Kristin pulled the office door closed, looking through the glass at the madness spreading through the lobby. She could see Lochlan and Ed appear at the edge, Loch fighting his way through the people, trying not to hurt anyone. Darren came up behind Ed, helping the older and less fit man toward the office.

  It always amazed Kristin how Ed didn’t seem to lose any weight when he became Adapted, and how he didn’t seem to lose any from the exercise. Not that Ed did much in the way of exercise. He walked around the Clanhold at least once a day doing his job, but that was it. He didn’t go out and fight, not that she was one to talk. She didn’t either.

  But at least she’d gotten Darren to give her some instructions on how to fight. Both martial and with a dagger. A sword was too big for her, but a dagger was just right. Small enough that she could keep it hidden on her most of the time.

  The two got close and she opened the door enough for them to get inside. Or at least Ed. Darren practically threw the man into the office, staying out in the lobby.

  “Stay inside,” he ordered the two. “Get into one of the offices and barricade the door.”

  “What about you?” Kristin asked, knowing it was stupid the second she did.

  “Go!” Darren yelled, turning and grabbing at one of the attackers.

  A swift punch, which Kristin realized had been pulled, and the attacker was down, letting Darren get at another one. The chaos in the lobby intensified. More and more people fighting. Darren fought his way to Loch’s side, the two of them working their way to the doors.

  “Come on,” Ed said, pulling her to the office. “Oh god,” he said, stopping. “Susan. I have to go get Susan.”

  “Where was she?” Kristin asked.

  “I don’t know. After..,” he paused, shaking his head. “She was upset. I think she went back to our room.”

  Kristin looked out into the lobby. It was packed, everyone fighting everyone. There were no attackers or defenders anymore. It was just a mob, attacking anyone that was closest to them, sometimes changing targets, one after the other. It was chaos. There was no way Ed could get through that.

  “You can’t,” Kristin said, now being the one to pull Ed toward the office.

  “Susan…”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, pushing him into his office.

  Following, she slammed the door shut, looking for anything to use to brace against it. Grabbing one of the chairs in front of his desk, she tilted it under the door handle. It wouldn’t hold for long, not against someone with Adapted strength, but it would do for now.

  She let out a scream when the glass in the office shattered.

  Something, someone, pounded against the door.

  “The desk,” she said, pushing Ed toward the heavy piece of furniture. “We have to get it in front of the door.”

  “Susan…,” he said weakly, but was at least moving.

  Together they started pushing the desk.

  ***

  Theodore smiled.

  It was beautiful. The chaos was everything he ever wanted.

  Or was it everything the Voice wanted?

  Theodore didn’t know, not anymore. He didn’t care either. The Voice was here. He was going to meet the Voice for the first time.

  Or was it again? Hadn’t he met the Voice before?

  Theodore clutched at his head, feeling a sharp pain as a memory resurfaced. Screaming, crying out in pain as tentacles wrapped themselves around his head, spreading out into his mind, digging deep into his brain and his memories.

  He shook his head. That hadn’t happened.

  He remembered being attacked by arrogant humans. Bullies. Thugs. And the Voice had helped him. It had helped Theodore find the strength to defend himself, to kill them. To gain his first Levels. It had guided him since then. Helping him build up his Hive.

  A Hive that was now doing what he wanted.

  They were attacking the rest of the Clan, spreading Chaos everywhere.

  People parted for him as Theodore passed, his honor guard on either side. They had to stop and occasionally punish someone for getting in the way. They punched and they stabbed, teaching the lesser beings a lesson. Theodore was going to be their next Clanchief. They had to learn to honor him.

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  He didn’t like that title. Clanchief. It wasn’t strong enough. He was going to be king. Even better, he was going to be the Emperor of the New World. He knew it would take a long time and there would be resistance, but the Voice had promised him power and there was nothing as powerful as the Emperor of the world.

  He had time. He was Adapted. The more Levels he gained, the longer he’d live. Someday the world would be his.

