ログインCHAPTER FORTY-THREE “I was supposed to kill him.”Julius's words silenced the corridor.I stared at him.Behind me, the other Aeron slowly stepped forward. His face had lost every trace of anger.“What did you say?”Julius lowered his head.“I was given a child. I was told to take him away from the hospital and make sure he never existed.”The black chains around him rattled.“I didn't know who he was. I didn't know he was your brother.”The other Aeron moved closer.“You held me?”Julius nodded.“And you were going to kill me?”His silence was answer enough.I stepped between them.“Julius, look at me. Tell us exactly what happened.”He raised his head. His eyes were wet, but his expression remained strangely distant.“I was younger. I had barely survived the first wave of the apocalypse. Someone found me and offered me a way to protect the people I cared about.”“Who?”“The man with the black book.”My grip tightened around Widow-Maker.Julius continued.“He told me there were two
CHAPTER FORTY-TWOJULIUS EVERTON.I stared at the name appearing beneath ours.For a moment, I couldn't understand what I was seeing.Julius wasn't supposed to be here. He was outside the trial chamber with Elena, Daniel and the girl. He was wounded, his Authority of Dominion was unstable, and he had already risked his life helping me resist the First Authority.So why was his name in the black book?“What does Julius have to do with this?” I demanded.The silver-haired man closed the book.“More than you understand.”The other Aeron tightened his grip around my hand. “Tell us what that name means.”The man ignored him.Instead, he raised one hand.The white chamber immediately changed. The walls disappeared, replaced by a dark space filled with floating fragments of memories.I recognized some of them.The central railway station.The hospital.The underground chamber beneath Central Tower.Then I saw Julius.He was standing in a hospital corridor, much younger than he looked now. Hi
CHAPTER FORTY ONE “Neither of you was supposed to survive.”The silver-haired man's words hung in the white room.For several seconds, neither of us moved.I stared at the two newborns lying inside the transparent bassinets. One wore a blue bracelet. The other wore silver. They were identical, except for the tiny bands around their wrists.Two children.Two records.Two lives that someone had decided should never exist.“Then why are we here?” the other Aeron demanded.The silver-haired man turned toward him.“Because someone made a mistake.”“What mistake?”“Someone chose to save you.”The other Aeron's expression hardened. “Who?”The man didn't answer.I stepped between them. “Stop avoiding the question. Who decided one of us should be erased?”The man's violet eyes shifted toward me.“You're asking the wrong question, Aeron.”“Then give me the right one.”“Ask why the First Authority needed two children to begin with.”Before I could respond, the white room trembled.A low vibrati
CHAPTER FORTY[ONLY ONE AERON MILLER MAY LEAVE THIS HOSPITAL ALIVE.]The message remained in front of my eyes.I stared at the other Aeron.He was still holding my hand.“Whatever happens,” I said, “don't let go.”He gave a faint smile.“You're the one who said we weren't friends.”“We aren't.”“Good. I would hate to become friends with someone who stole my life.”The ground beneath us vanished.I fell.There was no wind, no sound, and no sense of direction. One moment I was inside the hospital, and the next I was falling through an endless black space.Then I hit the ground.Hard.[TRIAL ENVIRONMENT CREATED.][LOCATION: THE ORIGIN CHAMBER.][PARTICIPANTS: AERON MILLER — BLUE RECORD.][AERON MILLER — SILVER RECORD.][OBJECTIVE: CLAIM THE FIRST AUTHORITY.][FAILURE: BOTH PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ERASED.]I pushed myself upright.The other Aeron was several feet away, rubbing his shoulder.“Still alive?” I asked.“Unfortunately.”I looked around.We were standing inside a massive circular c
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE The floor split beneath our feet. A massive black hand emerged from the darkness, gripping the edges of the opening. Its armored fingers dug into the concrete, sending cracks racing across the maternity ward. I recognized those fingers. I had seen them beneath Central Tower. The First Authority. But something was different. This time, it wasn't reaching for me alone. It was reaching for both of us. [THE FIRST AUTHORITY HAS FOUND ITS TWO SUCCESSORS.] [WARNING: DUAL SUCCESSOR AWAKENING DETECTED.] [COLLAPSE SEQUENCE ACCELERATED.] The other Aeron grabbed my arm. “Move!” I pulled away. “Don't touch me.” His expression hardened. “You can hate me later. If that thing gets out, neither of us will survive.” He wasn't wrong. The hand tightened around the broken floor. A second arm appeared beneath it, followed by a massive armored head. Elena rushed toward us. “Aeron! We need to get out of here!” Daniel fired at the emerging creature. His bullets struck
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTI couldn't breathe.Something had wrapped itself around my chest, pulling me away from my body. The hospital room blurred, and the people around me became distant shadows.I heard Elena shouting my name.I heard Julius curse.Then another voice spoke inside my head.You took everything from me.The other Aeron.His voice was no longer coming from the monitor. It was inside my mind.My name. My family. My future. Even my death.I tried to move, but my body wouldn't respond.A violet light spread across my vision.[IDENTITY TRANSFER: 10%.][HOST RESISTANCE DETECTED.][WARNING: RESISTANCE WILL CAUSE MEMORY COLLAPSE.]I clenched my teeth.“Get out of my head.”A laugh answered me.You still don't understand. This was never your life.The hospital disappeared.I was standing in a familiar living room.A television played quietly in the corner. A small birthday cake sat on the table. Someone had decorated the walls with blue balloons.A woman stood near the kitchen entr






