He wasn't a hero.
Wasn't even sure he was human anymore.
But he was theirs.
And for now...
For now, that would have to be enough.
---
The alley stank of blood and ash. The world felt crooked. Off-balance. Like it hadn't finished spinning back into place since the Hollowborn went down.
Kade sat slumped against the wall, knees up, chest rising and falling like he'd just sprinted a mile. Ava was still leaning on him—literally. Her head rested on his shoulder, her body damn near lifeless. If she wasn't breathing so shallow, he might've thought she was gone. But nah—she was still here. Just barely.
The others weren't doing much better. Nico was crumpled a few feet away, arms hanging over his knees, head down like he was gonna puke or pass out. Maybe both. Ren was dragging himself back to a seated position, grimacing like someone had pulled his spine halfway out and shoved it back in crooked. The guy looked like he'd been hit by a truck. Twice.
Lila leaned against the opposite wall. Arms crossed. Covered in dirt and dried blood. A cut ran down the side of her face, but she hadn't even tried to wipe it off. She stared at nothing, jaw clenched so tight it looked like she might grind her teeth into dust.
No one spoke.
Silence stretched so long Kade started to think maybe they'd all passed out with their eyes open.
Then Lila broke it.
"…Thanks," she muttered, like the word tasted like poison in her mouth.
Kade blinked. "What?"
She looked at him—just for a second. Then looked away again, jaw twitching. "You heard me," she snapped. "Don't make me say it again."
Kade didn't respond right away. He couldn't. His brain was still trying to catch up with everything. One minute he was getting tossed around like a ragdoll, the next he was standing over the Hollowborn with his fists covered in blood and the others lying around him like broken dolls.
He hadn't even felt it. Not really. Something just… took over.
Lila shook her head, clearly regretting every syllable. "I hate to admit it. I really hate that it had to be you that saved us. But... if you didn't, we'd be dead."
Nico finally looked up, face pale. "How the hell did you even pull that off?" he mumbled. "You were half-dead five seconds before."
"Seriously," Ren groaned, dragging himself upright. "You were getting your ass handed to you. Then boom. You're throwing Hollowborn like they're paper."
Kade looked down at his hands. They were still shaking. Covered in dried black stuff—monster blood, or something worse. He flexed his fingers. They didn't feel like his.
"I… I don't know," he muttered.
"That's not an answer," Lila said, sharp again. "You don't know? You just black out and turn into a goddamn berserker?"
Kade scowled. "What do you want me to say? I didn't decide to go Terminator on them. It just—something snapped."
Ren raised a brow, wiping blood from his chin. "Snapped, huh."
Ava shifted beside him, murmured something too soft to catch. Still half-out of it. She hadn't moved from leaning on Kade, but no one said anything. No teasing. No smirks. They were all too wrecked for jokes.
"So, what? You go rage mode when we're about to die?" Nico asked, leaning his head back against the wall with a hollow laugh. "Hell of a party trick."
Kade didn't answer. He didn't really have one. He kept thinking back to that moment—seeing them all down, seeing Lila coughing blood, Ren with his leg twisted weird, Ava collapsed, Nico trying and failing to crawl away. Something inside him had snapped. It wasn't bravery. It wasn't strategy. It was pure instinct. Pure fear. Not for himself, but for them.
And then… nothing. His body had just moved.
"I didn't think," Kade muttered. "I just saw you all—messed up like that—and something inside me said, 'No.'"
"That's real specific," Lila said flatly. "Thanks for the inspirational speech."
Kade looked at her. She was still avoiding eye contact, still pissed at herself for needing his help. But she'd said thanks. That meant something… maybe.
He sighed. "You're welcome, I guess."
"Don't get used to it," she snapped. Then winced—maybe from the pain, maybe from her pride.
Ava stirred again and finally peeled herself off him, sitting up on her own. She rubbed her temple, eyes squinting like the streetlights were stabbing her.
"What happened?" she whispered.
Kade gave a small, bitter laugh. "I happened. Somehow."
Ren grunted, managing to pull himself to his feet with a groan. "Well… that's new."
"Yeah," Nico said, squinting over at Kade. "We've all got curses, man. You sure you're not sitting on some kind of delayed power awakening or whatever?"
"I don't have anything," Kade said quickly. Too quickly. "It's not a power. It's just… something that happens when people I care about are about to get torn apart."
"About you saving us, I think it was the artifact" Ava said.
"Do you care to explain", Ren said.
"I think… I think the artifact moved him," Ava said quietly. "The way he fought—like the sword knew what to do before he did. He fought as if he had been doing it for a long time, whereas he had no proper training".
"I think you have a point Ava". Ren said, trying to understand what Ava just said. "Now I come to think of it, that sword he fought with was unfamiliar to me, I think it was forged from the artifact." It had this strange markings on it and was blazing with fire, almost identical to the artifact.
A beat of silence followed. Nico looked like he wanted to ask more but let it go. Ren didn't press either.
Lila, though—Lila just shook her head and scoffed. "That's not a power," she repeated mockingly. They all gazed at her and sighed. "Stop being immature", Nico fired, as if what Lila just said was directed to him.
Kade leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. "I don't know what it is. I don't even care right now. I just… want this night to end."
"Too bad," Ren said. "It's just beginning."
Kade opened his eyes again. No one was okay. Not really. But they were alive. Somehow.
And they were looking at him differently now. Not just the weak tagalong. Not just the new guy. He didn't like that look. Didn't want it. But it was there.
Something had changed.
There was no going back now.
To be continued...