Last man standing saves the girl.
I almost laugh.
White-blue flash.
SPARK FEED RAMPING — LEVEL 3
TARGETS LOCKED
BEGIN COMBAT IN 3… 2…
I strike. Swinging before I even lock on my target. My fist lands, flesh cracks, bones fold. Someone screams—it might be me.
I blink. Dainrik’s already down. Neck wrong. Blood everywhere.
White-blue flash.
Zaylen lunges. I don’t feel it when he hits me, I only feel it when he stops moving. His arm’s still twitching on the ground.
White-blue flash.
The last one moves differently—calm, brutal, practiced. No fear, no fire. Just precision.
Power surges through me like I’ve been hit with lightning. We collide in the center of the room, and for a second, it’s like watching someone else wear my body. I stab my fingers through his throat—his spark explodes across my face in a flash of blue light. In the same moment, his fist slams against the side of my head with the force of thunder, cracking bone, snapping me to the side.
He drops fast.
I drop slower. My knees hit first, then my shoulder, then my cheek hits the floor, slick with blood—his and mine.
I roll over on my back, looking up at the ceiling.
This is when I see her.
But it’s not her.
It’s her spark.
Tiny wings flicker in the air above me. A shimmering, like a perfect summer night. Swirling like a tidal pool along the Tau City canal. Soft and pulsing, like a heartbeat.
Her voice in my head…
“You settled for me.”
“I didn’t settle for you, Jasina. You’re the only damn thing I’ve ever done right. I didn’t save Clara. I saved you.”
“And now,” her fluttering blue butterflies land on my cheek and whisper in my ear, “it’s my turn to saveyou.”
40 - TYSE
The minute my eyes openinside the arena, I know one thing.
It’s not enough.
Whatever spark Clara gave me, it’s not enough.
Because I’m in a makeshift cage, hangin’ high above the mutants, and they are comin’ for me. And it’s not like the cage bars were put there to keep me in—or keep them out. Because there’s too much space between them. Even a guy as big as me can slip through.
This isn’t a prison, it’s a trap.
