The bunker door bulged again—
BOOM.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Elara flinched, pressing closer to Rheon.
Kael stepped in front of both of them, shoulders squared, eyes narrowed.
His pulse sharpened into a cold, deadly rhythm.
Rheon felt it in his chest like a blade.
"Elara," Kael said without turning, "stay behind us."
She grabbed both boys' hands.
Instant sync.
Instant vulnerability.
Instant power.
The Spiral under their skin hummed like something waking up.
Rheon whispered, "Whatever's out there… it feels wrong."
Then—
The metal door folded inward like cheap paper.
Something slipped through.
Not stepped.
Slipped.
A human silhouette—
bent backward, limbs too long, dragging across stone with a wet scraping sound.
Elara's breath hitched. "That's not a person."
Kael's voice was steady. "It used to be."
Rheon's stomach churned. "Used to—?!"
The creature snapped its head around—too fast—fixing on them with pale, unfocused eyes.
Its jaw unhinged.
A whisper bubbled out, layered and broken:
"Noooode threeeee… kaaaaeel…"
Kael froze.
Elara clutched his sleeve. "It knows your name."
Rheon stepped closer to Kael without thinking. "You're not facing it alone."
Kael's jaw tightened.
A flicker of emotion hit the link—
fear, anger, and something else he didn't meaning to let slip.
Rheon felt it.
Elara felt it.
The Spiral reacted instantly—
light flaring across all three of them like tension became electricity.
The creature lunged.
Kael shoved Rheon aside and took the hit—
slamming into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
"Kael!" Elara screamed.
The creature screeched, crawling at them upside down like a nightmare.
Rheon didn't think.
He grabbed Elara's hand—
their hearts collided—
resonance ignited—
A sound blasted out of her chest, invisible but devastating.
The creature froze mid-charge, its bones vibrating violently like they might shatter.
Kael staggered to his feet, fury blazing across his face.
His voice dropped into something dark.
Something that was not entirely human anymore.
"Let.
Her.
Go."
He launched forward with inhuman speed, punching the creature square in the chest.
CRACK.
It flew backward, smashing into the ceiling, sliding down in a heap.
Rheon stared. "Dude… that wasn't normal."
Kael didn't answer.
He was watching Rheon.
But not with anger.
With something rawer.
Hotter.
Uncontrolled.
Rheon felt his face heat. "Stop looking at me like that."
Elara gasped. "Stop—your emotions—both of you—stop! You're spiking too fast—"
The creature twitched.
Then its head snapped upright.
It screamed—
and its chest tore open, revealing a glowing spiral embedded inside like a parasite.
Elara stumbled. "That's Spiral-infected! It's corrupted! Nothing human left!"
Kael grabbed both Rheon and Elara, pulling them behind him as the creature charged again.
Rheon yelled, "KAEL, WE CAN'T HOLD THIS THING—"
Kael snarled, "We don't hold it. We break it."
The creature leapt.
Rheon felt fear spike.
Elara felt it too—her resonance flared.
Kael felt both of them—and his restraint snapped.
The Spiral ignited inside all three.
Time slowed.
The creature blurred.
The bunker shook.
And Kael moved.
Faster than before.
Stronger than before.
Driven by the emotions flooding him from two sides.
He slammed his palm against the creature's chest—
directly over the glowing spiral.
The reaction was immediate.
BOOM.
Light exploded through the room.
Shockwaves tore across the bunker.
The creature disintegrated into ash and fractured light.
Silence.
Rheon collapsed to his knees, gasping.
Elara sank to the floor, trembling.
Kael stood over them, chest heaving, sweat dripping down his jaw, eyes burning with something neither of them had seen before—
Worry.
Possessiveness.
Relief.
And something dangerously close to desire.
Rheon was the first to speak.
"You okay?"
Kael didn't answer.
He knelt, grabbed Rheon's chin, and forced him to meet his eyes.
"Don't," Kael whispered, voice hoarse, "throw yourself at monsters again."
Rheon's breath caught.
Elara felt the moment flare through the link and flushed hard.
Kael realized what he'd done and jerked back, shaking.
The Spiral simmered.
The door to the bunker groaned open—
the woman with glowing eyes stepping inside, weapon raised, expression stunned.
"You… you killed a Phase Three construct?"
Kael didn't look at her.
He was staring at the place his hand had been—
on Rheon's jaw.
on his skin.
Rheon looked away quickly.
Elara hugged herself, eyes wide.
The woman whispered, almost fearful:
"You three… don't understand what you are."
Kael's voice was low.
"No," he said. "But we'll learn."
The Spiral pulsed—
soft, hungry, waiting.