“Don’t kill him,” I say quickly. “The coalition needs him alive. He has information about who in Haven’s Heart’s is operatingtheir black sites, other programs, co-conspirators. He’s worth more alive than dead.”
Magnus hesitates, every line of his body screaming the desire to end this threat permanently. But he pulls back, shifting to human form, keeping Crane restrained but alive.
Coalition warriors flood into the laboratory—Mountain Cats, Storm Eagles, Shadow Wolves all working in coordinated teams. Keira herself appears, taking in the scene with calculating eyes.
“The prisoners?” she asks me directly.
“Freed. All of them. Restored to their original forms.” I gesture to the monitors showing the now-empty cells. “They’ll need medical care, psychological support, but they’re not Broken anymore.”
Keira’s expression shifts to something that might be respect. “And the facility?”
“Matrix is overloading. Cascade failure will destroy the laboratory and probably destabilize the upper levels. We need to evacuate. Now.”
She doesn’t question, just starts issuing orders. Warriors begin herding freed prisoners toward exits, medics appearing to assess and stabilize, the entire operation shifting from assault to rescue with practiced efficiency.
Magnus pulls me against his chest, and I finally let myself sink into his strength. “You did it. Freed them all.”
“We did it,” I correct weakly. “You were my anchor. I couldn’t have survived the interface without you.”
Through the bond, I feel his fierce pride and overwhelming relief. But I also feel his exhaustion, the toxin still in his system, the wounds from fighting that haven’t fully healed.
“Magnus, you’re hurt. Let me?—”
“Later,” he says firmly. “Right now, we get you out of here. You’re barely conscious.”
He’s right. The neural interface drained me completely, and I can feel myself fading. But there’s something important I need to tell him, something the visions showed me while I was connected to the Matrix.
“The death moment,” I whisper. “It’s still coming. I saw it clearer now—not avoided, just... delayed. Tomorrow, maybe the day after. There’s going to be a moment where you take wounds that I can’t heal through normal means.”
“We’ll manage,” Magnus says, already carrying me toward the exit.
“No, listen.” I grip his arm weakly. “The visions also showed what comes after. The life-bond ritual, done properly, with intention. It’s the permanent integration of everything we’ve given each other.” I meet his eyes. “That’s when we truly become one. When the bond completes in a way that changes us both forever.”
“And you’re ready for that?”
“I’m terrified,” I admit. “But yes. I’m ready.”
The facility shakes as the Matrix’s overload reaches critical levels. We run—or rather, Magnus runs while carrying me—through corridors that are falling down, past laboratories that are imploding, toward daylight and safety.
We burst from the facility’s entrance just as the main laboratory explodes behind us. The blast wave knocks everyone forward, and we tumble down the mountain slope in a tangle of bodies and wings and determination.
When the dust settles, I’m lying in Magnus’s arms at the base of the mountain, staring up at a sky that’s turned from dawn-red to clear blue. Around us, coalition warriors are accounting for everyone, tending wounds, celebrating survival.
All twenty-seven prisoners made it out. So did the assault force. Crane is in custody, his degraded form barely functional but alive for questioning.
We won.
But as Magnus helps me sit up, as medics swarm to check us both, as Keira approaches with that calculating expression that means we’ll be debriefed thoroughly, I can’t shake the knowledge from my visions:
The hardest part is still ahead. The death moment still approaches. And when it comes, everything we’ve fought for will hang in the balance—not just our lives, but the future of integration itself.
18
MAGNUS
Three days after the facility assault, and we’re still dealing with the aftermath.
The freed prisoners are recovering in makeshift medical stations scattered across the Mountain Cat stronghold. Elena arrived personally—leaving the twins with Kael—to oversee treatment protocols. Her expertise with integrated healing makes her invaluable for cases this complex, even though Lyra’s Matrix reversals were miraculously successful.
