Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Jupiter
I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring, Noodle’s irritated hiss, and the unmistakable feeling of being watched. When I cracked one eye open, I found all four men of the Nightfall Shield standing at the foot of my bed, already dressed in full combat gear.
“Rise and shine, princess,” Aiden said with a smirk. “We’ve got orders.”
I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head. “It’s Saturday. Whatever it is can wait until a civilized hour.”
Percy yanked the pillow away. “Assembly directive. All shields and axis candidates are being deployed to Philadelphia. Major bane activity.”
That got my attention. I sat up, suddenly wide awake. “How major?”
“Major enough that they’re calling in students,” Draco said, his eyes meeting mine briefly before darting away.
We hadn’t really talked about what happened between us three nights ago.
Neither had anyone else, though I could feel their awareness of it humming through our bond whenever Draco and I were in the same room.
Eris tossed a gear bag onto the bed. “Suit up. Transport leaves in twenty.”
I scrambled out of bed, grateful I’d worn a tank top and shorts to sleep. “Details?” I asked, already digging through the bag.
“Multiple incursion points across the city,” Percy explained, all business. “Each shield team is being paired with a graduated team for field experience. We’re shadowing the Sunbreak Shield.”
“Sunbreak?” I paused, boot in hand. “Aren’t they—“
“The most decorated field team on the East Coast,” Aiden finished. “Yeah. Apparently the Assembly wants their best eyes on us.”
“Fifteen minutes,” Percy said as they filed out, giving me privacy to change.
The moment the door closed, I threw on my combat suit, reinforced black material that moved like a second skin but could withstand a bane’s claws. I braided my hair tightly against my scalp, secured my collapsible staff to my back, and strapped my silver dagger to my thigh.
Noodle watched from the bed, his tongue flicking anxiously. ‘Danger.’
“I know, Nood. Hold down the fort for me, okay?”
‘Be careful.’
I scratched under his chin and kissed his snoot. “Always am.”
Outside, the courtyard buzzed with activity. At least a dozen shield teams were loading into transport vehicles, several sleek black SUVs with the Assembly insignia on the doors. Director Waverly stood in the center, clipboard in hand, coordinating the chaos.
The Nightfall Shield was already waiting by our assigned vehicle, looking lethal. Percy was checking his comm unit, Aiden was inspecting his blades, Eris was adjusting the fit of his reinforced gloves, and Draco was scanning a digital map of Philadelphia.
“There she is,” a familiar voice called. Tye jogged over, also dressed for combat. “You’re with Sunbreak too?”
I blinked in surprise. “You’re coming?”
He grinned. “We’re being deployed as support teams. Lydia’s with the Dreadwatch.”
I spotted her across the courtyard, standing close to Rafe. She caught my eye and gave me a thumbs up.
“We’re gonna kick some bane ass today.” Tye swept me up in a hug that pulled me off my feet, and I laughed despite the raging exhaustion. But then, through the bond, I was hit with a spike of intense rage.
“You better set me down before my shield tears you a new asshole, Tye…”
He looked over my shoulder and laughed. He set me down and I followed his line of sight to where all four men stood watching us with varying degrees of loathing directed right at Tye.
“Black,” Director Waverly approached. “A word.”
I followed her a few paces away from the others, though I knew the Nightfall Shield was watching closely.
“This deployment is as much a test as it is a mission. The Assembly wants to see how your bond functions in the field. But more importantly, they want to see what you can do.” I gave her a bland look.
“Your portal capabilities,” she clarified.
“They believe you might be able to seal incursion points permanently, not just temporarily like other zodiacs.”
I stared at her. “That’s... I’ve never tried anything like that.”
“Which is why you’ll be shadowing Sunbreak. Their axis, Cassandra, has the strongest abilities of any active shield, except for you, potentially.” She handed me a small device. “This will help you track the energy signatures of the incursion points.”
Before I could ask more questions, she was already moving on to the next team. I rejoined the Nightfall Shield.
“What was that about?” Percy asked.
I tucked the device into my pocket. “They want me to try sealing portals.”
All four of them stared at me.
“That’s impossible,” Aiden said. “No one can permanently seal a bane portal.”
“Apparently I might be able to,” I replied, not feeling nearly as confident as I tried to sound.
