Chapter 45
Lucien
Alistir?
“Who are you?” I cut in, because none of this makes any sense. And his response has me standing there in shock.
“I’m her father.”
I look at the man standing in front of us, studying every feature, every subtle line of his face—and it’s there. The resemblance. It’s impossible to miss once I see it. My gaze snaps back to her.
“Cece?” I eye her, confusion knitting my brows. “What is this?”
The emotion in my voice betrays my intention not to sound hurt. Her eyes go wide, panic visible behind them. That tells me everything. She knows I’m completely in the dark.
“Dammit,” she mutters. “I didn’t have time to talk to you about this, Luc.”
I give her a curt nod, trying to stay calm, but my attention shifts back to him, the man who apparently just waltzed back into her life. Or . . . has he been around longer than I knew? No. She wouldn’t have hidden that from me—right?
“Aris wanted to get back at me. That’s why you were a target.”
His words hit me like a wave.
“What?” My voice comes out sharp, full of venom I don’t bother to control. “Aris? How do you even know—” I cut myself off, jaw tightening. No. No time for this. “Why would Aris care about revenge against you?” I demand. “Who are you?”
“I’m her father,” he says evenly. “But I’m also a Warper, Lucien.”
That feels like a punch to the gut. Cece’s half Imperian? How did I miss that? How could I not have seen it? The pieces scatter in my head, but there’s no time to chase them; there are bigger things at stake right now.
“Even still. Why would Aris try to kill Cece just to get back at you? That doesn’t add up.”
He steps closer. I don’t move. Instead, I stand taller, composing myself. I don’t care that he’s supposedly one of us; I only see the man who left his daughter behind. My instincts scream that he can’t be trusted.
“I abandoned my life as a Warper to be with Chloe’s mother,” he begins, his tone heavy.
“We tried to build a life, but our pasts never truly let us go. Aris saw my leaving as a betrayal. He dug until he found something to use against me. I knew he’d eventually discover Chloe.
So I left. It was the only way to protect them both.
But he never stopped. And when he found out about her, he used her existence to hunt me down.
To punish me. When I refused to bend to his will, he made good on his threat.
I don’t think he realized who you were, Chloe.
If he had, he’d have captured you instead.
By the time he suspected, Lucien was already involved, and I don’t believe he truly knows even now. ”
Cece gasps, her voice trembling. “So it’s true?
Mom was a Surger? And you weren’t going to tell me?
” Her eyes glisten as tears form, though she wipes them away quickly.
“You said you wanted to come clean, to tell me who I am, what I can do, and you left out half of it? I can’t believe I started trusting you! ”
Before I can step in, I cut through the tension. “This isn’t the time.”
I turn toward the Surgers, keeping my tone firm. “Kate has nothing to do with this. She’s of no use to your plan.”
“She stays where she is,” one of them snaps, “until Chloe submits to our terms.”
Cece lifts her chin. “If I’m one of you, why are you threatening your own kind? Doesn’t what I want matter? Let her go! We can work something out, but I’m not going with you to your world. I might be half Surger, but I’m also half Warper. Doesn’t that make me a problem for you, too?”
“Chloe, we do not desire to harm you. But the continuation of our kind takes precedence over the whims of one soul. Come with us . . .”
He lifts a hand and points right at Kate. His voice is devoid of any feeling.
“ . . . or she will be terminated.”
My gut twists. That’s it. No more negotiation. No space left for reason. Whatever this ends as, it ends in violence.
The current surges inside me—fast, volatile, vicious. It crackles along my nerves, lighting every cell like dry brush catching flame. My muscles tighten. My vision sharpens. I don’t resist it. I don’t hesitate. I grab hold of it. Focus it. Shape it into something ready to kill. Then I release.
The power rips out of me like a storm breaking free, slamming through the air toward the Surger with bone-rattling force. The lead Surger turns just in time.
Of course he does.
His hands rise, and impossibly, he absorbs it. The energy vanishes into him, swallowed whole, as if it never belonged to me. As if I never mattered.
Fuck.
The second Surger isn’t as lucky. My current veers, slamming into him full force.
He screams—a high, warped sound that doesn’t belong to any living thing.
Smoke curls off his body in thick, black spirals, the stench of scorched matter burning my lungs.
