he’d aged years in the few minutes since Genesis collapsed.“He’s alive,” Davion muttered. “I felt him move before the blast hit. You saw it too.”Beverly exhaled hard. “I saw rubble. I saw fire. And I saw you almost die trying to get him out.”“No.” Davion shook his head slowly. “He survived.

The platform lights flickered on one by one, like the entire room was unveiling the monster standing above them. Davion’s father—Dr. Malcolm Kane—looked almost regal in his lab coat, hands clasped behind his back, eyes glowing with that cold scientific curiosity Davion had grown up fearing.He wasn’t holding a weapon.He didn’t need one.“Davion,” Malcolm said, his voice calm in a way that made Beverly tense beside him. “You look… older. Angrier. Good. Pain shapes great men.”Davion’s fists clenched so tight his knuckles cracked. “Don’t talk like you know me.”A small smile curved on Malcolm’s lips. “I created you. I know everything.”“That’s not knowing,” Davion snapped. “That’s controlling.”The entire room hummed, machinery vibrating through the floor. Beverly moved closer to him, her hand brushing his arm. He felt her shaking. Or maybe it was him.Irene twirled one of her batons, glaring up at the platform. “You’ve got guts showing your face after everything you’ve done.”Malcolm

The second Davion yelled Run, the whole world seemed to explode.Alarms shrieked so loud the floor vibrated. Red lights stuttered and flashed like the facility was having a panic attack. Beverly grabbed Davion’s sleeve and yanked him down the hallway just as the heavy chamber doors behind them slammed shut—so hard the walls rattled.Wilson tripped on nothing and screamed, “I CAN’T DO THIS AGAIN! I WAS NOT BUILT FOR CARDIO!”“Shut up and MOVE!” Irene shouted, practically dragging him by the collar.The ground shook again—this time deeper, heavier. Like something massive had just stepped onto the platform they’d escaped from. Davion didn’t dare look back, but he could feel it. The air itself felt wrong. Too thick. Too electric. Too alive.HX-02 was awake.And every instinct in Davion’s body screamed the same thing:This one is built to kill you specifically.The hallway stretched endlessly ahead, pipes bursting overhead, sparks raining down. Beverly smacked a piece of flying debris away