Chapter 21 · Ghost Signal

"Eli. I know you're there."

Maya's voice cuts through the static—no crackle, no white noise. Just her. Ragged and wrong but alive.

I rip the radio off Rachel's belt before she can blink. My hand's shaking so bad I almost drop it. "Maya? Where are you?"

Silence.

Then a wet laugh that doesn't belong to my sister. "Where do you think? I'm in the dark, little brother. Been here three months."

Marcus moves to the window, scanning the zone below. The lights are still pulsing—my light, spreading like infection through every blackout zone on the planet. I don't know if I'm the virus or the cure anymore.

"Maya, tell me where you are. I'm coming—"

"No." Her voice sharpens to a blade. "You need to run. They know what you are now. The whole council knows. Kill team's coming for you. Right now."

Rachel's already at the terminal, pulling feeds. Her face drains white. "She's right. Six agents, armed. East stairwell. Three minutes out."

The supervisor's still bleeding on the floor. Head cracked where I smashed it into the console. I did that.

I don't feel bad.

"Maya, I don't care about the kill team. Just tell me where—