Iron Needle

Tobias' POV

Liam signalled to stop behind the broken façade of what used to be a perfume shop.

He didn't waste time.

"We've got a problem."

I raised a brow. "Did Alice get stuck?"

He gave me a dry look. "No. She decimated the pack."

"Then what's the problem?"

Liam motioned over his shoulder. "She made too much noise. Drew in another herd. Bigger. They're moving fast—if we all converge at the gallery, we'll be cornered. Overrun."

I exhaled through my teeth. "Even if we divert the herd we can't handle that number."

He nodded once. "Exactly."

I looked past him. The alley framed a broken stretch of sky, smoke trailing like banners across the rooftops. Then I saw it. Tall. Stark. Stabbing the skyline like a spear hurled by the gods.

The Eiffel Tower.

I stared at it for a moment. Then I said, "I have a plan."

Liam followed my gaze. His eyes narrowed. "You must be joking."

"I'm not."

"Then you must be crazy."

I turned toward him, already walking. "It's our only option. That tower needs to fall." 

"But we can't control the damage that'll cause." 

I smiled. "Don't worry. I'm actually very lucky." 

He shot me a look—daggers—then sighed. "Fine." 

A voice rose behind us, shaky and angry. 

"You're going to bring the whole tower down?" 

I turned. The civilians had stopped, clustering together, eyes wide. A woman stepped forward. "You said you were helping us. Not… this." 

A man shook his head. "We're not going any farther if you're planning to blow up half the block." 

"We have family still inside," someone else added. 

I exhaled slowly. Of course they'd heard. 

"We're not trying to hurt anyone," I said. "But if that tower stays standing, more people die. Not just here—everywhere. I didn't come alone. There's a larger team—more civilians depending on us. To protect them, that tower has to fall." 

The woman's lip trembled. "That sounds like a choice. And it's not yours to make alone." 

My partner stepped in, voice calm but urgent. "We get it. You're scared—we all are. But this isn't random. There's a plan. We'll get everyone we can out, but we have to move. That tower's not just a building. It's our only hope." 

No one moved. 

I glanced at him. "We need to go. Now." 

Stillness. 

I looked at them—really looked. Scared faces. Shaking hands. People who didn't sign up for this. 

"I'm not a saint," I said quietly. "And I'm sure as hell not a messiah." 

They stared at me. Waiting. 

"I can't save everyone. I'm just doing what I can with what I've got." I pointed at the tower burning against the skyline. "So here it is. You follow us and live—or stay behind and die. But either way…" 

I turned, heat rising—rage, frustration, desperation swirling behind my ribs. I'd rather leave them. But this is still a test—and the little things matter. 

"That tower falls." 

Silence. 

Then the woman from earlier swallowed hard and stepped forward. "Just… don't let it be for nothing." 

I nodded once. "It won't be." 

I turned without another word. 

And we moved.

By the time we reached the base of the tower, the sky had darkened—smoke and storm clouds mixing above the steel giant like bruises on skin. The herd's distant roars were getting closer. No time to hesitate.

I turned to Liam. "How fine can you control it?"

He was already rolling up his sleeves, eyes locked on the iron lattice. "Fine enough."

"Then we need the base to give. Two legs. Same side. Can you do it?"

He didn't answer with words. Instead, his body shimmered—flesh bleeding into smoke, smoke compressing into black ash that slithered across the ground like a living shadow.

The ash surged forward in tendrils, coiling up the tower's legs like vines. The metal darkened. Then it groaned.

Liam's voice echoed out from the haze, distorted and low. "Give me twenty seconds."

The tower shuddered, just slightly. Steel cables snapped like twine.

I looked up. "Liam—make it fall east. Toward the boulevard."

A pause. Then: "Understood."

The ash thickened at the joints. The eastern legs turned jet black, hissing with thermal decay. Then—crack. A thunderclap of metal giving way.

I stepped back.

If this went wrong, there'd be no walking away. But luck was all I had left.

The Eiffel Tower leaned—slowly at first, then with awful certainty. A scream of twisting steel tore through the air as it toppled, slicing through the skyline like a guillotine. Glass shattered across blocks. Alarms wailed. And with a final, ground-shaking crash, the tower fell—blocking the boulevard with a wall of tangled iron.

Silence, then a distant howling—cut off. The herd had lost line of sight.

I turned as Liam reformed beside me, ash pulling back into human shape, sweat pouring down his face.

He didn't speak.

Neither did I.

But we both knew what that bought us.

Time.