Ethan knox - September 2120
It's been a few days since Noah appeared at Trinity, and I've noticed that Kai has been more on edge ever since. He can't seem to stay still for long, like there's something buzzing under his skin that he can't shake off.
Just like now.
We're standing in Edmund's office with Daniel, listening as Edmund talks, but my attention keeps drifting to Kai. He's hovering near the door, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, shoulders tense, eyes flicking around the room.
I tried asking him about it earlier, but he denied that anything was wrong.
Like he always does.
Still, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's really bothering him. Noah hasn't been in contact again since leaving the school, and no matter how calm Kai pretends to be, I know he's worried about his brother.
Edmund clears his throat, pulling my attention back to him.
"We've had word that a strange woman, limping, has been seen near the forest not far from here," he says, hands clasped neatly on the desk.
My heart gives a small jolt.
"Do you think it could be the same one Kai and I saw by the river?" I ask, leaning forward in my chair.
"It's hard to say," Edmund replies calmly. "But it does seem likely."
I lean back again and glance over my shoulder at Kai. At the mention of the woman, something in him sharpens instantly. His anxious restlessness fades as he steps closer, finally engaging.
"Was she on her own?" Kai asks.
I know exactly what he's really asking.
Was there any sign of the sniper?
The image slams into my mind without warning, Kai lying motionless on the ground, blood pooling beneath him, my chest screaming as I realise I'm too late.
I swallow hard and force myself to breathe.
That didn't happen... My vision didn't come true... He's here. He's alive.
"There were no sightings of anyone else," Edmund continues. "Just the woman. A hiker found her and tried to check if she was ok. When they touched her shoulder, they reported collapsing to their knees in extreme pain. When they came to, the woman was gone."
The room falls silent.
"So her power activates through touch?" Daniel asks.
I nod slowly. "That matches what I saw by the river in my vision."
The pieces click together in my head. She can't use her ability unless someone touches her and when they do, it overwhelms them with pain.
"If that's the case," Daniel says confidently, "I should be able to restrain her easily with my vines."
Edmund nods. "Correct. Which is why I need the three of you to find her and bring her in. If Ethan's is correct and she's more self-aware than Bennett was, she may be able to give us information about the Counterfeits."
"The three of us?" Daniel repeats, frowning. "I can handle her on my own."
He shifts in his seat and glances towards Kai, his mistrust still painfully obvious. It makes irritation spark in my chest. Kai has already proven himself more times than I can count.
"You will go together," Edmund says firmly. "Daniel, I don't doubt your ability, but my concern lies with the sniper. That's why Ethan and Kai are coming as well."
Daniel sighs, but doesn't argue.
___________________________
Not long after, we're in the car, heading away from town, away from the river where Kai and I first encountered the woman.
"She must've walked a long way to make it all the way out here," I say, watching the trees blur past the window.
"If she's anything like Bennett, I'm not surprised," Daniel replies from the driver's seat. "He should've burned out long before he reached Trinity."
I glance back at Kai. He's staring out the window, jaw tight, lost in thought. He must be thinking of Noah again.
I reach back and lightly tap his knee.
He blinks and looks at me, confused for a second, then I smile at him, soft and familiar. He relaxes almost instantly, smiling back.
"Are you worried about Noah?" I ask gently.
His eyes shift away before returning to mine. "A little. I thought he'd have come back by now."
I reach for his hand and lace my fingers through his without hesitation. "From what you've told me about him," I say with a small laugh, "he's probably locked in a lab somewhere, forgetting to eat while he works out some insane plan."
That earns a proper smile from Kai, the tension easing just a little.
"Or," Daniel adds dryly, "he's gone straight to GeneX and told them everything."
I shoot him a sharp look. "Daniel."
"What? We don't know him," he says, shrugging. "For all we know, their father sent him."
"Noah wouldn't do that," Kai says firmly from the back seat.
There's irritation in his voice now, sharp and unmistakable.
"Are you sure about that? Daniel continues "people can change in five years. He's even the face on GeneX, so how can we so easily trust him just cause he's your brother".
I don't hesitate.
"That's enough," I say, my tone still light, but there's a warning under it now.
Daniel doesn't even glance back. "I'm just being realistic."
"No," I reply, leaning forward slightly, "you're being cruel. There's a difference."
Kai shifts behind me. I can feel the tension radiating off him, like a wire pulled too tight. The silence in the car stretches uncomfortably, thick enough to choke on. I can practically feel Kai retreating again, shoulders stiffening as he turns back towards the window.
