After the mysterious translocation of his home city, Zone Three, Nezra—a runaway magic academy student with a volatile and damaged spirit bond—finds himself stranded and hunted. Captured by the ruthless researcher Silas, who seeks to dissect his unique connection to the wrathful spirit Umeh, Nezra is rescued by a crew of glamorous but deadly thieves led by the cunning Morgan.

Traumatized and cornered, Nezra is manipulated into abandoning his quest to find his lost family and instead joins Morgan’s crew. Under the guise of “family,” they offer him protection while secretly viewing him as a powerful tool for their heists. As Nezra trains with them—and grows closer to the youngest member, the brilliant and alluring tech expert Scarlet—he struggles with his collapsing sense of purpose and the chilling, fascinated presence of Umeh, which grows stronger with every act of violence he commits.

Now caught between the dangerous allure of his new life and the haunting guilt of his past, Nezra must navigate rising tensions within the crew, the ever-present threat of Silas’s pursuit, and the growing power of Umeh—all while questioning whether he’s found a new family or simply traded one cage for another.

Rin saw it all through her scope. The confrontation. The bag being opened. She couldn't hear the words, but the body language was a scream. They were made.


Her finger slid back onto the trigger. Her crosshairs settled not on the security chief, but on the delicate, crystalline champagne flute held by a woman standing near him. A non-lethal target. A new distraction.


The security chief's fingers brushed the cold metal of the case.


The champagne flute in the woman's hand exploded into a million glittering shards. The woman shrieked. The crowd, already on edge, recoiled as one. The security chief flinched, instinctively turning toward the new sound, his hand jerking back from the bag.


In that single second of diverted attention, Kara acted.


She didn't grab the case. That would be suicide. She reached past it, her movements a blur of practiced efficiency, and snatched up a large, sealed vial of a vibrant blue liquid from the bag—a powerful topical antiseptic.


"You clumsy fool!" she shrieked, her voice pitched to a hysterical crescendo that cut through the new panic. She held up the vial, which now had a hairline crack from being jostled. "This is A-grade sterilizing agent! If this leaks, it could release airborne particulates that cause severe dermatological burns! We need to evacuate this area immediately!"


The words "airborne" and "burns" did the trick. The patrons nearby heard her and began to back away in genuine alarm.


The security chief's priorities instantly shifted from theft to containment and PR nightmare. His face paled. "Everyone, back up! Give her space!" he barked at his team.


Seizing the moment, Kara quickly zipped the bag shut, clutching the "compromised" vial in her other hand like a live grenade. "I need to get this sealed in a bio-hazard unit immediately! Now!"


This time, when she moved for the door, the security team parted for her. She swept out into the cool night air, her heart hammering against her ribs.


Rielle was right behind her, a ghost exiting with the crowd.


Chapter 30 - Gilded cage 6