The smell of hot food filled the villa's ground floor as Hailey worked over a portable stove in the corner of what used to be a living room. Dry rations, rehydrated broth, canned vegetables, and something that smelled like actual seasoning for the first time since they crossed the fog barrier.Kyle sat on the floor near the stairwell with his back against the wall, watching Hailey cook and trying not to think about the fact that his Mental Power was still frozen at one star like a clock someone had forgotten to wind.A knock came from the front door. Three sharp hits, deliberate and spaced.Bianca was at the entrance in two seconds flat, her blade already in her hand. She opened the door six inches and looked through the gap.A man stood on the front step. Tall, sharp featured, with clean cut dark hair and a jaw that looked like it had been carved with a straight edge. Behind him stood a woman who made Bianca look small. Six foot three at least, shaved head, broad shoulders packed wit

"That's how it works?" Kyle's voice came out as a strangled squeak behind his hands. "That's the secret? That's what I've been missing for six months?""It's not a secret. Every matched husband knows this by the end of the first week." Derek tilted his head. "How did you not know?"Because the original Kyle Cole was too busy beating his wives and selling them to black markets to ever touch them with anything resembling tenderness, Kyle thought. Because the man whose body he was wearing had been so consumed by jealousy and cruelty that the most basic mechanic of this entire world had passed him by completely."I had a rough start," Kyle managed, his face still burning behind his hands."I can see that." Derek leaned back and crossed his arms, looking at Kyle with something between pity and amusement. "Listen, there's something else you should know. A man can technically bond with more than one wife at a time. The growth stacks. The stronger and more capable the wife, the faster the Men

Riley's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. Then she made a sound like a kettle about to explode and turned her back to him."For the record," Bianca said, pushing off the doorframe and walking closer, "if your theory about physical conditioning is right, then you need actual training. Not running from corpses. Structured work. Stamina drills, core strength, basic combat awareness.""I can design a program," Hailey added quietly from beside the stove, her brown eyes thoughtful. "Something adjusted for baseline humans. Gradual progression with recovery periods built in."Kyle looked at both of them and felt a flicker of something warm cut through the chaos. Two women, out of five, offering to help him get stronger without being forced, bribed, or threatened."Plus ten to Bianca for the suggestion," Kyle said, typing on the terminal. "Plus ten to Hailey for the program offer."Riley spun around so fast her white hair whipped across her face. "You just docked me ten points and g

Bianca stepped forward and spread both arms wide, her massive blade strapped across her back, her dark eyes gleaming with something between amusement and challenge."I'll carry you," Bianca offered, her voice smooth. "I'm faster than Scarlett on open ground."Kyle looked at the seven foot blade hanging off her shoulders, then at her face, then back at the blade. The memory of a skinned rabbit head on a plate and a kitchen full of weaponized chili smoke played through his brain like a horror reel."I'm good." Kyle took a step backward. "Scarlett carries me. Final answer."Bianca's smile cracked at the edges. Something flickered through her dark eyes, quick and hot, before she buried it behind her usual cold mask."She's jealous," Vivian murmured from behind the group, her amber eyes bright with cruel delight. "The panther wants to hold the little mouse and he picked the sparrow instead.""Shut your mouth, snake." Bianca turned on her with a look that could have split stone. "At least h

Kyle's back pressed against the rusted railing. The metal groaned behind him. Six stories of nothing waited below."Scarlett!" Kyle screamed, his voice tearing out of his throat raw and broken. "Bianca! Vivian! Hailey! Riley!"The creature lunged. Kyle threw himself sideways. His shoulder hit the rusted railing and the ancient metal gave way with a shriek of breaking bolts and crumbling rust.The rooftop disappeared from under him. Wind hit his face. The building blurred upward. And Kyle Cole fell off the sixth floor into empty, open air, screaming five names into the fog.Below, in the middle of the horde, Bianca's blade stopped mid swing. Her dark eyes snapped upward. "Something's wrong."Scarlett was already moving. A gust of wind exploded beneath her feet and she shot upward like a launched arrow, clearing six stories in two seconds. She landed on the rooftop and found Riley, the real Riley, crumpled on the concrete near the stairwell door, unconscious, a bruise darkening across h