جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 98

The sounds of preparation echoing through the Nest seeped dully through the heavy oak door, but inside the room the silence was almost tangible. Jake stood by the window, watching the darkness outside, even though deep within the Nest he could not see the sky. His thoughts were far away, drawn toward the Raven Rock base, where death or redemption awaited them. His shoulder ached from past fights, and the scars across his body burned.Behind him, Sadira sat on the edge of the bed. She was already dressed in her base layer, a thin, form fitting fabric that protected her skin beneath the armor, but the heavy kevlar breastplate still lay on the floor. Her hair, now permanently threaded with the blue green shimmer of the Core, fell freely over her shoulders. The air around her crackled softly, as if invisible electricity filled the space.Jake turned around. The sight tightened his chest. Sadira, the proud, powerful demon woman, now looked fragile with that immeasurable power contained wit

The fall was not frightening, it was liberating. Nathan’s wings cut through the air, the rush of dark feathers the only sound strong enough to drown out the pounding of my heart. As the concrete courtyard of the Raven Rock base rushed up toward us, blinding white beams of light suddenly shot up from the ground. The radars and automated systems had finally detected the intruders.“Now!” Nathan roared.We were still in the air when the hybrids lined up at the gate raised their weapons in unison. The flashes of muzzle fire looked like a thousand stars being born in the dark valley. With a single powerful beat of his wings, Nathan changed direction, yanking me out of the path of the gunfire, and we slammed down directly in front of the first row of hybrids.The ground shuddered beneath us. The force of the impact carved a crater into the concrete, and the shockwave hurled dozens of hybrids into the air.Nathan rose within the cloud of dust. He was no longer just a man, but not only a demo

The darkness was not empty. It was like a deep, ice-cold ocean into which Abigail’s soul slowly sank, drifting toward a bottomless abyss. Rodriguez’s claw had not only torn through her flesh—it was as if it had severed the very thread of her existence. The sounds of the base, the explosions, and the distant echoes of Sadira’s Core detonation all fell silent. Only one thing remained: a distant, pulsing red light that would not let her vanish completely.It was Nathan’s heartbeat.Among the ruins of Raven Rock, Nathan paid no attention to the collapsing concrete walls. He knelt on the blood-soaked floor, clutching Abigail’s lifeless body against his chest. His face was twisted with pain and fury. Sadira stood some distance away, still trembling from the energy she had released, her gaze fixed on Abigail. She carried the Core—she was the living source—but it was Abigail who had given her life so that Nathan could reach them.“I will not give you up!” Nathan snarled.Then the Hunter did s

In the northern wing of the Nest, far from the hum of council chambers and the urgency of the healers, Jake and Sadira finally crossed the threshold of their own quarters. The heavy stone door closed behind them with a dull thud, sealing out the outside world—the remnants of war, even the weight of Abigail’s fate. In this room, the air was cooler, the walls draped in dark blue silk tapestries, and moonlight streamed through the window, casting silver ribbons across the polished floor.Jake let out a deep breath and leaned back against the wall. He shrugged off his heavy tactical belt; his weapons hit the ground with a metallic clatter. It was the first moment in months when he didn’t need to look over his shoulder.“It’s over, Jake,” Sadira whispered.She stood in the center of the room, and in the moonlight the Core’s energy beneath her skin no longer pulsed wildly but glowed softly, almost soothingly—like the northern lights.Jake stepped toward her. He didn’t speak; he simply cuppe