WHEN THEY ALL LAUNCHED I BECAME THEIR GOD

The cold concrete bit into Damian's knees as two men slammed him down, their hands like iron vices on his shoulders. His vision blurred from the earlier beating, blood dripping from his split lip onto the divorce papers one of the men had thrown in front of him.

“What the hell is going on?” Damian's voice cracked. 

“Why would you want a divorce?”

Megan stood a few feet away, her arm wrapped tight around another man's waist. The expensive suit he wore probably cost more than Damian made in six Years. She tilted her head, and the smile that spread across her face made Damian's stomach turn.

“Why?” She laughed, the sound sharp. 

“Not when I've finally awakened my ability? When I've finally found someone who matches my level?” She leaned into the man beside her. “You're useless to me now.”

The man she clung to stepped forward. His shoes were polished to a mirror shine, not a speck of dust on them despite the grimy warehouse they'd dragged Damian to. 

“Just in case you don't know me, allow me to introduce myself properly,” the man said. His voice carried the kind of smooth confidence that came from never being told no. 

“Maxwell Rushman. My family has practiced advanced healing techniques for seven generations. We don't just heal, we cultivate power.” He glanced at Megan with something close to hunger. “And your wife has awakened something extraordinary, and I think it's high time you know you place.”

In a world where power was everything, society had drawn a brutal line between those blessed and those without.

And those blessed with abilities were called Awakeners revered, untouchable, living in a different world entirely. The powerless? They were less than nothing. Bullied in the streets, denied decent work, shoved to the margins of society like unwanted debris.

He had always known the rules. He'd lived by them his entire life.

But he never expected Megan to forget them so quickly.

She'd only Awakened a few weeks ago, and already she was different. The girl who used to walk beside him through the powerless districts, who'd laughed at the same bitter jokes, who'd understood what it meant to be invisible that girl was gone. In her place stood someone who looked at him the way Awakeners always did.

Like he didn't matter anymore.

At that moment Upon hearing what the man just said Damian's hands trembled. 

“After everything I did for you? After I worked myself half to death so you could—” He swallowed hard, tasting blood. “What about Emma? What about our daughter?”

Megan's laugh cut through the warehouse. 

“That little mistake? She doesn't have an ability either, just like you. Dead weight.” She examined her nails. 

“I can't believe I wasted three years settling for you. Thank god my power came when it did.”

“Megan, please—”

“You know what I awakened?” She crouched down, forcing him to meet her eyes. 

“Anyone I bond with, I amplify their abilities. Double, sometimes triple their strength. Do you understand what that means?”

She stood, smoothing her designer dress. 

“Maxwell here can already heal third-degree burns in minutes. With me? He'll be unstoppable.”

Maxwell checked his watch. “Darling, we're wasting time. The jet's waiting, and we have that meeting in New York.”

“You're right.” Megan's face hardened. “Make him sign.”

The guards moved fast. One grabbed Damian's wrist, trying to force his broken fingers around a pen. Damian jerked back, adrenaline cutting through the pain.

“I'm not signing anything until you tell me what happens to Emma.”

Megan's eye twitched. “You stubborn piece of—” She turned to the guards. “Break his hand.”

“Wait—”

The sledgehammer came out of nowhere. Ten pounds of steel swung in a wide arc, and Damian didn't have time to pull away before it connected with his left hand.

The crunch echoed through the warehouse.

Damian's scream tore from his throat, raw and animal. His fingers bent at angles fingers shouldn't bend, bone fragments pressing against skin. White-hot agony shot up his arm and exploded behind his eyes.

“Sign it,” Maxwell said, “or we do the other one.”

Through the tears and the pain, Damian looked up at Megan. Really looked at her. The woman he'd married, the woman he'd given up his college fund for when her parents got sick, the woman who'd smiled at him on their wedding day and promised forever.

She was smiling now too. But it wasn't the same smile.

“I never knew you didn't love me.” His voice came out broken. “If you'd loved me at all, you couldn't do this. What's going to happen to our baby girl?”

“Your daughter?” Megan crossed her arms. “Once I'm gone, social services will find her eventually. Not my problem anymore.”

Something inside Damian's chest cracked worse than his hand. "Just like that?"

“Just like that.” She turned to Maxwell. “Actually, forget the divorce. Let's just kill him. Easier that way, and I won't have any loose ends.”