Sandstorm Protocol

The blast door slams shut between Kai Ruin and his mother as Shelter 9 collapses. In his fist, her old key is warm with blood—and the sandstorm outside is calling his name. Forced into Ironspine, a fortress where ability rank decides who eats, who fights, and who dies, Kai must hide the power that could make him valuable—or get him dissected. But every time he commands the sand, one of his memories vanishes: his mother’s face, the shelter’s final secret, even the reason the military is hunting him. With a ruthless commander tightening his grip, a black-market broker selling pieces of his past, and a scarred scavenger leading him toward a sealed laboratory, Kai discovers the storm may have been created for him. To save his mother and recover the truth, will Kai sacrifice the last memory of who he is—or unleash the storm that could destroy them all?