Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
KAEL
The road narrows as we crest the ridge, the forest closing in tight on either side. Ash reins in beside me, his gaze fixed ahead.
“There,” he says.
I follow his line of sight.
A low structure sits tucked into the trees—steel and concrete disguised beneath weathered siding. No lights. No signs.
Too quiet.
My skin prickles. The hum spikes… hard.
It drags toward the building like a hook in my chest.
“She’s in there,” I say.
Ash exhales slowly. “Yeah. I feel it.”
I swing down from Tempest before he can speak.
“Wait,” Ash snaps, grabbing my arm.
I don’t stop or slow down.
“You said they want to contain us,” I growl. “Good.”
I step forward, boots crunching over gravel.
“Guthrie—”
“They won’t be ready for me like this.” The words come out rough, my body already tightening, heat building beneath my skin.
The closer I get, the worse it gets. Pressure slams behind my ribs, like something inside me is trying to break out.
My vision sharpens. Narrows. Everything reduces to one thing.
Her.
A low hum pulses through the air. Not mine. Theirs.
Suppressors.
I feel them before I see them. Metal nodes mounted along the structure, half-buried in the earth, faintly vibrating.
They’re trying to suppress the hum.
Suppress me.
My teeth grind together.
“Find the main unit,” Ash mutters behind me. “If we take it out—”
“I don’t need to take it out.” I reach down, gripping the nearest node and ripping it free from the ground.
The moment it breaks, everything surges.
The hum slams back into me like a wave. The lights on the building flicker. Inside, shouting rises.
Ash curses under his breath. “Well… subtle’s gone.”
“Wasn’t planning on subtle.”
The front door bursts open before I reach it. Two men spill out, weapons raised. “Stop right there!”
I don’t.
The first one fires.
Pain snaps across my side. I barely feel it. I’m already on him.
I grab his arm, twisting. Bone cracks. The weapon drops. The second man swings.
Ash takes him out from behind, fast, efficient. “Left side!” he barks.
I’m already moving. The air inside is wrong.
Cold. Sterile. Artificial.
The hum twists, distorted by whatever they’ve built here. My head pounds.
But underneath it, I feel her. Faint. Strained. Alive.
My chest tightens. “Eliza…”
“Down the hall,” Ash says, scanning quickly. “Multiple heat signatures.”
“Keep up.”
We move fast. No wasted motion.
A man rounds the corner. He doesn’t finish the step.
I slam him into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. Another reaches for a radio.
Ash shoots the device out of his hand before he can speak.
“Keep moving!”
The closer I get, the worse it gets. Heat floods my veins. My hands shake. Not from weakness. From restraint.
We hit a reinforced door.
Metal. Locked.
My chest compresses hard. She’s behind it. I know it.
“She’s in there,” I say, voice low and dangerous.
Ash steps forward, scanning the panel. “Give me ten seconds—”
I don’t wait. I plant my hand against the metal. The heat surges. Glyphs blaze to life across my skin.
The door groans, then tears inward under my grip.
Ash lets out a low whistle. “Yeah. Definitely stronger.”
She’s strapped to a chair. Wrists bound. Head slumped forward. The bracelet still wrapped tightly around her wrist.
Dampening her. Dampening us. Something in me gives.
“Eliza.”
I’m across the room in a heartbeat. Her head lifts slightly. Slow. Heavy.
Her eyes flutter open confused. Then they find me. “Kael…?”
Everything else disappears.
I rip the restraints free like they’re nothing. Her body slumps into mine. Too light. Too still.
“Stay with me,” I mutter, lifting her against my chest. Her hand brushes my arm, and the world ignites. The bracelet sparks. Flickers, then fails.
The hum roars back. The lights explode overhead.
Ash swears. “We need to go. Now!”
Alarms blare. Footsteps thunder down the hall.
I don’t look back. Don’t hesitate. Anyone in our way doesn’t stay standing.
We burst through the door into the open air. Tempest rears, sensing it. Sensing her.
I swing into the saddle, pulling Eliza tight against me.
Ash mounts next to us.
“Ride!” he shouts.
I don’t need telling.
The forest blurs as we tear through it.
Eliza’s head rests against my chest. Too still. Too quiet.
“Stay with me,” I whisper against her hair.
My heart hammers. My body burns. The pressure builds. Worse than before.
Because now she’s in my arms. And I don’t know if I can hold back.
Her arms come up, wrapping around my neck, curling into my collar. I exhale, slow and controlled, trying to fight through the next sensations, the urgency of having her so close.
“You came for me,” she whispers against my chest.
“Always will,” I say from a place so deep, so true, I can no longer deny it.
Ash pulls up hard, blocking the path ahead. His eyes narrow, taking in the woman in my arms. “She should go to a hospital,” he yells.
But I shake my head. “No way. I’d be delivering her right back to them.”
“But she needs medical attention!”
Eliza lifts her head, eyes locking with his. “I’m fine.”
Ash’s forehead furrows.
“I promise,” she adds.
“You sure?” he drawls, expression torn.
“As long as I’m with Kael, I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Guthrie, you sure you got this?”
“Yeah,” I say, voice rough and breaking. His eyes meet mine, a question in them.
“If I didn’t know better—”
I nod, cutting him off. “You do know better.”
His face goes solemn, jaw tensing. “Then I know you’ll never hurt her. Or let anyone else.”
“Never.” It comes out hard as granite.
“What’s the plan, then?” he asks, gaze darting between us.
“Lie low for a few days. See what their next move is.”
He nods once. “If anyone knows how to hide, it’s you.” He raises his hand, throwing something in my direction. I catch it. The cellphone.
“Charger’s in the saddlebag,” he says. “Welcome to the twenty-first century, old timer. I expect to hear from you…. soon.”
I grunt once. “Got a blanket you can lend?”
He hesitates, then dismounts, throwing a neatly folded wool blanket in my direction. I slide it between Eliza and the pommel, giving her a cushion.
He tips his hat, leading his horse sideways to let us pass.
As we go by, I say, “Ash, thank you.”
“You’re family,” he says. “Whether you like it or not.”
“I don’t,” I grumble. But his words still put a lump in my throat.
We ride past him into the mist, shrouded by the mountains, disappearing into the wilderness.
The pulse is between us now. In her flesh. In mine.
One beat, like a shared pulse. Like something that can’t be separated no matter how we try.
As if nature’s already bonded us… or maybe the mountains.
Not abomination.
Stabilization.
Like what I felt between Ash and his woman, doubled back, concentrated into something I never want to let go.
No matter what it costs.
I look up through the emerald grid of tree branches, catching slivers of open periwinkle and swathes of billowing clouds.
My fear remains the same. That whatever this is could have consequences far beyond government men. Or even the aliens listening from the Starborn.
I fear it could be a beacon to a homeworld I’ve never known.
One that will never truly belong to me but could bring the pain of my father’s sin squarely down on my head and Eliza’s.
The glyphs pulse beneath my skin. Pleading, justifying, communicating what I can’t.
If I move even an inch, I won’t be able to hold back.