Chapter Eighteen

A gunshot ripped through the night.

Ember barely had time to react before Kai grabbed her wrist and pulled. Her feet stumbled over cracked pavement, her breath coming in sharp, panicked gasps. The sting of cold air bit at her face, but she didn't have time to feel it—they were being hunted.

Behind them, the metallic stomp of boots pounded against the ground in perfect rhythm.

Enforcers.

They were fast...Too fast.

Ember's heart slammed against her ribs as she tried to keep up with Kai's brutal pace. Rhea was right behind them, her smaller frame struggling to match their speed.

Another gunshot. Sparks exploded from the rusted-out car beside them

That was really close...she thought

Kai yanked her behind the wreckage. His chest rose and fell rapidly, but his grip was steady. "They're boxing us in," he muttered.

Ember swallowed, trying to push down the terror clawing up her throat. This wasn't like the other times they had escaped—this was coordinated. Planned.

They knew she would be here.

A deep, mechanical voice boomed through the alley.

"SURRENDER, SUBJECT ZERO."

Ember's stomach twisted.

They weren't calling her by name. They never had.

What was she even thinking? She thought. She wasn't a person to them. She was an experiment. A project. Something to be retrieved...so why should she care about what they call her?...

The connection inside her pulsed, faint but insistent, like static humming just beneath her skin.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push it away.

Not now.

Not when she needed to run.

Kai's hand suddenly pressed against her back. "Go. Now."

She didn't think. She just moved.

They bolted down the alley, weaving between debris and rusted-out remains of the old city. Ember could hear Rhea's panicked breaths, the way her sneakers slammed against the ground in uneven steps.

The streets blurred past.

Somewhere above them, a drone's searchlight flickered to life, bathing everything in a cold red glow.

"THERE!"

A burst of gunfire shattered the silence.

Ember felt Kai shove her—hard. She hit the pavement, her hands scraping against rough concrete. Rhea yelped, barely dodging the bullets as they skidded behind a crumbling wall.

Kai cursed under his breath. "We can't outrun them forever."

No. They couldn't.

They were trapped.

For the first time, Ember forced herself to turn—really turn—toward the men hunting them.

The enforcers were closing in, their movements smooth, too perfect to be human. Their helmets gleamed under the red glow of the drones, their weapons locked and ready.

There were four of them. Armed. Trained. Unstoppable.

She had seconds.

Seconds before they were taken.

Seconds before everything was over.

The connection pulsed again.

Louder this time. Stronger.

Ember's hands curled into fists.

If she could just reach into it—tap into whatever they had put inside her—could she stop them?

Her breathing steadied. The world around her faded.

She reached..

For a moment, there was nothing but static.

Then—

A flicker.

She felt them. All of them.

Their movements, their thoughts—an electric current running through their bodies like puppet strings.

And Ember was holding the strings.

Her fingers twitched. The lead enforcer froze.

His weapon jerked downward. His muscles locked. His body convulsed for half a second—then crumpled to the ground.

The others hesitated.

It was all the time Kai needed.

Bang. Bang.

Two shots, precise and clean. Two enforcers dropped.

The last one turned his rifle toward him.

Ember reacted on instinct.

A sharp, pulsing shockwave tore through her mind, latching onto the enforcer like a chain.

His entire body jerked.

His helmet cracked against the pavement. Screaming. Twitching. And then—nothing.

He was down.

The alley was silent again.

Ember gasped, the world tilting around her. She barely registered Kai's hands grabbing her shoulders, holding her upright.

"What the hell just happened?" His voice was low, sharp.

Ember's pulse pounded against her skull. Her vision blurred at the edges.

"I think…" Her own voice felt distant. "I think I controlled him."

Kai's grip tightened. "You what?"

She swallowed. Her fingers wouldn't stop shaking.

Because if she could control them…

What else could she do?