Chapter 54 Avilyna
Avilyna
A PROBLEM TO FIX
We’ve barely set foot on the Institute’s grounds before we’re marched straight to the General’s waiting room. No detour to the manor, instead guards line the walls, silent and unreadable, as we’re called in one by one.
Then it’s my turn.
I step forward, but Kai’s hand tightens around mine. Standing next to me, his shadow falls over my shoulder as a shield. A guard moves to intercept him, but he stops him with a firm hand to the chest, a warning.
Leaning in, his eyes lock on mine. His voice drops low, meant only for my ears. “Whatever happens in there,” Kai says, a flicker of something dark flashing behind his eyes, “don’t let his words get to you. That’s how he wins.” Beneath the steel in his voice, I hear one of his shattered pieces.
I rest a hand on his forearm, steadying him as much as myself. “Don’t worry,” I whisper. “I won’t let him.”
We stay there for a beat, transfixed in that one moment before he finally lets me go. But I carry the warmth of his touch with me as I walk through the door ready to face whatever waits on the other side.
Some say General Brackwell and his son look alike. The same strong jaw, the same commanding posture, but they’re wrong. Where Kai carries fire, Brackwell holds ice. I see past the polished uniform, and that smile stretched just wide enough to pass for warmth.
It's a mask.
Crafted with surgical precision. Except for his eyes, they give him away.
They might be the same colour, but where Kai shines with a soul, his are empty.
The kind of emptiness that doesn’t come from pain, but from feeling nothing at all.
It’s a strategic move to blend in with people as one of us.
Since only a monster can hurt its own blood and still sleep soundly at night.
Only something inhuman could break Kai the way he did and pretend it was for the greater good.
“Miss Rey.”
The name feels wrong in his mouth. Twisted, a mockery dressed in civility.
He says it with that quiet smugness, reminding me that I don’t belong here, not in his opinion.
The itch to reclaim what is rightfully mine is almost unbearable.
The restraint to not blurt out who I really am is honestly greater than I expected, making my teeth grind.
But he sees it, that small flicker of defiance. And the General smiles like he’s already won. The interrogation hasn’t even begun, and I’m already failing Kai’s advice.
“Miss Rey,” he repeats, voice clipped and clinical now. “Please report the events of the attack.”
I stand tall, forcing the tremor out of my limbs as I recount the mission.
“The demon's activity began just after midnight. The first wave hit the eastern perimeter. The Bloodhowl Unit engaged immediately, and we held the line, neutralizing the breach within forty-five minutes. Backup arrived halfway through the assault.”
He doesn’t write any of it down, only stares silently.
“There were, unfortunately, a few civilian casualties.” My voice catches slightly, and I hate that it does.
But I still see it, every time I blink, the streets gutted open as a butchery.
Sabrina’s boutique… gone. The walls collapsed, windows shattered; it wasn’t just a store, it was hers.
Her legacy, her laugh, the only thing she had left from her family, that and her contagious optimism.
Sabrina made it out with a few scratches but no infections. I checked myself.
“Kai took command. Wyll and I took the high ground. We laid down cover.” Still… nothing. The General simply leans back in his chair. His eyes drag over me as if I were dirt tracked across his spotless hickory floor.
“Well,” He finally says, with a smirk that makes my skin crawl, “you certainly remember your lines well. But then again, street rats always learn how to spin a good story when their survival depends on it.”
I clench my fists, nails digging into my palms.
Say nothing.
The General leans in, smiling now, “and how lucky,” he adds. Voice thick with smug disbelief, “That your little unit just happened to be in the right place at the right time. What keen intuition you must all have.”
“It was Sergeant Blake’s order,” I say evenly. “For the nearest unit to respond to the alarm.”
“Of course it was.” His tone drips with disdain. “Because you would never step out of line, would you? For glory? To get favours?” The General rises, deliberately slow.
“Not everyone acts based on greed.”
He laughs a fake sound as he circles the desk, a vulture stalking a prey that dared to fight back. But there’s something in the way he looks at me now. A bit longer than necessary, his brow twitches.
“You look…” he mutters, more to himself than to me. “There’s something about you.”
The scene is so familiar, a wave of déjà vu washes over me.
“You look… Just like your mother,” Kai’s dad says, an accusation, not a compliment.
Normally, I wouldn’t question a comment like that, but it leaves me uneasy.
The General stands in the doorway of Dad’s study, his son beside him.
But Kai won’t even meet my eyes; his fists are clenched at his sides.
He’s soaked, though I don’t remember any rain while I was outside.
“Thanks,” I say, reluctantly.
If I’m rude, Dad will give me a lecture, and one a day is already too many.
The General’s piercing gaze holds me in place, and a cold wind crawls down my spine.
He’s nothing like his wife, Willow, whom I adore.
Sometimes, when everyone has time to play tag, she lets me ride on her back when she’s in her lycan form.
We race through the woods, playing until we're breathless with laughter.
The General grunts low and dismissively. Before turning away, he glances down at his son. "Don't disappoint me.” His boots echo down the hall as he walks off.
As soon as he’s gone, I turn to Kai.
“Why are you all wet?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer. He just stares past me as if I never said a word. The silence stretches. I slip away to grab a small towel from the hidden latrine in the back, thinking maybe if I help, he’ll talk?
When I come back, he hasn’t moved. I gently dab at his shoulders, careful not to press too hard.
