To me.
Calculating.
Searching for an exit that no longer exists.
Then he runs.
Instinct.
Human.
Too late.
Cal Johnson steps out of the shadows like he was always there.
No rush.
No anger.
Just inevitability.
The shot cracks—
sharp, contained.
Kade drops hard, a broken sound tearing out of him as he hits the ground.
Pain.
Real.
Immediate.
Unfiltered.
Jase steps forward, crouching slightly, watching him with something almost curious.
“You’re not dying,” he says.
Not reassurance.
Not kindness.
A statement.
Lucas moves in behind him, already securing the room, the exits, the system.
“You’re going to talk.”
Kade clutches his leg, breathing ragged now, control slipping with every second.
And for the first time—
He looks exactly like what he is.
Not a god.
Not a system.