That familiar instinct kicks in, the one that makes my chest ache whenever someone takes a swing at him, even with words.
I've had enough.
"Alright," I say lightly, though there's an edge underneath the cheerfulness now. "What's your deal, Daniel?"
"Excuse me?" he says flatly.
I twist around in my seat so I can see him properly. "Don't play dumb. You've been sniping at Kai since day one. I'm just curious, did he personally offend you, or is this more of a hobby?"
Kai shifts again. "Ethan-"
"No," I cut in gently, flashing him a reassuring smile before turning back to Daniel. "I need to know."
Daniel exhales sharply through his nose. "This isn't about feelings. It's about trust."
"Funny," I reply, tilting my head. "Because Kai's saved our lives so many times. That usually helps with the trust thing."
"You're too emotionally invested to see the risk," Daniel snaps.
I let out a short laugh. "Oh, I'm absolutely emotionally invested. Guilty as charged. But at least I'm not inventing threats just because of his dad."
"Where someone comes from matters," Daniel says sharply. "It shapes who they are."
"And who Kai is," I fire back, "is someone who's bled for the people at Trinity."
The car goes quiet except for the hum of the engine.
Daniel's jaw tightens. "You don't know what people like him are trained to do."
I twist fully in my seat now, meeting his eyes "Then enlighten me. Because from where I'm sitting, the only person constantly assuming the worst is you."
He exhales through his nose. "I've seen it before. Conditioned soldiers who are raised to obey. All it takes is one command, one trigger, and everything else disappears. He's just a weapon ready to be fired"
My chest tightens.
"You think Kai's just waiting to snap?" I ask quietly.
"I think," Daniel says carefully, "that people with his past don't get to be normal."
That does it.
I lean forward, my voice dropping, all humour gone. "Kai doesn't owe you normal. He doesn't owe you anything."
Daniel finally looks back at me. "And what? You think love fixes that?"
I smile, sharp and unapologetic. "No. But trust helps. Something you've clearly never offered him."
Kai inhales sharply behind me. "Ethan, it's fine-"
"No, it's not," I cut in gently, reaching back to squeeze his hand without looking. "You haven't done anything wrong."
Daniel's grip tightens on the steering wheel. "If he turns against us-"
"He won't."
"You don't know that."
"I do," I say immediately. "Because I know him."
There's a long pause and the road stretches ahead, silent and tense.
"If Kai ever becomes a threat," Daniel says at last, voice low, "I won't hesitate."
Then, quietly, he says, "If he hurts Tessa, or you... I won't hesitate."
I hold his gaze without blinking. "Fair. But if you keep treating him like a loaded weapon instead of a person, you're the one who's going to push him too far."
Daniel scoffs at me. "Ethan, you are so-"
Just then my vision fractures. Blue floods my sight, sharp and blinding, like ice cracking through glass.
"Stop the car!" I shout.
Daniel doesn't hesitate. He slams on the brakes, the car screeching as it skids to a sudden halt. My body lurches forward, heart hammering violently against my ribs.
"What the hell?" Daniel starts, twisting around to look at me.
Then she steps out of the trees.
A woman limps out of the woods and into the road, dragging one leg behind her like it barely belongs to her. If we'd gone even a metre further, we would have hit her.
My breath catches painfully in my throat. Before I can even react, the back door flies open.
"Kai!" I snap, already turning, but he's gone.
He's out of the car in an instant, moving with pure instinct. Daniel and I exchange a single look before we follow after him.
Kai is already at the front of the car, standing between us and the woman. Shadows coil around his hand, dark and restless, alive like smoke caught in a storm. They twist and curl at his fingers, ready to strike at the slightest threat.
Looking at his tense back, at the way his shoulders are set like he's bracing for impact, guilt coils tight in my chest. Daniel's words from the car echo in my head, sharp and cruel.
I want to reach for Kai. To tell him he's done nothing wrong, but now isn't the time.
Daniel steps forward, positioning himself slightly to Kai's side, vines already creeping beneath the asphalt, just barely visible.
The woman stumbles closer.
"Hel-" she pants, voice raw. "Help…"
Her hair is tangled and matted with dirt, her face streaked with grime and dried blood. She looks worse than when Kai and I first saw her by the river. Her broken leg drags uselessly behind her, leaving faint marks on the road as she moves.
"Help," she whispers again, barely more than air.
