Kage’s POV

  The sun had started to set, painting the sky in deep shades of red and orange as I leaned against the balcony railing of Zara’s house. The city stretched out before me, quiet in a way that felt unnatural, like it was holding its breath. Or maybe that was just me.

  Footsteps sounded behind me, soft but deliberate. I didn’t have to turn to know it was Zara. She stepped beside me, resting her arms on the railing, staring out at the darkening skyline.

  “You’re thinking too hard again,” she said, her voice light, but I could hear the edge beneath it. She knew what was on my mind.

  I exhaled, running a hand down my face. “I can’t shake the feeling that this is a mistake.”

  Zara didn’t answer immediately, just let the silence settle between us. I could feel her watching me, waiting.

  “We don’t have a choice, Kage,” she finally said. “You know that.”

  I shook my head. “We could wait. Gather more information. Find another way. We’re walking into this blind, and if we’re wrong—if Dain has more than just a few guards out there—we’re leading everyone into a death trap.”

  Zara turned fully toward me, her green eyes sharp. “And how many more magicals disappear while we wait? How many more do we let him take before we finally do something?”

  I clenched my jaw, looking away. I hated this. Hated that she was right. Hated that I knew she was right. But that didn’t make it any easier.

  “I don’t want to lose anyone,” I admitted, voice quieter now. “Not you. Not Malrick. Not Naja or Doran. This isn’t just another investigation, Zara. This feels like the start of something bigger. I saw it before, with Michael Lorne and The Cleansing. We thought taking him down would be the end of it, that stopping his movement meant stopping the spread of his hate. But it didn’t. His ideology lived on, festering underground, waiting for someone like Dain to bring it back into the light.”

  Zara’s expression darkened, her fingers tightening around mine. “We stopped Lorne before he could burn the city to the ground. We can stop Dain before he does the same.”

  I let out a slow breath. “I just don’t want to make the same mistake twice. I don’t want to think it’s over when it’s not.”

  She stepped closer, her hand brushing against mine before she laced her fingers through my own. “That’s why we have to do it together. We don’t leave anyone behind. We don’t fight alone.”

  I looked at her then, letting her words sink in. For all my doubts, all my instincts screaming at me to protect them by keeping them away from this, I knew she wouldn’t let me carry this alone. And maybe… maybe I didn’t have to.

  I squeezed her hand lightly, grounding myself. “Then let’s make sure we’re ready.”

  We gathered in the main room, the air thick with tension. Doran sat on the table, sharpening the edge of his axe. Malrick leaned against the wall, his fingers tapping against the hilt of his rapier, his glowing veins faint but visible in the dim light. Naja had laid out her medical supplies, double-checking each one with practiced efficiency.

  “One last run-through,” Kage said, straightening. “We go in quiet. No unnecessary fights. The goal is to find the missing magicals and get them out.”

  Zara nodded. “We stick together, we move fast. No one takes risks they don’t have to.”

  Doran scoffed. “You do realize that’s all we do, right?”

  Zara shot him a look, but he just grinned.

  “The facility is remote,” Kage continued. “We don’t know its full layout, but we suspect the magicals are being kept underground. I’ll go in first through the shadows, get a quick lay of the land, and come back before we move in together. If there are traps or unexpected security, we’ll need to know before we’re all inside. If I don’t come back within an hour, assume something went wrong and leave.”

  Zara frowned, her expression tightening. “You’re going alone? No. Absolutely not.”

  I exhaled, already expecting the fight. “Zara, it’s the best option. I can move unseen. Get in, get out, and we’ll have a real idea of what we’re walking into.”

  Her jaw clenched, frustration flashing in her glowing green eyes. “And what happens if you don’t come back? You expect us to just leave you there? You expect me to just leave you?”

  “Yes,” I said firmly. “If I don’t make it out, I don’t want you throwing your lives away trying to save me.”

  Zara took a sharp step closer, her voice dropping to a near-growl. “You think I could just walk away? You think Malrick could? Or Naja? Doran? We are in this together, Kage. Whether you like it or not.”

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  I hated how much I wanted to argue. But she was right. She always was.

  “I’ll be in and out before they even know I was there,” I assured her. “It’s the safest way to get intel without exposing everyone.“”

  Zara very reluctantly agreed, but the frustration in her eyes didn’t fade. “Fine,” she muttered. “But just so we’re clear, if you take too long, I’m coming in after you—whether you like it or not.”

  I exhaled, knowing there was no convincing her otherwise. “I won’t be gone long. Just keep everyone ready.”

  She stepped closer, her fingers gripping the front of my coat. “Just… don’t be reckless.”

  Before I could respond, she pulled me down into a kiss—firm, decisive, and full of everything she wasn’t saying aloud. I felt my pulse stutter, my grip tightening around her waist instinctively. When she finally pulled away, she gave me a pointed look. “That’s so you remember to come back.”

  A chorus of groans and exaggerated sighs erupted from behind us.

  “Oh, for gods’ sake, can you two do this later?” Doran complained, dramatically throwing his hands up. “Some of us don’t need this kind of emotional tension before a mission.”

