Whitaker's fingers flew across his phone screen, his heart pounding as he typed the message that would change everything.Chen is Lewis's mole. She knows about the cottage. Evacuate everyone. Now.He hit send and watched the message disappear into the ether, praying Copper would check his phone in time.***At the cottage, Copper's phone buzzed on the kitchen table.He was in the middle of a conversation with James about the next steps when the vibration cut through his thoughts. He glanced at the screen, and the color drained from his face."Everyone, listen to me!" Copper's voice cut through the easy morning chatter like a blade. The room fell silent, all eyes turning to him. "We have to leave. Now."Andrew set down his coffee cup. "What's going on?"Copper held up his phone, his hand steady despite the urgency in his voice. "Whitaker found the mole. It's Deputy Director Chen. She's been feeding information to Don Lewis. He knows where we are."The silence that followed was absolute

Helen sat beside Bella's bed long after the tea had gone cold, watching her daughter shiver beneath the mound of blankets. The fever had climbed again to104, then 105. She had given her medicine, cooled her with damp cloths, wrapped her in every blanket in the house. Nothing helped.She picked up her phone for the tenth time that hour, her thumb hovering over Jackson's name. She had called him twice already. Twice to voicemail.But Bella needed him. Needed the boy who had looked at her daughter like she was the only light in the darkness. Needed the man who had promised, over and over, to protect her.Helen pressed the call button.It rang once, twice and then three times.But at the end of it all, it still went to voicemail.She waited for the beep, her voice tight with fear and frustration."Jackson, it's Helen. Bella's mother. Bella is sick. Something is wrong. She's been burning up for two days, and nothing I do helps. She calls for you in her sleep. Please—please call back. She n

The car tore through the nearly empty streets, Jackson's hands tight on the wheel, his knuckles white, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Beside him, Jacqueline watched the buildings blur past, her mind reaching toward Bella through the bond she shared with Jackson, trying to feel what he was feeling.Sophia sat in the back, her eyes closed, her empathic senses reaching ahead of them. "She's burning up," she said quietly. "I can feel it from here. It's like a fire."Jackson pressed harder on the accelerator.***Helen had lost track of time.She sat beside Bella's bed, her daughter's hand clutched in both of hers, her voice hoarse from talking. She had told her about her first steps, her first word, the time she had insisted on wearing her Halloween costume to school for an entire week. She had told her about the day she was born, the way she had looked up at her mother with eyes that seemed to already know everything.She had told her about Jackson, about the way he looked at her, a

Vaughan thrust the orb toward the Engine's core.The light exploded outward—blinding, searing, consuming. Vaughan felt the orb drink deep, felt the Genesis Engine's power flowing into him, felt something ancient and vast stirring in the depths of his consciousness.His body convulsed, muscles locking and releasing in spasms that should have torn him apart. The light poured into him, through him, around him, remaking him in its image. He screamed—not in pain, but in exultation. This was what he had been waiting for. This was what he had endured the void for.Don Lewis stumbled back, his hand raised against the blinding light. "You fool! You don't know what you're doing! Primis isn't a weapon—it's a prison! It will consume you!"But Vaughan wasn't listening. He could feel it now—the power, the resonance, the thing that had been waiting in the darkness for millennia. It was reaching for him, wrapping around him, pulling him into its depths.The light flared one final time, and then it wa

At Sky Tower, the afternoon had been quiet. Too quiet.Jackson stood at the window of the penthouse, watching the golden light pulse in the distance. The Phoenix was drawing closer, he could feel it in his bones, in the resonance that hummed beneath his skin. But there was something else now. Something darker.Beside him, Jacqueline stared at the same horizon, her hand resting on the glass. "Do you feel it?"Jackson nodded slowly. "Something changed."Behind them, the penthouse was alive with the quiet hum of a family regrouping. Ruth and Elara sat together on a couch, speaking in low voices, the years of tension slowly easing. Celestine and Sophia worked with Miles, studying the ancient texts, searching for any clue about the Genesis Engine's vulnerabilities. Samantha rested in a chair by the fire, Evans beside her, Lorraine hovering nearby. Andrew and Hailey were in the kitchen, making coffee. James and Nancy had decided to rekindle their romance, stealing kisses and making up for