Zara’s POV

  I had made up my mind. I knew what had to be done. But I still couldn’t bring myself to leave.

  The hospital room was too quiet, save for the steady beep of the monitors and Naja’s slow, even breaths. She was awake, but barely—her body still weak, her magic drained. I had just gotten her back. The thought of walking out that door, of leaving her alone, made my chest tighten.

  “Zara,” Naja’s voice was hoarse but steady, her silver-glowing hands resting weakly on the blanket. “You have to go.”

  I swallowed hard, shaking my head. “I can’t leave you. Not again.”

  She exhaled, a tired but knowing smile tugging at her lips. “You’re not leaving me. You’re finishing this.”

  Kage stood near the door, arms crossed, watching but not rushing me. He knew I needed to do this on my own terms. But time was running out.

  “You have security outside your room,” I argued, my voice barely above a whisper. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t try again. We still don’t know if he’s working alone—”

  “And that’s exactly why you need to go,” Naja interrupted gently. “Michael Lorne is still out there. And Kage can’t do this without you.”

  I clenched my jaw, guilt warring with responsibility.

  Naja turned her gaze toward Kage, her expression growing more serious. “Take care of my best friend.”

  Kage met her eyes, his usual unreadable mask softening just slightly. “I will.”

  I let out a slow, shaky breath. There was no more time to hesitate. We had a killer to stop.

  The night air was heavy with tension as we followed the trail left behind by Hall’s latest intel. Michael Lorne was close.

  Kage gripped the wheel tightly as we drove through the darkened streets, the city lights growing sparse as we neared the industrial district. “His last known movements place him here,” he muttered, eyes scanning the road ahead. “An abandoned warehouse on the outskirts. If he’s hiding, this is where he’ll be.”

  I nodded, my stomach twisting. This was it. After everything—after all the bodies, the close calls, Naja dying and coming back—we were finally going to confront him.

  Kage parked the car in the shadows, killing the engine. “We go in slow. We don’t know what he has planned.”

  I exhaled, gripping the edge of my coat. “I know.”

  But as I moved to step out of the car, Kage caught my wrist. “Zara. Wait.”

  I turned to him, confused by the urgency in his voice. His expression was different—not just the usual focus before a fight, but something deeper. Something raw.

  “Be careful,” he said quietly. “Lorne is calculated. He’s dangerous. And if something happens to you—”

  I placed my hand over his, stilling him. “I trust you, Kage.”

  For a moment, the world outside didn’t exist—just us, sitting in the silence, the weight of everything pressing in around us. I saw the fear in his eyes, the worry he didn’t speak out loud.

  And then, he kissed me.

  Kage’s lips were warm against mine, a contrast to the night’s chill. The moment was fleeting—intense but brief—before he pulled away, his dark eyes searching mine. There was no hesitation, no regret, only the unspoken promise of something more.

  But there was no time to linger.

  The Cleansing was ahead of us. The warehouse loomed in the distance, shrouded in darkness, the final battleground of a hunt that had gone on for far too long.

  Kage exhaled, grounding himself. “Let’s finish this.”

  We started toward the building, steps in sync, the city’s silence pressing in around us. But before we reached the entrance, something shifted in the air—a ripple of energy that made the hairs on my arms rise.

  “Wait.” I stopped abruptly.

  Kage turned, brows knitting together in confusion. “Zara—?”

  Ignoring him, I knelt, pressing both palms against the cold earth.

  A sharp pulse of power surged through my veins, running from my fingertips into the ground beneath us. My glowing green eyes flared brighter, illuminating the dim space around us.

  Then, the earth rumbled.

  Kage took a step back, his entire body tensing as cracks spread through the soil. The sound was deep and guttural, as if the very land itself had been holding its breath.

  Then, one by one, bony fingers clawed their way through the dirt.

