Wolfen was walking down the corridor, his hands in his pockets, his eyes fixed on the floor. He had been avoiding everyone since last night. Since Zoey. Since he broke.
He didn't hear the footsteps behind him until it was too late.
Eva fell into step beside him, her arms crossed, her expression caught somewhere between amusement and something softer. She looked at him. He didn't look back.
"So," she said.
Wolfen's jaw tightened. "So what?"
"You and Zoey."
"Nothing."
"Nothing." Eva's voice was flat. "You were in her room. All night. And it's nothing."
Wolfen's face went red. His ears went red. His neck went red. He walked faster.
Eva kept pace. "I'm not judging. I'm just saying—"
"Don't."
"—if you hurt her, I'll kill you."
Wolfen stopped walking. He turned to look at her. His eyes were tired, red-rimmed, but steady. "I know."
Eva studied him for a moment. Then she nodded. "Good." She started walking again. "I need your help."
Wolfen fell into step beside her. "With what?"
"Goliath."
Wolfen's eyebrows rose. "The big one?"
"The big one." Eva nodded. "Shadow said he can talk. And he only listened to Lily. But Lily's letter said her creatures would listen to me. So I want to talk to him."
Wolfen was quiet for a moment. "You want me to come with you."
"I want you to come with me."
"Why?"
"Because you're the only one who might survive if he decides to kill me."
Wolfen snorted. "Comforting."
"I try."
They walked in silence. Wolfen's hands were still in his pockets. His shoulders were still tight. But something in his posture had shifted—just slightly, just enough.
"When do we leave?" he asked.
"Now."
"Now?"
"Shadow's waiting."
Wolfen sighed. "Of course he is."
───
The training ground was a mess.
Craters dotted the earth like craters on a dead moon. Trees that had been standing yesterday were splinters today. The air smelled like ozone and burned grass and something else—something cold.
Selene stood in the center, her fists raised, her white hair floating around her like it had its own gravity. Across from her, Leo and Derek stood with their arms crossed, their expressions caught between impressed and exhausted.
"Again," Selene said.
Leo's eye twitched. "We've been at this for hours."
"Again."
Derek sighed and raised his fists.
A figure appeared at the edge of the clearing. Warden. Her visible eye swept over the destruction, then settled on Selene. She signed something.
The kid, standing beside her, translated. "She says you have potential. But your form is wrong."
Selene lowered her fists. "What do you mean?"
Warden walked into the clearing. Her steps were light, silent, almost floating. She stopped in front of Selene and signed again.
"You're fighting like you're trying to kill someone," the kid said. "You should be fighting like you're trying to protect someone."
Selene's eyes widened. "How do I learn that?"
Warden smiled. It was a small thing, barely there, but it changed her whole face. She signed.
"I can teach you."
Another figure appeared at the edge of the clearing. Absolute 2 Eva. Her mask was off, her face bare, her eyes red from crying. She looked at Warden, then at Selene, then at the destruction around them.
Warden turned to her. Signed.
"You want to join us?" the kid asked, his voice soft.
Absolute 2 Eva hesitated. Then she nodded.
Warden's smile widened.
───
The room was small and white and quiet.
Wrong Eva sat in the corner, her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs. Her eyes were open, but they weren't seeing anything. Jet wasn't in control. The mask was gone. The violence was gone. There was just Ava, small and scared and alone.
Maya sat against the wall across from her, her arms crossed, her scales still visible under her sleeves. Sasha sat beside her, her silver-white hair spilling over her shoulders, her hands folded in her lap.
"She's been like this for hours," Sasha said quietly.
Maya nodded. "Jet wears her out. Every time she takes over, Ava wakes up with nothing left."
Sasha looked at Wrong Eva—at the hollow eyes, the trembling hands, the way she held herself like she was trying to disappear. "Is there anything we can do?"
Maya was quiet for a moment. "We can be here. That's all."
They sat in silence, watching, waiting, being present. It wasn't much. But it was something.
───
The forest was quiet.
Jordan and Lena had found a fallen log near the stream, the same one from before, the same place where the flowers grew and the water flowed. They sat close, their shoulders touching, their hands intertwined.
Lena's hair fell across her face. Jordan reached up, slowly, carefully, and tucked it behind her ear.
She looked at him. Her eyes were soft. Her lips were parted.
He leaned in.
"JORDON!"
Leo's voice shattered the moment.
Jordan jerked back. Lena's face went red. Leo crashed through the trees, Derek behind him, both of them covered in dust and sweat and the particular exhaustion of people who had been thrown into craters.
"There you are," Leo said. "We need to train. Derek said you're the only one who can keep up with me."
Jordan stared at him. His face was red. His hands were clenched. His jaw was tight.
"Now?"
"Now."
Lena stood up, brushed off her pants, and walked away without looking back. Her face was still red. But she was smiling.
Jordan watched her go, then turned to Leo. "I'm going to kill you."
Leo grinned. "You can try."
───
Warden stood at the edge of the clearing, her visible eye fixed on Absolute 2 Eva. The kid stood beside her, his notebook open, his pencil ready.
Absolute 2 Eva looked uncomfortable. Her hands were clasped behind her back. Her weight shifted from foot to foot. She didn't know what to do with herself.
Warden signed. The kid translated.
"Your sister was brave."
Absolute 2 Eva's throat tightened. "She was."
"She had to be. To survive what she survived." Warden's hands moved slowly, deliberately. "To do what she did."
Absolute 2 Eva nodded. "She was stronger than me."
Warden shook her head. "No. She wasn't. She just had more practice."
Absolute 2 Eva looked at her—at the scarred face, the missing finger, the arm held together by Umbralite. At the woman who had lost everything and kept going.
"How do you do it?" she asked. "How do you keep going?"
Warden was still for a long moment. Then she signed.
"Because I have to. Because there are people who need me. Because if I stop—if I let myself stop—then everything I lost was for nothing."
Absolute 2 Eva's eyes glistened.
"And because," Warden signed, "someday, I'll see her again. And I want to have stories to tell her."
The kid's voice cracked on the last word. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
Absolute 2 Eva nodded slowly. "I want that too."
Warden reached out and took her hand. Squeezed it once. Then let go.
"Let's train," Warden signed.
Absolute 2 Eva nodded. "Let's train."