He stumbles. Catches himself. Straightens, but he’s still standing. Barely.
Where the hell is Xan?
“So be it, Lucien,” the lead Surger says calmly, utterly unfazed. “We shall proceed by more forceful means.”
He moves. Too fast to track. A pulse of energy tears from him, screaming straight toward us. But instinct takes over. I throw myself in front of Cece, arms out, body already preparing as I rip every last strand of my current into a shield.
The impact slams into us like a freight train.
The force coils around my field, compressing, testing, searching for weakness.
My boots grind against the floor as I fight to hold it.
My bones rattle. My vision blurs at the edges.
Cece screams behind me in fear. For now.
But I can feel it draining me. Shielding takes everything I can offer and more. I can’t keep this up—not against him.
The injured Surger recovers fast. He circles wide, pulse gathering again, trying to flank us while I’m locked in place. He’s smart. Ruthless.
“I need to fight,” I growl through clenched teeth.
“I can put up the force field around Cece!” her father shouts from across the chaos, his voice cutting through the crackle of energy and collapsing debris of the warehouse. Relief hits hard and fast.
“Okay—now!” I shout.
I drop my shield. For a split second, we’re exposed.
Then her father’s energy snaps into place around her—solid, unyielding, enough.
I don’t waste the opening. I call my staff, and it forms in my hand like it was always meant to be there—metal and current knitting together in a familiar pulse. Power hums up my arm.
I move.
The injured Surger charges. His pulse slams into my chest, tight and crushing, stealing my breath, locking my muscles for half a second too long—but I force through it.
I pivot, swinging low, then high. The staff cleaves through the air, my current tearing into him, shredding his system in violent bursts.
He lunges, desperate, reaching for me, trying to tether, but I twist. Then I drive the staff up through his core.
He implodes. Light collapses inward, matter folding in on itself until there’s nothing left but scorched air and ringing silence.
The other Surger doesn’t rush me. Instead, he turns his attention to Cece. A thin smile curves his mouth as he flicks his wrist.
A pulse of energy lashes out, not at me.
It slams into the barrier that her father has placed around Cece, sending a violent ripple across its surface.
The shield echoes, flares brighter, and then stabilizes.
Her father grunts, bracing himself as the Surger tilts his head, studying his reaction. Testing.
“How long do you think he can hold that?” the Surger asks coldly. “One minute? Two?” Another strike. This one fiercer. The barrier bows inward, energy screaming as it resists. Fine cracks of light fracture across its surface before smoothing out again. My blood goes cold.
“Enough,” I snarl, launching myself at him. But he anticipates it. A wall of force slams into me mid-charge, hurling me sideways. I hit the ground hard, roll, and barely get my shield up before another blast tears past where my head was a second earlier.
He’s not trying to kill me yet. He’s toying with me.
Then he stops his threats on the barrier and moves.
He comes at me low and fast, pulse building.
I meet him head-on. I call my staff into existence, current roaring down its length.
We clash. Metal and energy scream as we collide.
He strikes again and again, forcing me back, each hit rattling my bones.
I counter, drive him away, then pivot. But the hits have taken their toll, and my energy is waning.
Pain immediately radiates through my skull.
The Surger turns his attention back to the barrier and strikes again.
Harder this time, and the field flickers violently.
Cece cries out. Her father staggers, barely keeping it intact as rage floods me.
I surge forward, slamming into him with everything I have.
He stumbles this time, just a step, but it’s enough to break his attack on the barrier.
He attacks again, desperate, reaching for me—trying to tether.
I turn, ready to release my current when pain explodes across my back.
I hit the ground hard. Every nerve of mine screams. The Surger advances slowly now, pinning me to the ground, savoring his triumph.
Power coils around him, pressing down even harder on my chest, splitting my flesh.
And then, Cece’s scream cuts through everything. I can’t see her, but I hear the terror in it—raw and breaking. I try to rise. Try to call the current.
Nothing. It’s gone.
Something is pulling it from me. Ripping it out, strand by strand. The Surger. He must be taking it. Dark spots crowd my vision. My limbs feel hollow, useless as I continue to fade. But if he has my current . . . why am I still alive?
Then her shriek ripples through the air. Piercing, sharp, otherworldly, forcing my gaze upward despite the agony tearing me apart. And there Cece is.
Radiant. Blinding.