Gray stiffened.It wasn’t coming from the building or the power grid.He knew this signature.
“Hannah,” he murmured, and she was already moving closer.
A large overhead screen blinked alive.Protogenus’ logo appeared across every monitor in the room.
Then Dr.Helena Pierce appeared flanked by armed Dioscuri.Gasps erupted from the chamber as Pierce’s voice crackled through the speakers.“Good morning, honored senators.I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person, but there’s simply too much work to be done cleaning up your little experiment’s messes.”
Gray’s hands curled on the table.
“Spark,” she said lightly, “how good to see you again.You made quite an impression last night.That storm was spectacular.Terrifying, but spectacular.”
The bait slid off Gray like water.He wasn’t here for her games.
“Pierce,” he said evenly, “you’re finished.”
She smiled coldly.“Oh, darling boy.You’re adorable.But no.”She stepped aside, revealing behind her a machine.Twice the size of the earlier weapon.Humming with green-white energy.Covering an entire truck.
Hannah inhaled sharply.
A mass-range power-removal device.
This one could wipe out every variant in the building.
Pierce tapped the machine affectionately.“Since the Senate seems reluctant to pass the initiative, I’ve taken the liberty of preparing a demonstration.Consider it...informational.”
Gray didn’t think.He moved.
Lightning crawled up his arms in visible arcs as he placed himself between Hannah and the screen.The senators recoiled; cameras zoomed.He didn’t care.
“No,” Gray growled.“You fire that, you kill hundreds.”
“That’s the point,” Pierce said, unbothered.“Sometimes sacrifice is necessary for a safer world.”
Hannah stepped to Gray’s side, her hand sliding into his.Their bond snapped bright, hot, immediate.
Pierce’s expression shifted as annoyance seeped through her composure.“Ah yes.The bond.Such a troublesome complication.”
Gray didn’t reply.He only braced.
The weapon on the screen powered up, green rings pulsing outward in growing concentric waves.Technicians scurried away.The hum grew louder.
He didn’t have time to think.Only to act.
“Ready?”he whispered.
Hannah nodded once.“With you.”
The first burst of energy rippled through the screen and through every building conduit in New Athens.A seismic wave of power rolled toward the Senate chamber like a tsunami aimed at their skulls.
Gray reached for it.
Hannah reached with him.
Their electricity amplified, twining down their arms like living fire.They caught the first pulse and pushed back, lightning slamming upward, meeting the green wave head-on.
The chamber lights blew out.Cameras sparked and died.Senators ducked beneath desks.
But Gray held the line.
