Chapter 26 · The Real Vessel

The core chamber smelled like burnt copper and old blood.

Elara hit the bottom of the access shaft hard, boots skidding on slick metal. Kane landed beside her, already moving, gun up. Nora dropped last, and the sound of her hitting the floor echoed wrong in the space—too big, too empty.

Except it wasn't empty.

Her brother was strapped to a chair in the center of the room, head lolled forward. Alive. She could see his chest moving.

"Theo!" She was halfway across the floor before Kane caught her arm.

"Wait."

"He's right there—"

"I know." Kane's grip didn't let up. "And where's Silas?"

The lights around them pulsed in slow, deliberate waves. Blue-white and cold. The core sat behind Theo like a second sun, all crackling energy and angles that didn't make sense if you looked too long. Elara could feel it pulling at her, the same way it had in every reset when she got too close to a transit line during a surge.

Silas stepped out from behind the core column.

No guards. No weapons. Just him, hands in his pockets like he was taking a walk through the city park.

"You made good time," he said.