The sensation was so disorienting that I fell, unable to compensate for the sudden loss of the senses I’d been relying on so heavily for the past couple of days. Ben caught me before I hit the ground and somehow kept us moving forward through sheer force of will. But I was dead weight now, my power completely blocked by the cage’s interference field.
“Stand down.” Rosenthal’s voice came to us, closer now. The tactical teams had re-formed and cut off our escape route. “Mr. Sanders, you can’t possibly reach the perimeter with Ms. Lowell in her current condition. You’re both exhausted and surrounded by operators who, I assure you, will not hesitate to use force if necessary.”
Ben stopped. I could feel his heart hammering against my back as he held me, could sense the tension in every muscle. His mind would be racing through scenarios, looking for any possible angle of escape, some way to get us out of this mess.
“Sidney,” he said in an undertone. “The phoenix. Can you sense it?”
Thanks to the Faraday cage’s interference, just barely. It was only the smallest thread of connection, like trying to hear a whisper through a closed door. But yes — I could feel the phoenix back in the grove. It was awake and aware.
“A little,” I whispered.
“Can you call it?”
As soon as he asked the question, I knew what he was planning. If the phoenix came and unleashed its corrupted fire, the chaos might be enough to allow us to escape. The DAPI forces would have to focus on containing it rather than us. We might be able to —
I cut off that line of thought before it could go any further. “No.” My voice was flat. “It’s dying, Ben. Calling it into a fight would kill it. And that fire — it’s corrupted. If it unleashes that here, people will die. Maybe us, and definitely some of the operators. And the corruption would keep spreading.”
“Then we need another option.” His voice was calm, but behind it, I could hear panic barely being held at bay. “There has to be — ”
“There isn’t.” I turned in his arms and met his eyes, all too aware of Rosenthal watching us. For the moment, she seemed content to let us speak, but that was probably because she knew she had us trapped and thought she was being magnanimous. “We’re out of options, Ben.”
“No.” His hands tightened on my shoulders. “I’m not going to let them take you. We can — ”
“We can surrender,” I broke in, still in a murmur. “We’ll live so we can escape later.”
I watched him process my words, saw the exact moment when he realized I was right. And I saw it kill something in him to accept such a terrible truth. Ben Sanders was someone who’d spent the last seven years chasing the impossible, finding the answers no one else could. Admitting defeat went against every fiber of his being.
But staying alive mattered more than pride.
“Okay,” he said.
The word was a promise.
I nodded. Then I raised my voice and projected my next words toward Rosenthal. “We surrender. No resistance. But I want your word that Ben will be treated as a civilian consultant, not a combatant. He doesn’t get enhanced interrogation protocols.”
Rosenthal’s calm expression didn’t change, although I caught the faint edge of smugness in it. “I’m afraid I can’t make that promise, Ms. Lowell. Mr. Sanders has demonstrated significant operational knowledge and capabilities, far more than his resume might suggest. He’ll be processed according to standard protocols.”
“Like hell.” Ben’s voice went cold. “Sidney, don’t — ”
A new sound cut through the morning air, something that was neither an electromagnetic weapon nor an alarm. It was organic, wild, and furious.
And the phoenix burst into the clearing in an explosion of corrupted fire.
I’d thought it was too weak to fly, but I’d been wrong. Desperation and determination had given it one last surge of strength, and it used that strength now with devastating effect. Orange-and-shadow flames erupted across the clearing and forced the tactical teams to scatter. Several operators went down, not burning but overcome by the shadow corruption the fire brought with it.
“Contain that thing!” Rosenthal called out, her voice sharp with urgency. “Containment team, now!”
More agents emerged from the tree line, these carrying different equipment. Specialized gear, I thought. They’d come prepared for the phoenix, too, and had brought tools specifically designed to capture it.
Of course they had. They’d been planning this for months.
The phoenix wheeled in the air, trailing fire and shadow, buying us seconds we couldn’t actually use. The Faraday cage still blocked my powers. We were still surrounded, still out of options.
But the phoenix was giving us a chance anyway.
Ben saw it the same moment I did — the northeast quadrant, temporarily abandoned as the containment team engaged the phoenix. Now there was a gap, a real one this time.
“Go,” I said.
