2025-10-19 21:57:02
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Chapter 318
Joaquin couldn’t shake his brother’s last words from his mind.“Stop our father.”He still didn’t understand what Martin meant. Why would he ask Joaquin to stop their father? The last time Joaquin had spoken to his father had been a phone call—when James and Gracia attacked them—he hadn’t had the chance to face him in person. Whatever Martin meant, Joaquin knew he had to find out.“Are you leaving?” Serena asked.He was in his office, taking off his doctor’s robe and hanging it neatly on the rack.“Yes. I’m going to see my father. I need to talk to him.”Serena came fully into the room. “Do you want me to come with you?”Joaquin shook his head gently. “No. It’s better this way. Can you still… see them?”“The ghosts?” Jasmine asked from the swivel chair, where she’d settled.“Not like before,” Serena answered. “I don’t see them anymore. I just feel… traces.”“That’s part of the process,” Joaquin said, trying to make his voice steady. “Don’t worry. It will pass.”“As long as I don’t see
Chapter 317
Joaquin’s shoulders sagged as they returned to the shelter. He could hardly believe what had happened.Yes, it was finally over. The sky had brightened, opening up like a promise of a new beginning. But that new dawn had come at a devastating price—his brother’s life.He hadn’t known Martin for long. They had been enemies once, standing on opposite sides of a war neither of them had chosen. Yet in the end, Martin had shown him nothing but kindness, right up to his final breath.“Joaquin, are you okay?” Serena’s voice broke the silence, soft but filled with worry.She sat beside him, eyes searching his face. “Who was that man?”Joaquin let out a long, weary sigh. She hadn’t seen Martin before, hadn’t known the truth.“He was Martin,” he said quietly. “He’s… my brother too.”Serena’s brows furrowed. “Brother? You mean—Mr. Villareal’s son as well?”Joaquin nodded slowly. “Apparently, he grew up inside the Society. That’s why the world never knew about him.”Serena’s lips parted in shock.
Chapter 316
The Core pulsed—once, twice—and then the mountain roared to life.The entire cavern shook as shards of ice splintered from the ceiling. Blue light flared across the walls like lightning veins, converging around the two men standing at the heart of it all.Joaquin faced Dr. Voss, his breath coming slow and steady, his body humming with restrained power. Serena stood behind him, the cold wind whipping her hair around her pale face.Voss smirked, hands clasped behind his back as if he were observing a specimen. “Still clinging to your humanity, I see. Do you even realize what you’ve become?”“I became what you forced me to,” Joaquin shot back. “But you made one mistake—you didn’t kill me.”Voss chuckled darkly. “Kill you? Oh, no, Joaquin. I gave you life. The same life that runs through that Core. You and it are one. Destroy it, and you’ll destroy yourself.”Joaquin’s eyes flickered blue for a heartbeat, then steadied. “Then I’ll die free.”Before the words even settled, Joaquin moved.A
Chapter 315
The ice cracked.A deep, guttural rumble rippled through the frozen caverns beneath Sparrow Mountain as something massive stirred to life. A ripple of energy burst outward, invisible but deadly, racing through the ice tunnels and fissures like a living pulse.Miles above, at the outpost where Joaquin and Serena slept, the ground trembled faintly. Joaquin’s eyes snapped open. His breathing quickened—he could feel it, a disturbance that vibrated through his very bones.Serena stirred beside him. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.He rose to his feet, eyes narrowing toward the window where faint auroras shimmered in the sky. “It’s not over,” he said grimly. “Something woke up.”Within minutes, the outpost was in chaos. Lights flickered, and the radio that had just been repaired began to crackle with static. One of the engineers shouted, “We’re picking up seismic readings from under the mountain! It’s spreading fast—like an underground explosion!”The woman with the gray streak—Captain Rein
Chapter 314
The wind howled louder as they descended the mountain, the icy air biting against their skin. Serena’s gloved hand clung tightly to Joaquin’s arm while the snowstorm raged around them. The sound of their boots crunching through the frost was nearly drowned out by the roar of the wind.“Joaquin…” Serena’s voice trembled through the cold. “Do you think that thing—the one we saw—was human once?”Joaquin didn’t answer at first. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, his expression heavy.“Yes,” he finally said. “I could sense it in its energy. It used to be human… before it was consumed by the virus.”Serena’s heart clenched. “Then maybe—maybe it wasn’t even its fault.”He nodded. “It wasn’t. That’s what makes this so tragic. They were experimenting with something they couldn’t control. Trying to turn human DNA into something invincible.”She glanced at him, her eyes searching his. “Like what happened to you?”Joaquin paused. Snowflakes gathered in his hair, his jaw tightening. “In a way, ye
Chapter 313
Joaquin’s heart dropped the moment Serena disappeared into the shadows.“Serena!” he roared, his voice echoing through the cave’s hollow chambers.Without hesitation, he sprinted forward, the flame in his hand blazing brighter. The cave’s icy walls reflected the firelight, flickering like ghosts around him. His boots crunched against the frozen ground as he followed the faint sound of Serena’s terrified scream.“Joaquin!”Her voice was faint—panicked—but still there. He pushed harder, his pulse hammering in his ears.“Hold on! I’m coming!”Then the light from his hand caught movement ahead—a flash of something slithering across the cave floor, dragging Serena into a narrow tunnel. The thing’s form was impossible to fully see, only a shifting blur of black mist and frost, like a shadow made solid.Joaquin clenched his jaw and dove in after them. He crawled through the tunnel, his body scraping against the cold rock, until the passage opened into a massive cavern.Serena lay sprawled on
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