“Yeah, that’s the one.” Ari grinned. “She’s a hybrid like we are. Just several generations removed.”
His brother examined Morgan with a stern expression.
“Stay out of my head,ahu.“ Morgan warned him in perfect Akurn.
Ari was relieved she at least she called Adapa ‘brother’ in a friendlier tone.
“I know how to protect my mind from arrogant snoops like you.”
Ari climbed out of bed, using his telekinesis to pull on his usual black jeans, T-shirt, and biker boots without a second thought. “I have a feeling you’re not here just to give me shit. So, what’s going on?” He stepped closer to Adapa and locked gazes with him. “Are the brothers okay?” His throat dried at the thought.
The tension thickened in the air as the words hung between them.
Adapa’s face was grim, his usual calmness undercut by a flicker of urgency that Ari wasn’t used to seeing in his older brother. It didn’t relieve him when Adapa put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“The invasion has begun,” Adapa said quietly, his voice low but weighted with meaning. “The Krystalii breached the dimensional veil. Earth, Akurn, the very seat of the Federation Consortium… nowhere is safe anymore.”
Beside Ari, Morgan stiffened. Her gaze darted to him, searching for a reaction.
But his mind raced, making it hard to process the gravity of what Adapa revealed. They had all known this moment was coming, but hearing it was a punch to the gut.
“A small group of us fled,” Adapa continued, his arms crossed, the hardness in his voice unmistakable. “Including Asmodel and Abalim, bringing others who slipped through the chaos with them. But it’s worse than we thought.”
Ari’s stomach clenched. “How bad?”
Adapa’s gaze darkened. “The Krystalii ship… it’s massive, Arakiba. Bigger than anything we’ve ever encountered. It’s like a continent suspended in an impenetrable void. We’re talking miles wide, miles high, with its own atmosphere and ecosystem. They’re not just invading—they’re settling in.”
Ari exhaled sharply, trying to imagine the scale. A ship the size of a continent. It sounded impossible, but nothing about the Krystalii ever made sense. They were from another dimension, beings of crystal and psionic power. Their very existence defied the known laws of nature.
Adapa’s next words cut through his thoughts like a blade. “Azazel’s already inside.”
Ari’s head snapped up. “What?”
Adapa nodded with a grim expression. “He’s gone undercover, infiltrating the Krystalii ship where they hold the woman he was sent to find. When he teleported from FiPan, that’s where he went. How he knew where to go is beyond me, but now he’s attempting to get them off that ship. But if they catch him first…”
Morgan shifted beside him, her face tight with concern. “This guy Azazel, went to that ship to get one of my friends? Alone?”
Ari’s hands curled into fists. The thought of his brother in the belly of that monstrous ship, surrounded by the most dangerous beings in the universe, was a knot twisting inside his chest, making it hard to breathe. Wait… wait. He took in a deep breath. Azazel was the poster boy of calm resolve and clear thinking. The man didn’t do anything he hadn’t calculated to the nth degree. Nothing ever rattled him. Smart, brave, sure, but this? Hard to believe the unflappable dumbass ran headfirst into something he had no way of foreseeing the resulting outcome.
“I’m sure he’s got a plan,” Adapa stated in a tone that didn’t carry the confidence Ari needed to hear. “But even for him, it’s risky. The Krystalii... they see everything, sense everything. One wrong move, and he won’t make it out alive.”
Great. This whole clusterfuck had the makings of a suicide mission.
Ari clenched his jaw, feeling the weight of the hardship ahead as their entire existence threatened to crumble beneath them. Along with an invasion from another dimension that put the Federation Consortium in chaos, they were missing a key ally, with Azazel trapped inside a spaceship that massive and no way to get him help.
Which gave the Krystalii free rein to close in on every front.
He glanced at Morgan, seeing the worry etched in her eyes. He pulled her under his arm and squeezed her in a tight grip. The path ahead was almost impossible, but what choice did they have? There was no turning back now. The stakes had never been higher, and all they had was each other. No matter how dark or deadly the mission grew, they’d claw their way to victory.
Or die trying.
