She swallowed against the tightness in her throat.“They’re not thinking.They’re just reacting to whatever Pierce conditioned them to believe.And they’ll keep reacting until someone stops the momentum.”She hesitated, her voice softening as she glanced at Gray.“But if that someone is you...”
“They’ll catch it on camera,” he finished for her.“And Pierce will make sure that one recording becomes the only story anyone hears.”His mouth twitched as if he were swallowing anger.“It’s a trap either way.”
Hannah didn’t need a bond to feel the war inside him.Every instinct he had was urging him to act, even as every lesson he learned was telling him not to.Gray Spark was never meant to be passive.Pollux variants weren’t built to stand by while people suffered.But standing between danger and the people who hated him was a burden he’d carried alone for years, and tonight it weighed on him more heavily than she had ever seen.
She stepped closer without thinking.The heat from his body rolled through her senses, pulling at her power like a tide.When her shoulder brushed his arm, a zot of electricity flickered between them, bright and intimate.He went still, as though the contact anchored him more effectively than any chain could.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” she said.
His eyes shifted to hers slowly, the gray deepening with focus and vulnerability.The bond stretched between them like an invisible thread, humming with recognition.
“That’s the thing,” he murmured.“I feel like I’m not alone anymore.Not when you’re here.”
The words caught her completely off guard, warming her from the inside out.She couldn’t pretend she didn’t hear the meaning beneath them.Couldn’t deny the answering pull deep in her chest.
He lifted a hand toward her cheek and stopped just shy of touching her.She leaned into the space between them anyway, letting their power brush.Sparks rippled between their skin like a secret.
“Gray,” she whispered.
He closed the distance by a fraction, close enough that she felt the warmth of his breath against her lips.Then, he turned his head away with a low exhale, gathering himself like a man preparing to step into fire.
“Hannah,” he said, steady now despite the storm that was echoing inside him.“Do you trust me?”
The question slid into her like a spark sinking into kindling.She didn’t hesitate.“Yes.”
He drew in a breath, letting the answer settle in him, fortifying him in ways she could see plainly in the subtle shift of his posture.
“Then I need you to stay behind me,” he said softly.“And be ready to amplify anything I do.This won’t work unless we’re synced.”
Her heart kicked hard against her ribs.“You’re going to use your powers.”
“I’m going to show them what power looks like,” he corrected gently, “without hurting anyone.”
The depth of that resolve, the weight of every sacrifice he’d made, every instinct he’d suppressed.She felt the trust he placed in her to keep him balanced.And above all, she felt the magnetic pull between them stronger now than it had ever been.
He stepped forward.
Hannah stepped with him.
The flames reflected off the lines of his shoulders as he walked toward the center of the riot, electricity gathering around him in slow, coiling currents.The crowd began to notice.Some froze.Some shouted.Some backed away a few steps, sensing a shift in the air too profound to ignore.
Hannah followed, her fingers brushing the back of his hand as the charge between them built like a promise waiting to be released.