  Malrick rolled his eyes. “They’re always like this.”

  Naja smirked. “It’s honestly kind of sweet, in a reckless, impending-death sort of way.”

  I shook my head, ignoring them as I refocused. “Alright. Let’s go.”

  The journey to the facility was long, and the closer we got, the heavier the air felt. The roads thinned as we moved farther from the city, the trees stretching taller, casting long shadows in the moonlight. The only sound was the rustle of leaves in the night breeze and the faint crunch of our boots against dirt and stone.

  No one spoke much. We all knew what was ahead.

  The storage facility sat nestled between the jagged cliffs of the mountain range, isolated and unassuming at first glance. But as we crept closer, the details became clearer—barbed wire fences surrounding the perimeter, patrols circling at even intervals, and floodlights sweeping over the facility’s exterior. This wasn’t just a storage site. It was a prison.

  I crouched behind the treeline, scanning the facility with narrowed eyes. “It’s locked down tight. No way we’re walking through the front door.”

  Doran huffed. “Wasn’t planning on knocking.”

  “Give me five minutes inside,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I’ll get a layout of what’s going on, then come back for you.”

  Zara shifted beside me, her green eyes flashing in the dim light. “Kage, we talked about this.”

  “And we agreed I go in first,” I reminded her. “I’ll be in and out before they even know I was there.”

  She didn’t look happy about it, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she let out a sharp breath and gave me a look that was both frustration and something deeper. “Be careful.”

  I nodded before stepping back into the shadows.

  The shift was immediate. The world around me darkened as I let the shadows take me, pulling me into their embrace, letting me slip between the fabric of reality unseen. My body felt weightless as I moved forward, through the solid barrier of the fence, re-emerging inside the perimeter without a sound.

  The moment I was inside, I crouched low, my eyes adjusting to the dim light. Two guards near the entrance. One more by the side door. I moved swiftly past them, slipping into the darkness near the building’s edge.

  A reinforced steel door stood ahead, but the real access point was farther in. Security cameras. No visible restraints, but something was wrong. This place was more than a storage facility. It was a holding site.

  I took another step closer, and that’s when I noticed it—the sluggish movements of the magicals in their cells, the unnatural stillness in their eyes. They weren’t bound by enchanted restraints or wards. They were drugged. Kept weak, compliant. Unable to access their magic.

  Anger burned through me, but I forced it down. I needed to focus.

  I needed to get back to the others.

  We had work to do.

  Zara’s POV

  I barely had time to exhale before Kage was back, stepping out of the shadows like he had never left. The moment he reappeared, I grabbed his arm, my fingers digging into the fabric of his coat. “What did you see?”

  He looked at each of us, his jaw tight, shoulders tense, and when he spoke, his voice was laced with disgust. “It’s worse than we thought. They’re drugging them. Keeping them weak, unable to fight back. They’re not just prisoners—they’re being broken.”

  Silence fell over the group, the weight of his words sinking in. Malrick clenched his fists, his veins pulsing brighter. “So they’ve been awake this whole time? Aware but unable to do anything?”

  Kage nodded. “Most of them looked barely conscious, but they’re alive. We have a chance to get them out. The facility is locked down tight, but if we move fast, we can do this before reinforcements show up.”

  Doran exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “That’s not a prison. That’s a damn experiment.”

  Naja’s silver-lit hands flexed at her sides. “If they’re drugged, I can heal them. Counteract whatever they’ve been given. If I can wake them up, they can fight with us.”

  I turned to Kage. “Can you get us in the same way you got in?”

  He hesitated for only a second before nodding. “I can. It’ll take energy, but I can pull all of you through the shadows. Once we’re inside, we move fast. Doran and Naja will head straight for the magicals—Doran will get them out of the cages and protect Naja while she heals them. Once they’re awake, they can help us fight. Meanwhile, Malrick and Zara will hold off the guards and keep the path clear.”

  Doran cleared his throat. “Kage gets us in, Naja and I get the magicals out, and Malrick and Zara help hold the line. But are you going to search the rest of the place? Make sure we don’t leave anyone behind?”

  Kage met his gaze, his expression unreadable for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah. Once you’re working on freeing the magicals, I’ll sweep the rest of the facility. We need to be sure we get everyone out. And if there’s anything in there that ties this directly to Dain, I’ll find it.”

  Malrick nodded. “Then let’s move.”

  Kage sighed, finally relenting. “Fine. But once we’re inside, you listen to me. No unnecessary risks. We get in, get the magicals, and we leave. No heroics.”

  Zara smirked. “No promises.”

  Kage rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of amusement in his expression. He took one last look at all of us, then nodded. “We move now.”

  Kage wraps his arm around me and another around Malrick, his grip firm, grounding. “Hold on tight,” he says, voice steady despite the tension in his shoulders. Doran and Naja step in, gripping onto whatever they can, and for a brief moment, the five of us are connected, bound by more than just touch—by trust, by purpose.

  Then the shadows rise, curling around us like living smoke, swallowing us whole. The world vanishes into darkness, weightless, silent, as we slip into the unknown.