  The first skeleton emerged, its hollow sockets empty but filled with purpose. It dragged itself from the grave, followed by another, and another—until five figures stood before us, their brittle forms rattling as they straightened.

  Each held remnants of past lives—tattered scraps of cloth clinging to their bones, rusted weapons still grasped in skeletal fingers. But despite their decay, there was an undeniable strength to them.

  They were mine now.

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  Kage let out a low breath, his voice caught between disbelief and grudging admiration. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  I stood, dusting my hands off as the last of the skeletons settled into place.

  “Animating skeletons?” I glanced at him, a smirk tugging at the corner of my lips. “Much easier than bringing a soul back to a body.”

  Kage huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “Remind me never to underestimate you.”

  The skeletons clattered their bones, awaiting my command. I turned toward the warehouse, the weight of the fight ahead pressing down on us.

  “Let’s end this.”

  With our undead allies at our side, we moved forward, ready to face The Cleansing one last time.

  The warehouse blazed with light.

  Rows of industrial lamps hummed overhead, flooding the vast space with an unnatural brightness. There were no shadows, no places to hide. The walls, stripped bare of any equipment or debris, reflected the sterile glow, turning the warehouse into a perfect trap—not for us, but for Kage.

  Michael Lorne had prepared for this fight.

  The scent of rust and dust lingered in the stale air, clinging to my lungs. This place had been abandoned long ago, left to decay. But now, it had been transformed into something deliberate—a battlefield designed to strip us of our power.

  Michael stood at the center, poised but motionless. His stance was relaxed, his grip on his blade loose, but his presence radiated the kind of calm that came from certainty. He had spent years preparing for this moment.

  His piercing blue eyes locked onto us as we entered.

  “You finally made it,” he said, voice smooth, almost welcoming.

  Kage tensed beside me, his fists tightening. I could feel the frustration simmering beneath his skin, his magic suffocated by the light. He had relied on the shadows for so long—it had become an extension of him—and now, Michael had stripped it away.

  I stepped forward, my skeletons following in perfect unison. Michael’s gaze flickered toward them, and something in his expression twisted—not fear, but contempt.

  “I should have known,” he muttered. “You would bring more of your monsters with you.”

  I met his gaze, unfazed. “And yet you still stayed.”

  His lips curled into something that might have been a smile if it weren’t so empty. “I don’t run from justice.”

  I scoffed, my magic curling around my fingertips. “Justice? You’re a murderer.”

  Michael exhaled through his nose. “I don’t kill for pleasure. I kill for balance. For correction.”

  Kage moved first.

  He darted forward, fast despite the lack of shadows, and swung. Michael sidestepped smoothly, his blade flashing as he deflected Kage’s attack. The sound of metal scraping filled the air as Kage shifted his stance, trying to force an opening.

  But Michael was just as fast.

  He countered with brutal precision, pivoting to slam the hilt of his knife into Kage’s ribs. Kage staggered back, gritting his teeth against the impact, but Michael pressed forward, relentless.

  I thrust my hand forward, sending a pulse of magic through my skeletons.

  “Attack.”

  They lunged as one.

  Michael was ready.

  He twisted, dodging the first strike and driving his elbow into the second skeleton’s skull, cracking bone. The third slashed at him, but he ducked low, rolling out of reach before springing back to his feet.

  The fourth skeleton caught his wrist, halting his movement.

  Michael’s eyes narrowed, his muscles tensing as he tried to break free. But I clenched my fist, willing my magic to hold him down.

  He growled, shoving back hard, but my magic wouldn’t let go.

  Kage took the opening and struck, aiming a sharp kick to Michael’s chest. Michael grunted as he was knocked back, but he twisted mid-air, landing in a crouch.

  “Not bad,” he admitted, rolling his shoulders as he rose to his feet. “But not enough.”

  And then, he moved faster than before.

  Before I could react, Michael closed the distance between us.

  His blade flashed toward me, and I barely had time to throw up my arms before pain sliced through my side.

