More soldiers, dozens, emerging from the dark, helmets glinting, rifles raised.
Benedict’s expression didn’t change. “Well,” he said quietly, “unless you can, as you so charmingly put it, ‘fuck us all up in one go’…” His smile widened. “…then I couldn’t care less about your threats. My men are trained to die.”
He dropped his hand. “GET THEM!”
The command hit like thunder.
In an instant, the Lucent surged forward, a tidal wave of black armour and noise. The ground shook beneath their charge.
And the world collapsed into chaos once more.
Chapter 18
“Oh Fuck”
The group fought hard. Blood slicked the ground, thick and dark under the grey sky. Every turn they made there was anotherLucent waiting — another body to strike down, another face twisted with that same hollow obedience.
Lucy pushed her powers to the limit, her eyes flashing purple as she reached into the minds of the enemy.Turn on each other.Her voice echoed through their heads. Two Lucent soldiers froze, then spun, firing at their own ranks before collapsing themselves. She could only control two at a time, but even that gave the others a few precious seconds.
Sam moved like liquid shadow, slicing through the lines with terrifying precision. She ducked low, blades flashing, cutting at Achilles tendons so her enemies dropped screaming to their knees before she slit their throats.
I can’t keep doing this!Lucy shouted through the mind-link, her voice shaking.There are too many!
Corey’s voice thundered back.You have to keep going! Push! Davina, Are you ok?
Yes,Davina said back as the vines from the forest pulled Lucent back in
For every Lucent that fell, another stepped forward. They showed no fear, no hesitation. They were raised to die, and it showed.
Corey barked through the link again, breath ragged.We need to get closer together, now!
Upstairs, Barnaby watched the battle unfold across his monitors, each screen flashing with chaos. His hands trembled over the controls as he tracked the figures outside Lucy’s attacks, Byron’s hammer-like strikes, Davina’s whirling vines. But there were too many red blips on the motion scanners.
“It’s too much,” he whispered. His stomach turned as gunfire flared on the screen. “They’re going to die…”
Tears blurred his vision. Then one of the cameras caught it, the circle closing in. The Lucent were surrounding them. His chest seized.
“This can’t be the end of my family,” he gasped.
He bolted up from the chair. Mary grabbed at his arm as he passed the door. “Barnaby, stop!”
But he slipped free, stumbling down the hall. He snatched the rifle from the side table near the stairs and ran. The front door slammed behind him, the sound like a gunshot in itself.
He hit the back garden at full sprint, the night air cold on his face. “Leave my family alone!” he screamed, firing wildly into the backs of the Lucent ranks. Bullets cut through armour, dropping them instantly, but his clip emptied fast.
When the gun clicked empty, every head turned toward him. Dozens of rifles swung his way.
“Barnaby!” Mary’s voice tore through the dark. She appeared in front of him just as the first volley fired.
The bullets hit her instead. Each impact snapped through the air, dull and wet. She didn’t cry out, just staggered back as blood bloomed through her shirt.
“No!”
Lucy’s scream ripped through the field. Corey froze mid-swing. Even the Lucent hesitated as Mary fell to her knees, then onto her side.
Barnaby ran to her, sliding across the grass. “Mary! Mary—Mum!” His voice broke. “Mum, no, please no…”
Corey’s gun lowered slowly. “She’s gone,” he whispered, disbelief shaking every word.