Every instinct in me screams to move and help her.
I take a step forward, but Kai's hand snaps out, gripping my wrist and pulling me back behind him without even looking. The motion is fast and protective, almost automatic.
"Who are you?" Kai asks, his voice steady, but I know him well enough to hear the tension beneath it.
The woman sways, eyes unfocused, fixed somewhere just past us.
"Help," she says again.
It's the only word she seems capable of. Something about it crawls under my skin.
The woman limps forward again, each step jerky and uneven. Shadows from Kai's hand stretch and twist, like a living barrier between us and her.
I open my mouth to speak, to calm her, but the sound dies in my throat.
Then it hits me.
A flash. Just a second, but enough. My vision curls around the edges of reality, and suddenly I see it, the sniper.
The same one from before. Lying prone behind a thick tree, rifle trained perfectly on Kai.
My stomach twists, a cold, sinking knot.
"Kai!" I shout, heart hammering. "There's someone out there!"
He doesn't move, not yet. Shadows writhe around his hand like living flames. Daniel stiffens, finally alert, his eyes scanning the trees.
The woman stumbles again, groaning softly. "He-help…"
Daniel mutters under his breath, more to himself than to anyone else. "Figures… couldn't just be easy…"
The woman collapses to her knees, trembling, her whispers barely audible over the pounding of my own heart.
"Help…" she breathes again.
And then, from somewhere in the trees, a dry snap but I know instantly. The sniper is shifting, lining up the shot.
My vision flares blue again. Time seems to slow.
I see Kai, shadows ready, eyes narrowing. I see the woman, helpless on the ground. And I see the sniper's shot.
"To your right, now!" I shout, heart hammering in my chest.
In an instant, Kai's shadows surge upward, thick and coiling, forming a living wall between us and the sniper. The bullet slams into the darkness with a deafening thunk.
"Get her to the car, but don't touch her!" Kai orders, voice sharp, commanding.
His eyes snap to the treeline, scanning for the sniper. He doesn't let a single wisp of shadow fall elsewhere, every movement is controlled and deliberate. Another bullet hits the wall of shadows, vibrating through the asphalt and rattling my teeth.
"Go!" I scream to Daniel as we move toward the woman.
I want to reach out, to lift her, to comfort her, but the moment my fingers touch her, I know the pain will surge through me. My stomach twists, helplessness clawing at me.
Daniel acts faster than I could, his vines snaking through the air with precise speed. They wrap lightly around her chest and arms, and he steadies his hands to lift her without direct contact. She groans, small and weak, but her weight is gradually shifted.
We guide her toward the back of the car, moving quickly, feeling the tension in every muscle. Broken leaves cling to our clothes, mingling with the metallic tang of fear that fills my mouth.
Once she's secure in the back, I shout over the chaos, "She's in, let's go!"
Another bullet slams into the wall of shadows. I flinch, every nerve screaming.
I can see the calculation in Kai's eyes, the moment he drops his shadows, we're all exposed. He knows it as well as I do. And I know, just by looking at him, what he's about to do. He's going to stay behind. He's going to hold them off.
"Kai!" I yell, my voice cracking with panic. "Get in the car!"
He looks down at the ground, jaw tight, then back at me. "Go. I'll hold them back."
"No!" I roar through gritted teeth. "We're going together. You're not staying here!"
Another bullet hits the shadow wall, closer this time, sending a shudder through the asphalt beneath our feet. The sniper isn't easing up. Not for a second. My chest pounds, fear clawing at me, adrenaline twisting sharp in my veins.
"Daniel!" Kai shouts suddenly. "Take them back to the school!"
I lunge toward him, about to protest, but Daniel's vines are already around me. They wrap tightly, yet carefully, and he pushes me into the car with brutal efficiency. The door slams shut behind me, reverberating through my bones.
"We can't leave him!" I shout, as I try to fight the vines restraining me. My voice is raw, desperate, nearly hysterical.
Daniel doesn't answer. He swings the car around, tires screeching against the dirt, and presses the accelerator. We shoot away from the sniper's line, the engine screaming in protest.
Another bullet slams into the back of the car. I spin around instinctively. Kai's shadows have shifted, forming a living shield over the rear of the vehicle. The bullets strike the wall of darkness, harmless, sparks flying off the edges.
I sit there watching the dark blur of the forest whip past. My chest is tight with guilt, fear, and something like awe. Kai is still out there, standing alone against a sniper.
And I… I can only watch.