Only the top half of him is soaked—his hair, his shirt, dripping water as if he’s been plunged headfirst. As I press the towel against the edge of his sleeve, the fabric shifts just enough for me to see it: a deep bruise, blooming purple and yellow on his upper arm.
I pause.
But Kai jerks away as if I’ve burned him.
“Drop it,” he snaps, pushing past me into the center of the study room.
“Kai,” I say, more firmly this time. “What happened?”
He whirls around. “I said drop it, alright?” His voice is sharp, but it wavers at the edges.
I don’t move, I don’t look away. Instead, I lift my hand and whisper a small spell under my breath.
A soft shimmer of warmth curls through the air.
It wraps around him, the water evaporates from his hair and clothes in seconds, leaving him dry.
Kai goes still.
“It’s okay if you don’t wanna tell me,” I say. “But… You don’t have to push others away.”
His stare gets weird. Shiny, like he might cry, but not really. However, Dad shows up right at this instant, and I don’t say anything else. It’s gonna be a secret, just mine and Kai’s. Forever, if he wants. I won’t be another person who lets him down.
I snap back to the present in an instant.
The vision passed much faster than I’m used to, and thank Kvirr, there’s no trace of it on my face this time.
The General is still lost in his own thoughts.
He frowns, not in confusion, but irritation.
As if the answer is right on the tip of his tongue, and it drives him mad that he can’t figure it out.
“You remind me of someone,” he finally announces, his voice colder now.
“Your father probably…” A bitter laugh slips out, and he exhales sharply through his nose, waving the thought away as if shaking loose a haunting ghost. The sneer returns, and I let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
Shit.
That was a close call. My suspicion was right; the battle left a ripple in the spell.
“Except, of course, that doesn’t change the facts; you haven’t earned the privilege of being called a Legion.
And you sure as hell don’t belong next to my son.
He is destined for greatness. Do you really think someone like you, a mundane, can be next to him?
” The General spits the last words, the air tinted with his disgust. I don’t move, but the fire inside me rises, and my chest begins to burn.
“You think he sees you as an equal?” The General’s voice is cruel, each word a calculated strike.
“He sees a broken mess, a problem to fix. You don’t lift him, Miss Rey.
You’re dead weight, a parasite he hasn’t figured out yet, is poisonous.
” He steps in, his presence, his disdain—choking.
“So here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll keep your distance.
Stay in your lane. Do your job, if you can manage that much.
And if you have even a shred of real care for Kai, you’ll walk away now before you ruin his future.
” My pulse pounds in my ears, but I don’t flinch, and I can’t help but scoff at him.
The irony, his audacity, it’s sickening. This is it, I’ve had enough. Taking a step closer, eyes locked on his.
“You talk about belonging? About being a threat? You’re right.
I don’t belong in your world of power plays and polished lies.
And as for a threat… Trust me, you have no fucking idea what I’m capable of.
But I do know what love looks like, and it sure as hell isn’t whatever twisted version you think you gave your son.
” The General’s expression curdles, the mask finally cracking.
His jaw clenches, eyes narrowing, a man staring down at something he judges beneath him, something he’s desperate to crush.
My expression doesn’t waver, head held high.
“And yet, with everything you’ve moulded him into, every order, every expectation, the only time he ever looks free, happy…
Truly. It’s when he’s with me.” I let the silence do its job before I coldly add.
“You know why, General?” He doesn’t answer, mouth turned into a hard line.
“Because I see him, not as a weapon. Not as a legacy. As a person. Something you’ve never allowed him to be.
” Randall’s expression darkens, but I don’t stop.
“You didn’t raise a son. You raised a soldier who flinches when he talks about his childhood.
Who carries every scar you carved into him and still tries to make you proud.
That’s not greatness, it’s survival.” I ignore the warning, I continue, voice full of anger as the General’s expression gives way to the true monster he is.
“You raised a weapon that still bleeds when no one’s looking. And that’s on you.”
Something cracks behind his eyes. The General’s hand moves so fast–but in an instant, Kai bursts in, a force of nature. Eyes wild, breath heavy, fury rolling off him in falls.
“Don’t you dare to fucking touch her!”
Before the General can react, Kai’s already on him.
Slamming his father against the wall, thunder against the earth.
Forearm across his throat, teeth bared in a snarl.
The desk jolts, papers scatter, and trinkets crash to the ground.
The General chokes on surprise more than pain, but the fear in his eyes is unmistakable.
Real terror, because this isn’t the boy he controlled with commands and consequences.
This is the weapon he made and can no longer control.
“I warned you,” Kai growls, voice shaking with restrained violence. “Not to touch her.”
“Kai—” I breathe, still frozen, still processing what just happened. But his focus doesn’t shift, not for a second.
“You’ve used fear your whole life as a leash,” he seethes, eyes burning into his father’s.
“You trained me to follow orders, to silence myself, to crush emotion because it made me weak. But she—” he pauses, just for a second, breathing hard, “she showed me who I am outside your cage.” Kai shoves the General again.
“Kai, he’s not worth it,” I whisper, as my hand softly touches his arm. He pushes his father one last time before stepping back. Because Kai still knows how to choose restraint, even when his instinct demands otherwise.
The General gasps for air, straightening his uniform as if his pride isn’t cracked down the middle.“This isn’t over,” he rasps.
“No,” Kai says coldly, turning toward me. “It’s just the beginning.”
Reaching for my hand, we walk out of that room together, guards lying unconscious on the floor. Kai’s fingers are squeezing mine tight; he doesn’t look back.
But I do.
I look straight into the General’s eyes, and I smile.