The wall behind Kai erupted in a wave of dust, smoke, and splintered brick. The force threw him forward, his shoulder slamming into the table. Nova rolled to the side, pulling Linh down with her. Thorne was already on his feet, gun drawn, firing into the cloud of debris before shapes could fully emerge.The air filled with the high-pitched whine of drones. Dax coughed, clutching his ears. “It’s in my head again!”“Stay down!” Kai barked, dragging him behind the overturned couch.Through the swirling dust, shadowy figures stepped inside — tall, armored, their movements unnervingly smooth. Their helmets had no visors, just smooth black surfaces with faint green pulses running down the sides.“Gardener units,” Oracle said through Kai’s earpiece, her voice sharp. “They’re not standard drones. They’re hybrids, machine and human. Aim for the central chest plate.”Nova popped up from cover, firing two clean shots. The first figure staggered, its chest plate sparking, but it didn’t go down.

The SUV’s tires hissed over the damp road as the city of Buenos Aires faded into the distance. The morning light was brighter now, but inside the vehicle, everything felt darker.Kai’s hands were locked on the steering wheel. His eyes stayed on the horizon, but his mind was spinning. “Repeat that,” he said finally.Oracle’s voice crackled through the comm. “I said the heir’s signal split. One trace is still here on Earth, in Mongolia. The other is, registering from orbital coordinates.”Nova leaned forward from the back seat. “Orbital coordinates? As in space?”“Yes,” Oracle confirmed. “About thirty kilometers above Earth’s surface. Too low to be a natural satellite. Too high for any regular aircraft.”Sofia, still catching her breath from the escape, frowned. “So, one of your little special people is in space now?”“No,” Linh said softly. “Not in space. In orbit. There’s a difference.”Dax shifted uneasily. “Can the Gardener even reach that far?”Linh’s gaze didn’t leave the window.

The ground shook harder, like a giant heartbeat thudding beneath their feet. The burning green eyes grew brighter, moving closer. The trees bent away as if bowing to whatever approached. Branches snapped, vines recoiled, and the air thickened with that sweet, choking scent.Kai felt the vibration through his boots. “Everyone move! Now!”Nova grabbed Dax’s arm and shoved him toward the nearest path. “Run!”Linh stood inside the sphere, holding Amara’s arm. A web of faint blue light stretched from her fingertips to the sphere’s surface, keeping Amara tethered to life. “I can’t move fast,” Linh warned, voice tight. “If I lose contact?”Kai cut her off. “Then you stay between me and Nova. We’ll clear the way.” The massive shape stepped into view, and the garden itself seemed to shudder.It was like nothing human eyes should see. A towering form of twisted bark and steel, draped in vines that pulsed with green light. Its head was a crown of jagged branches, and from its back grew dozens

The armored transport tore through the dusty road, its heavy tires spitting gravel behind them.Kai sat in the passenger seat, visor down, eyes fixed on the GPS feed projected across his HUD. A blinking red dot moved steadily toward the California coast.“We’ve got eleven hours now,” Oracle’s voice came through the comm. “It’s slowing down a little, but not enough.”Nova drove like the vehicle was an extension of her body, hands steady even as the wheels bounced over uneven terrain. “If it’s slowing, maybe it’s preparing to, I don’t know, change?”Dax was wedged in the back beside Linh, who still held the glowing tether connecting her to Amara. “Or maybe it’s hungry,” he said under his breath.Kai didn’t look back. “Either way, we meet it before it reaches a city.”They made it halfway to the extraction airfield before they saw the smoke.Thorne spotted it first. “That’s not from the wildfires,” he said, pointing at the thin column rising straight up in the distance.As they drew clos

The camp was quiet except for the wind moving through the cliffs. Everyone was staring at Amara.She sat upright now, her dark hair falling around her pale face. The faint green glow in her eyes made her look both fragile and dangerous.“You can’t be serious,” Nova said.Amara didn’t flinch. “I am. The Gardener knows me. I am part of it. If I reach for both the bloom and the ark at the same time, I can connect them, make them share the same root. That way, a strike against one will hit the other.”Dax shook his head. “That sounds like magic, not science.”“It’s biology,” Amara said softly. “Terrible, unnatural biology. But it will work.”Kai studied her. “You’re leaving something out.”Amara met his gaze. “If I do this, the Gardener will know exactly where I am. It will send everything it has to stop me.”Linh’s grip tightened on the tether between them. “And you think we’ll just let that happen?”Amara’s voice didn’t rise, but it carried weight. “If it works, the war could end before