"She's lying." Ren's voice was weak but steady. He lay on a cot in the back of the safe house, his side wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, his face pale as ash. Mira was still working on him, her hands steady despite the tears streaking her cheeks. The bullet had gone deep, but it had missed anything vital. He would live. That was what mattered. Lincoln stood by the window, the ledger open in his hands. The black bird symbol stared up at him, cold and damning. Behind him, Kaela sat in a wooden chair, her sleeve still pulled back, the faded tattoo visible on her inner forearm. She wasn't hiding it anymore. She wasn't trying to. "It's not hers," Ren said again, struggling to sit up. "Kaela's not the traitor." "Lie down," Mira snapped, pressing him back. "You'll tear the stitches." "I don't care." Ren's eyes locked on Lincoln. "I know her. She's not Blackbird. She'd die

 "Stay with me, Ren. Look at my face. Do not close your eyes." Lincoln's hands were shaking, but his voice was steady. He pressed his palm against the wound in Ren's side, feeling the warm blood slick between his fingers. The boy's skin was pale, too pale, and his breath came in short, ragged bursts that frightened Lincoln more than any guard or machine ever had. "It hurts," Ren whispered. "It hurts so much." "I know. I know it does. But you're going to be fine. Mira, get me the med kit. Mira?" Silence. Lincoln turned his head and saw Mira slumped against the engineering console, her eyes closed, a thin trickle of blood running from her temple. She was alive, her chest rising and falling, but she was out cold. "Mira's down," Kaela called from the pilot's seat. "She took a hit during the escape. I think it's a concussion." "Then it's just us." Lin

The guards dragged him through the tower like a prisoner, their hands rough on his arms, their faces hidden behind crimson visors. Lincoln did not resist. He had made his choice. Now he would see it through.They took him down, deep into the bowels of the fortress, past sealed doors and humming machinery, until they reached a corridor that felt older than the rest. The walls here were damp, the air heavy with the smell of rust and something else. Something that made Lincoln's stomach turn."Faster," one of the guards growled, shoving him forward.Lincoln stumbled but kept his footing. His mind was racing, cataloging every turn, every door, every possible escape route. But there was only one route that mattered now. The one that led to Santiago.They stopped before a heavy iron door. The guard pressed a keypad, and the door swung open with a groan that sounded almost human."Inside," the guard said.Lincoln stepped through.The vault was small and cold, lit by a single flickering bulb.

The silence after the rift closed was worse than the noise. Lincoln stood in the ruined chamber, his chest heaving, his hands still raised as if he could hold the world together by will alone. The void energy had settled into a dull thrum beneath his skin, exhausted but alert. The creature from the rift was gone, pulled back into the dark. But something else remained. A man knelt where the rift had been. He was ancient, his body twisted and scarred, one arm ending in a stump of fused shadow, the other hand pressed against the stone floor. His skin was pale as ash, his hair long and white, and when he lifted his head, his eyes burned with violet fire. Not like Lincoln's. Older. Wilder. A fire that had been burning for centuries. Kaela's voice came from somewhere behind him, sharp and urgent. "Lincoln, get back." "Wait." Lincoln lowered his hands slowly. "He's not attacking."<

"We're going back." Kaela spun around, her eyes wide. "What? Lincoln, that ship is at the bottom of the sea. There's nothing left to go back to." "She's still there." His voice was flat, certain. "The transmission came from the inner sanctum. That means Cressida has a secondary life support system, a sealed chamber that can withstand the pressure. She's waiting for me. And she has Santiago." "Then we all go together," Ren said, stepping forward. "No." Lincoln turned to face them. "You're taking The Wraith and getting as far from here as possible. This is my fight." Kaela grabbed his arm. "You keep doing this. You keep pushing us away and walking into death alone. When are you going to learn that we're not going to let you?" He looked at her, at the fear and fury warring in her eyes, and felt something crack. "I learned from Orin. He gave his life so we could