  A sharp gasp left my lips.

  Heat flared through my ribs as blood bloomed beneath my coat, spilling down my waist in hot, crimson rivulets.

  My knees buckled, but I caught myself before I collapsed.

  “Zara!” Kage’s voice was sharp, edged with fury.

  He lunged at Michael, this time more reckless, his movements sharper, faster—fueled by something deeper than anger.

  Michael barely dodged in time, his expression shifting as Kage drove him back with sheer force.

  I gritted my teeth, pressing a shaking hand to my wound. It wasn’t fatal, but it hurt—a deep, burning pain that spread with every breath.

  But I wouldn’t go down.

  Not yet.

  Not before this ended.

  Kage fought like a man who had nothing left to lose. And Michael, for the first time since this battle began, looked like he was struggling to keep up.

  The lights above flickered.

  And that was all Kage needed.

  Even in the brightest places, bodies still cast shadows.

  And now, Kage had found his.

  His hand shot forward, gripping Michael’s own shadow where it stretched across the floor.

  The warehouse plunged into chaos.

  Michael choked, his body wrenching back violently as Kage ripped his shadow from beneath him.

  Michael had designed this battlefield to weaken us.

  But he had underestimated who he was fighting.

  This time—there would be no escape.

  Michael gasped, his body struggling against the unseen force that bound him. Kage’s hold was tightening, his magic seeping into the very essence of Michael’s being.

  He knew he had lost.

  And yet, he wasn’t done.

  With the last ounce of his strength, Michael wrenched his arm free—and threw his blade.

  I barely saw it before it hit me.

  A sharp, searing agony tore through my body as the knife buried itself deep beneath my ribs.

  The world blurred, the breath knocked from my lungs. My hands flew to my stomach, already wet with blood.

  For the first time since the fight began, Kage lost control.

  Michael used the moment to break free, staggering backward, but Kage was on him before he could take another step.

  A snarl of pure rage tore from Kage’s throat as his magic exploded outward, slamming Michael to the ground.

  Michael gasped, pinned by his own shadow, but I barely saw it.

  I was falling, my vision narrowing, my strength slipping away.

  Kage’s voice was distant—furious, desperate—but I couldn’t hold onto it.

  Kage’s POV

  I saw the blade coming.

  I saw the way Lorne’s body tensed, the way his feet shifted, the way his entire focus zeroed in on Zara.

  I moved. I ran.

  But I wasn’t fast enough.

  The sound of metal slicing through flesh sent a sickening crack through the air. Zara’s gasp of pain ripped through me like a blade of its own. Her body jerked, her hand flying to her side, blood staining her fingers almost instantly.

  “No—”

  She stumbled, her eyes wide in shock, but Lorne wasn’t stopping. He was going to finish it.

  I wasn’t going to let him.

  A roar tore from my throat, pure rage consuming every inch of me. My shadows exploded outward, faster than my body ever could, slamming into Lorne with a force that sent him flying.

  I barely registered his strangled cry as I descended on him, my magic suffocating, crushing.

  He had hurt her. He had tried to take her from me.

  The shadows moved on their own, responding to the raw fury coursing through me. Lorne struggled, his body writhing beneath the weight of my magic, but I didn’t let go. I couldn’t.

  His movements slowed. Then stopped.

  I didn’t care. I turned back to Zara—just in time to see her legs give out.

  I lunged, catching her just before she hit the ground. She was too pale, too still.

  “Zara!”

  My voice was raw, frantic. I pressed my hand over her wound, but there was too much blood. It seeped between my fingers, warm and endless, staining everything.

  Her head lolled slightly, her lips parting as if she was trying to say something. A whisper of breath escaped, but no words followed.

  And then—

  The skeletons collapsed.

  Their bodies crumbled into dust, lifeless, untethered. The connection severed.

  Panic surged through me like ice.

  “No, no, no. Stay with me. Stay with me.”