I nod. “I knew you’d get it right. You always do.”
We enter the brightly lit room to find a sea of familiar faces, and my heart warms at the sight. Even though Skyla has set a moratorium world-wide on Faction meetings, having the upper hand once again was just cause to have one last party with our people and we plan to do just that.
“They’re coming back,” I whisper to her. “And these are only the ones that have figured it out on their own.”
Skyla doesn’t look convinced. “They’re here to see what I have to say. But trust me—they will be back, and they’ll bring friends.”
Skyla saunters to the front where there’s an elongated table set out and a couple of chairs behind it. The rest of the room is lined with chairs as well, but only half of them are taken. In the old days, questionably better days gone by, there would be twice as many seats, and every one of them filled with the entire facility brimming with bodies willing to be here. But they’ve gone, drifted to the other side in fear—and that’s exactly how we’re trying to lure them back—with fear.
I spot Coop and Laken, Ezrina, Nev, Brody, and his girlfriend. Ellis and Giselle—although her allegiance is questionable at best—Dr. Booth and Rev are here. And as if dashing for the finish line, Mia shows up with Brielle, Emily and Ethan, Natalie Coleman, Liam, Lexy and Michelle. My heart warms at the sight of them. And I know Dudley is here in spirit. He is, after all, Skyla’s biggest cheerleader—right behind me.
Skyla welcomes everyone to the meeting. “I’m not going to cover any nominal Faction business today. I think we all know why we’re here.”
“Yeah!” a man shouts from the back. “What in the hell is going on? The Barricade won’t give us answers.”
“No, they won’t.” Skyla glances my way. “It’s because I have them. I’m sure you’re well aware of what’s happening in the world and with this country. My Nephilim brothers and sisters, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. It’s no secret that the government has been aware of alien life for quite a while, and they’ve had their sights on Paragon. It was just a matter of time before they found a way to identify and isolate the marker embedded in our genetic code in an effort to isolate us from society. That would have been a dark and dangerous day—the last day for our people.”
A round of whispers circles the room.
Skyla takes a breath. “As it turns out, we have the Barricade to thank for helping the feds isolate our markers. The Celestra from Brazil that were taken earlier this year were heavily probed. The feds made considerable strides in their analysis with our kind. That’s when I knew time had essentially run out for our people. But thankfully, we have a very wise and powerful Celestra running our research department. Ezrina O’Hare was the frontrunner in the discovery that will help conceal our markers.”
A woman stands up from the back, her hand slightly raised. “Wesley has the same ability. What made you raise the stakes and put our people in irreparable harm?”
Skyla tips her head back, her blonde mane shimmering like gold under the harsh lights.
“You’re right. Wesley is a genius in his own right, and he does have the ability to hide the markers—for a couple of days before the serum begins to fade. He can’t inoculate anyone for a significant amount of time. But we can. We have the ability to hide the markers six months at a time. The serum is plentiful—in fact, there is a never-ending supply. And before you ask, by the end of the year, the next version of the serum will be able to hide the markers permanently without harming the DNA structure of the recipient.”
It's true. It turns out, Skyla’s afterbirth, specifically the stem cells in the umbilical cord that anchored our sweet son to her body, have enough potency in them to hide the markers forever. Ezrina is moments away from unlocking the code for what we’ve dubbed The Key to Life. And it will be that for our people. Life. We won’t ever have to live under the Barricade’s tyranny again. Not only were the stem cells powerful in their own right, but they have the ability to self-replicate. Ezrina called it an immortalized cell line because she’s able to get them to reproduce indefinitely under the right conditions.
The room erupts in whispers and Skyla stands, immediately hushing the crowd once again.
“Tell your friends, you’re loved ones, tell every Nephilim you know. If they want to maintain their security in this world, they must cut all ties with the Barricade and pledge their allegiance to Celestra. The Barricade has nothing more to offer. It’s time the Factions unify under a leader that has the best interest of all of our people at heart. And that leader is me.” She takes a breath. “Do it now. Call, text, run, do what you have to. The inoculations begin this Sunday. Leaders all across the world are campaigning hard to gather our people back into the fold, as am I tonight. Is there anyone here who would like to leave? If not, I’d like to lead you into an oath of solidarity for the unification of our people.”
Not a soul leaves the room. Instead, Skyla asks them all to stand and leads them in a pledge of allegiance to our Faction, which celebrates their devotion for Celestra—for her.
The room breaks out into a raucous cheer. Music blasts from the speakers as bodies drift to the refreshment tables laden with cold drinks and food catered from the Gas Lab.
Skyla and I are going to have to do something extra special for Ezrina and Nev. We will most certainly award them the highest honor once Celestra has been rightfully restored, but until then something needs to be done to show our appreciation.
“Halt,” a voice shouts from the door, and I turn in time to see a group of men dressed in black, ski masks on—what look to be assault rifles in their arms. Next to them stands an entire army of Fems, ten-foot-tall large Celestine cats with yellow glowing eyes and tails that snap back and forth like a mincing whip.
In a moment the room explodes with the sound of rapid gunfire, the roar of the monsters the Barricade has no doubt ushered our way. The walls ignite in flames as a wall of fire dances across the ceiling, and in a moment it’s far too hot to breathe in here.
Bodies scramble for the exits, flooding out of every available orifice, but I dive deep into the room and wrap my arms around Skyla as if I were about to tackle her to the ground, but she maneuvers her way out of my grasp.
“I need to make sure everyone gets out!” she shouts as the room begins to fill with smoke.
“Shit.” I take her hand and we run around the edges of the structure, pulling people out from under chairs and furniture and pointing them to the nearest exits. We make our way to where we began, and the back end of the building begins to cave.
“Logan”—Skyla shakes her head as she spots Giselle huddled in the middle of the room, Ellis nowhere in sight—“we can’t leave her.”
I shake my head at Skyla. “Get out now.” The words expel from me in a riot as I hop over the debris of purses and bags left behind, chairs toppled on their sides. The room begins to creak and groan as a beam of fire rains down and lands to my left. “Giselle!” I shout as I begin to lose sight of her in the sea of black smoke quickly filling up the space between us.
A trio of Fems, the giant celestial panthers with their fierce growls and snarls, stride right past me, and one of them picks up a ball of human flesh still huddled in a fetal position and takes off toward the door. The long, dark hair dangling from the girl lets me know it was G. And I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that the one who saved her was Gage himself.
A horrific roar comes from the building as it sways left then right—and I run like hell knowing that it soon will be just that—hell. I bolt for the direction of the door, running strictly off memory, and soon enough the rain greets me. My feet dig through puddles filled with Paragon mud as the earth tries its best to swallow me whole.
The field is nearly empty. A few people lie on the ground, and I spot Skyla and Laken tending to their injuries, trying their best to drag them off into the woods. At least a dozen bodies writhe over the ground. Ethan’s down. Coop’s left arm is bloodied as Laken helps steady him.
