Karpeta stared at them like the room had tilted under her feet.“…You’re joking,” she said again, but there was no conviction left in it—just a fragile hope that someone would laugh and undo what she’d just heard.Ethan didn’t.“…It’s not a joke,” he said quietly.That did it.Karpeta let out a sharp, disbelieving laugh, the kind that came when reality refused to line up with anything reasonable.“…So you’re not sick,” she said, pointing again at Norka’s stomach, her voice climbing, “you’re pregnant?”Norka gave a small, tired nod.“Yes.”Karpeta blinked rapidly, like she could reset the moment if she tried hard enough. It didn’t work.She turned—slowly, almost mechanically—toward Ethan.“…You knew.”It wasn’t a question.Ethan held her gaze. “Yes.”“And you didn’t tell me?”His jaw tightened slightly. “…I promised her I wouldn’t.”Karpeta scoffed, shaking her head as she took a step back. “You promised—”“In exchange for her help,” he added, steady but firm. “To get back to the human

Then she looked between them again.“…So what now?” she asked.Her voice was quieter this time.Still shaken.But clearer.More grounded.Norka didn’t answer.Ethan did.“I didn’t tell the Parveja family,” he said.That caught her attention immediately.“…You what?”“I didn’t tell them,” he repeated. “About the pregnancy.”“Why not?” she demanded.He held her gaze.“Because I needed her help,” he said, nodding slightly toward Norka. “To get back here. To the human world.”Karpeta frowned. “…And now?”Ethan exhaled.“Now it doesn’t matter anymore.”That didn’t sound reassuring.At all.Karpeta’s expression tightened. “…That’s not an answer.”“It’s the only one I’ve got,” he said. Then, after a brief pause, more firmly: “I’m handling it.”She crossed her arms instinctively. “…Handling it how?”Ethan didn’t hesitate this time.“I have a private hospital,” he said. “Here.”Karpeta blinked.“…You have a what?”“A private hospital,” he repeated. “It’s secure. Controlled. No unnecessary expo

Ethan’s hand moved to the door handle.For a split second, Karpeta thought he was bluffing—stalling, buying time, doing anything but what it looked like.Then the lock clicked open.“…Ethan—”“Stay in the car,” he said, not looking at her. His voice wasn’t raised. It didn’t need to be.That was what scared her.“You just said we’re surrounded.”“I did.”“And your solution is to step into that?”A pause.“…Yeah.”He pushed the door open.The air outside felt wrong the second it slipped in—too still, too heavy, like the world itself was holding its breath.Ethan stepped out.Closed the door behind him.The man by the window didn’t move at first. He just watched, that same thin, knowing smile stretching slightly as Ethan came around the front of the car.“Good,” he said softly. “Saves time.”Ethan stopped a few feet away.Relaxed posture. Hands at his sides.But not unready.“…You’re not human,” Ethan said.Not an accusation.A conclusion.The man’s smile widened just a fraction. “You sa

The sound cut through everything.Not loud.Not dramatic.Just… final.Ethan’s boots scraped half an inch across the pavement as the grip tightened around his throat. His spine locked. Not panic—never that—but calculation, compressed into a razor-thin instant.The man’s fingers dug in—not crushing.Measuring.Testing.“…There it is again,” the man murmured, almost pleased. “Right on the edge.”Ethan’s hands didn’t go to the wrist.Didn’t claw.Didn’t fight the obvious fight.Instead—They dropped.Loose.Dead weight.Karpeta blinked. “…what—”Then Ethan’s eyes shifted.Not to the man.Past him.Timing.The moment the pressure increased—just a fraction—Ethan moved.Not away.Down.His knees buckled deliberately, body collapsing under the grip——and taking the man’s balance with it.For a split second, the hold overextended.That was enough.Ethan’s hand snapped up—not to the throat——but to the thumb.A brutal twist.A sharp, wet crack—The grip broke.Ethan didn’t breathe.Didn’t pau

“…That would’ve been inconvenient,” the man said, voice steady again. “If you’d figured it out on your own.”Karpeta slammed both hands on the dashboard. “FIGURED WHAT OUT—?!”The man’s eyes stayed locked on Ethan.“…You’re not breaking us,” he said.A beat.Then—quietly—“…You’re syncing.”Everything paused.Even the others.Ethan’s brow tightened.“…Explain.”The man smiled again.But now—It wasn’t just confident.It was certain.“…Every time you hit that point,” he said, tapping his chest again, “…you’re not damaging the body.”A slight tilt of his head.“…You’re interfering with the anchor.”Karpeta froze. “…the what?”The man’s grip tightened.“…We’re not fully here.”Silence.Then—Karpeta, very softly:“…I knew ‘not normal rules’ was underselling it…”Ethan’s eyes sharpened.“…So you’re projecting.”“…Partially,” the man said. “Stabilized through a shared field.”Ethan processed that fast.Too fast.“…And I’m disrupting it.”“…Yes.”A beat.Then the man’s smile widened again—