Our conversation was cut short by the arrival of the Sunbreak Shield—five warriors in their late thirties, each radiating the kind of confidence that only comes from years of successful field operations. Their axis, a tall woman with close-cropped blonde hair, stepped forward.
“Nightfall,” she greeted with a nod. “I’m Cassandra. This is my shield.” She gestured to the others, a burly man with a beard, twin women with identical red hair, and a slender handsome man with dark hair.
Cassandra extended a hand to me. “You must be Jupiter.”
I shook her hand. “That’s me.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. The Assembly has been talking about nothing else for weeks.”
“Great,” I muttered.
She clapped her hands once. “Let’s move. We can do introductions on the way.”
The ride to Philadelphia took just under an hour, during which the Sunbreak Shield briefed us on the situation.
Multiple bane incursions had been detected across the city, small at first but growing stronger over the past week.
Humans couldn’t see the bane, of course, but they were feeling the effects like increased fatigue, unexplained illnesses and a general sense of dread.
“The bane are feeding,” Cassandra explained, showing us heat maps on their tablet. “Not enough to kill, but enough to sustain themselves while they build strength for something bigger.”
“Something bigger like what?” I asked.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
As our convoy entered the city, I could feel it immediately, that wrongness in the air, the subtle distortion of reality that accompanied bane activity. My serpent tattoos tingled, the magic in them responding to the proximity of dark matter.
“Those are infused, aren’t they?” Cassandra asked, nodding to my arm tattoo visible after I’d pushed up my sleeves in the heat of the car.
I nodded. “They’re made of dark matter crystal infused into the ink.” All eyes went to the tattoos, especially Nightfall. “I got them the year I manifested. They help temper my magic, but not by much. They come in handy for detecting the bane though.”
“Good. That’ll help us today. The city’s saturated. Multiple small incursions rather than one large one. It’s an unusual pattern.”
We parked near Rittenhouse Square, a busy area full of shops and restaurants. People walked by, going about their Saturday activities, completely unaware of the invisible threat lurking among them.
“First incursion point is two blocks east,” she said, checking her device. “We’ll approach on foot, standard formation. Nightfall, you shadow us exactly. No heroics, no deviations from protocol.”
Percy nodded stiffly, clearly not used to taking orders from someone else.
As we moved through the crowds, I watched the humans around us.
They couldn’t see us for what we were, thanks to the perception spells all zodiacs had in their blood naturally, but some of them shivered as we passed, their bodies registering a change in the energy field even if their minds couldn’t process it.
If humans truly knew that beings from other galaxies, integrated into society for thousands of years right under their noses inhabited this world, there would be civil unrest in the streets, and utter chaos and panic.
“There,” Cassandra pointed subtly toward a narrow alley between two upscale boutiques.
I saw it immediately, a ripple in the air, like heat rising from pavement but with an oily, unnatural quality. A small bane incursion point, barely the size of a dinner plate, but actively pulsing with dark energy.
“Level two, maybe three,” Eris assessed quietly.
“Good eye,” one of the red-haired twins approved. “I’m Maya, by the way. That’s Lenore.” She nodded to her sister.
Cassandra stepped forward, eyes glowing gold as she extended her magic toward the incursion point. “It’s fresh, less than six hours old. Small but still too stable. More could come through at any moment.”
But something felt off.
“Wait,” I said, stepping forward before I could stop myself. “There’s something coming.”
Lenore shot me a sharp look. “You’re supposed to observe only, Black.”
“No, she’s right,” Cassandra said. She stepped back, golden light fading. “Jupiter, what do you feel?”
I approached the ripple cautiously, my own magic rising to the surface. I called on my Ophis power, letting it flow through me and into my tattoos for focus. The serpents writhed against my skin, responding to the proximity of the bane.
I felt it before I saw it. There was a sudden surge of dark energy that made my tattoos burn against my skin. The ripple in reality expanded violently, tearing open like a gash mid-air.
“Get back!” I shouted, but it was too late.
The portal exploded outward, and dozens of bane poured through. Not the small ones we’d been expecting, but full-sized nightmares with too many limbs and gaping maws, talons, and teeth. They moved like ink through water, their forms shifting and stretching as they flowed into our reality.
“All teams, converge on Rittenhouse Square!” Cassandra’s voice cut through the chaos, her fingers already flying to her comm unit. “Multiple level five entities, repeat, multiple level fives!”