Chapter 59: What Wakes in the Dark

Lena collapsed before Alexander could catch her.

Her small frame hit the floor, her hair spilling around her like a dark halo.

“LENA!” Alexander dropped to his knees, pulling her into his arms. “No—no—wake up—”

Her body was limp.

Cold.

Unresponsive.

Her lips were pale again, but her veins were no longer glowing.

The purge had left her.

But if the purge wasn’t inside her—

Then where was it?

A violent crackle ripped through the bunker.

Alexander jerked his head up.

The golden sphere of suspended purge energy trembled violently in mid-air, expanding and contracting like a lung gasping for air. Sparks flew from it, arcing across the metal ceiling.

Cassandra stepped back, horrified.

“It’s unstable. It should have settled inside Elias—but she interrupted the transfer.”

Alexander looked down at Lena’s unconscious face.

“She did it to save him.”

Cassandra’s voice was deadly quiet. “Yes. And now the purge has no host.”

Alexander’s breath caught. “What happens when it has no host?”

Cassandra’s expression told him everything.

“It detonates.”

Alexander turned white. “A—A blast?”

“A purge implosion,” she said. “It will collapse the energy into itself. This bunker will be vaporized. The entire forest will burn.”

Alexander held Lena closer. “How long do we have?”

“Minutes.”

A groan sounded behind them.

Elias.

Alexander twisted around.

Elias lay sprawled on the other table, chest heaving, drenched in sweat. His eyes fluttered, then shot open—

But his irises were no longer green.

They glowed gold.

Alexander’s stomach twisted. “Elias…?”

Elias blinked slowly, disoriented. “Where… am I…?”

Cassandra stepped closer, analyzing him with sharp, calculating eyes.

“The purge touched him,” she murmured. “Even if he didn’t absorb it completely… part of it is inside him.”

Elias sat up too quickly, grabbing his head as if stabbed with pain.

“God—what—what is this—?”

Alexander moved to him. “Elias, listen to me—Lena is unconscious—the purge is loose—we have to—”

But Elias wasn’t listening.

He stared at his hands—

Veins glowing faintly gold under his skin.

“What did she do…?” he whispered. “Why did she stop it?”

Alexander swallowed hard. “Because you were dying.”

Elias laughed—a broken, disbelieving sound.

“She should have let me.”

Alexander snapped. “NO! Stop saying that! Lena wanted us both alive!”

Elias stared at him, eyes shining with guilt. “She saved me. Again. Even when she didn’t owe me anything.”

Alexander shook his head. “She didn’t save you. She saved us.”

A deafening CRACK split through the room—the purge sphere expanding, slamming into the ceiling, melting metal in seconds.

Cassandra grabbed Alexander’s arm. “We need to contain it.”

Alexander held Lena protectively. “How?”

Cassandra glanced at Elias. “He might be able to anchor it.”

Elias jerked back. “No. I can’t.”

“You’re the only one who can,” Cassandra said sharply. “You're the only one with purge residue inside you. It will respond to you.”

Elias looked at the sphere—its unstable pulses shaking dust from the ceiling.

“If I anchor it… what happens to me?”

Cassandra hesitated.

Then whispered the truth:

“You’ll burn.”

Alexander stepped between them. “No! Elias is not dying today—not after everything—”

Cassandra grabbed him by the shirt. “Then YOU anchor it!”

Alexander looked at Lena in his arms.

If he let go—

if he stood up—

he’d lose his grip on her.

Lose the tiny warmth still left in her.

His voice broke. “I can’t leave her.”

Elias stared at him.

Pain flashed across his face.

“Alex… if you don’t anchor it… all of us die.”

Alexander held Lena closer. “Then we die together.”

“NO!” Elias roared, slamming his fist against the metal wall. “Not her! Not again!”

Cassandra glanced at Lena.

Her voice softened.

“She’s unconscious, yes. But she’s not dead. Her heart is faint… but beating. She stopped the transfer at the exact millisecond she needed to.”

Alexander’s breath hitched. “So she… she might wake up?”

“If we stop the purge explosion,” Cassandra said.

A violent pulse rocked the bunker—

the purge sphere doubling in size.

The walls shook.

Sparks rained down.

Elias flinched, clutching his glowing forearm.

“It’s calling me,” he whispered, horrified.

Cassandra nodded. “Because part of it is inside you.”

Elias backed away. “If I touch it… I won’t survive. I know that.”

Cassandra’s expression was bleak. “I know.”

Alexander set his jaw. “Then I’ll do it.”

Cassandra turned to him slowly.

“Alexander… if you touch the purge… Lena loses you forever. Not just your life. Your memory. She won’t even know you existed.”

Alexander froze—

as if stabbed in the heart.

His whole life

all his love

every moment with Lena—

gone.

Lena would wake

safe

alive

free—

And she’d look at him like a stranger.

He couldn’t breathe.

Elias’s voice was low.

Pained.

“She wouldn’t want that.”

Alexander didn’t respond.

He knew Elias was right.

Cassandra looked between them.

“Someone must anchor it. Now.”

Alexander stared at Lena’s face—

Her lips

her eyelashes

her cheeks he had kissed a hundred times—

He placed a trembling kiss on her forehead.

“Lena… forgive me.”

He stood.

Elias lunged. “ALEX—DON’T—”

Alexander turned to him, eyes full of love and agony.

“She chose me,” Alexander whispered. “And I will not let her die.”

He stepped toward the glowing sphere.

The energy pulled toward him—

Reacting

stretching

reaching—

Like it recognized him as heir.

Elias grabbed his arm with shaking hands. “Don’t do this.”

Alexander’s voice cracked.

“I have to.”

Elias choked on a breath.

Then, with sudden fierce strength—

He shoved Alexander back.

“NO.”

Alexander stumbled, nearly dropping.

Elias stepped between Alexander and the purge sphere.

His eyes glowed bright gold.

He whispered:

“I’ll do it.”

Alexander froze. “Elias—NO—”

Elias gave him a small, broken smile.

“You have her. She has you. I have nothing left but this.”

Alexander stepped forward, voice trembling. “Please—please don’t—”

Elias shook his head.

“This is my redemption.”

He placed his glowing hand into the purge sphere.