  Theodor walked out the gate, stepping into the killing field. It wasn’t that long ago that he’d fought gaunts out there. Sent out as the initial attackers, ordered by the soon-to-be-former Clanchief of Clan Brady, soon to be the Kincaidian Empire.

  He liked the sound of that.

  “What the hell is that,” the honor guard to his left said, that arrogant voice that so annoyed him.

  Theodore looked ahead and smiled, a patch of darkness visible. With the darkness came a wave of pressure that bore down on everything. It pushed against the mind, seeping in. The sounds of fighting increased.

  “That is the Voice,” Theodore said, reverently. “The Voice has come at last.”

  ***

  “The Voice,” Jim Caldwell said, somehow finding the strength to stand. “The Voice is here.”

  He got out of bed, not remembering the last time that had happened. His clothes felt thick and heavy with sweat and dirty. He could smell something. Was it him? Had he wet himself or even worse?

  Jim knew he wasn’t that old, but it was in some deep recess of his mind. In the forefront, he knew nothing, just the sound of the talking. Not just one speaker, but dozens, all muttering and whispering. He heard it all and in the background, the Voice. Louder, thicker, heavier.

  It pushed against Jim’s mind, making him forget things.

  Sometimes he forgot who he was.

  He knew it hadn’t always been this way. Not even after the Connection hit. Things were rough then, but it could be worse when he started hearing the Voice. Whispers at first, then louder and more insistent. Always there, always talking.

  More speakers were added. Each day making it progressively worse. The weeks went by, the months, and Jim lost himself

  But now the Voice was here. It was calling out to everyone in the Clan. It was making its Presence known.

  Jim walked out into the hallway, stumbling into the wall. He made it to the common area, foot hitting a bucket or something on the ground. It tumbled, hitting the stove, knocking a piece of flaming wood onto the ground. Jim didn’t notice.

  He didn’t notice as the flames spread.

  He walked out the door, almost falling down the stairs, but somehow keeping his balance. He could feel the heat behind him, seeing red at the edges of his vision.

  But none of that mattered. All that mattered was that the Voice was here and Jim had to go find it.

  ***

  Mike Turner pulled himself tighter into the corner. He thought the door to his cell was open but wasn’t sure and didn’t care. There were more important things.

  The Voice was here.

  He clutched at his head, feeling the Presence push against him. The pounding grew more forceful. It was all he could feel. The constant drumming against his mind. It no longer made him angry. It no longer made him anything beyond cry. That was all he could do, just cry against the pain.

  It was too much.

  It had made him do a terrible thing. Mike understood what he’d done was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself. He hated Davis. Davis had stolen Harper from him.

  But had he really?

  A small voice, not the Voice, but something else, it sounded like his mother, spoke to him. It was quiet, just a whisper. Calm and cool, that tone his mother had used when he was a child and he was upset. It had always helped calm him down.

  Davis hadn’t done anything. Harper had never been Mike’s in the first place. He loved her but that didn’t make her his girlfriend or even friend. Mike knew he had pushed her away. He’d been creepy. He’d always known it, but couldn’t help himself, which just made it all worse.

  And the worse it got, the more he knew it was his fault, the harder he got, the more arrogant he got and the madder at the world he got. When he should have been mad at himself.

  No, the Voice said, the pressure beating down on him. You deserve her. You deserve everything.

  Mike had thought he did. That was what let the Voice get its hooks into him. He’d believed every word it said because he had wanted to believe. But it wasn’t true. No one owed him anything. He could have had more, but he’d been so blind and focused on what he couldn’t have, on blaming everyone but himself, it had just driven everyone away.

  It was all his fault.

  But you can do something about it, the calm voice of his mother said. Soothing his tormented mind.

  The Voice spoke louder, drowning out his mother.

  The Voice was here and it would not be denied.

  The wall of his cell shook, something heavy slamming against it. Then again. He saw shadows passing by the door. Two people were fighting. He didn’t know who, or care. Another loud thud against his wall, the door sliding open. It was unlocked.

  He could hear his mother whispering, encouraging him.

  So was the Voice. It was calling to him, telling him to join it. The Voice was so much louder than his mother.