Inside the warehouse, darkness pressed close despite the gas lamps the Hunters carried.
Adrian's Shadow Sight showed him everything clearly. The vast space. The rusted machinery creating a maze of obstacles. The bones scattered across the floor. Too many bones.
The others moved with their lamps, creating pools of light that pushed back the darkness. Kane swept his rifle in controlled arcs. Mara's hands glowed brighter, ready to unleash fire. Marcus moved with predatory grace, blade drawn.
Elena examined the ground with her Cipher Dao, analysing patterns invisible to normal eyes.
"Spread out," Kane ordered. "Standard search pattern. Stay in visual range."
They advanced deeper into the warehouse. The team moved with coordination. Twenty feet separated Adrian and Marcus from the others. Professional distance for rear guard.
Elena knelt by a blood trail, her detector clicking steadily. She was perhaps thirty feet ahead now, Mara and Kane flanking her position.
"Blood trail. It's been dragging prey here. Pattern suggests it nests in the back corner. Upper level probably based on the feeding pattern and the..."
She was still talking. Still analysing. Still completely focused on the ground.
Adrian's Shadow Sight caught movement in the darkness directly behind her. Something massive dropping from the rafters with impossible silence.
His throat locked. The words wouldn't come.
The creature was already there. Seven feet tall. Twisted wrong. Landing without sound.
Elena kept talking, completely unaware. "The territorial markers suggest..."
The monster simply appeared behind her back. So close it could have touched her.
Its arm shot forward.
The claw punched through her spine, through her torso, and exploded out the front of her chest in a spray of blood and bone fragments.
Elena stopped mid-word. Her mouth stayed open on that unfinished sentence.
The creature lifted her into the air, impaled on its arm like a puppet. Her arms hung limp. Her head lolled forward.
Then it pulled back.
The claw ripped free, tearing through her entire torso. Elena's body separated. Her upper half slid off the creature's arm and hit the ground with a wet sound. Her lower half collapsed a moment later.
Blood pooled. Spreading fast.
She never screamed. Never made a sound. Just stopped existing between one word and the next.
The monster stood over the pieces, wearing tattered clothes. Face half-melted but recognisably human. Eyes like black pits. Mouth too wide, stretching impossibly as it spoke.
Kane whirled. Saw it. Saw what remained of Elena.
"CONTACT! DAMNED SOUL!"
He was already firing. Professional despite the horror. Silver bullets tore into the creature's flesh. Black ichor sprayed.
The wounds sealed almost instantly. Flesh knitting back together like it had never been damaged.
"It's regenerating!" Kane's voice stayed controlled. "Stage 2 minimum! The assessment was WRONG!"
Mara's hands erupted in fire. Bright orange flames flew towards the creature's torso. It burned but kept moving through the flames like they were nothing.
The Damned Soul backhanded her. She flew twenty feet and crashed into machinery with a sound of breaking bone. Slumped. Not moving.
Marcus was already sprinting forward, blade drawn. "ADRIAN, STAY BACK!"
The creature turned toward Kane, who was reloading with speed. It moved with that same impossible quickness, crossing fifteen feet in a heartbeat.
Kane got three more shots off before it reached him. All hits. All useless.
It grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground with one hand. Kane's legs kicked. His rifle fell from nerveless fingers.
Marcus hit the creature from the side. His blade carved a deep line across its back. The Damned Soul dropped Kane and turned on Marcus with a roar that made the warehouse echo.
They traded blows. Marcus was Stage 3. Skilled. Experienced. But the creature was corrupted Stage 2, enhanced beyond normal limits. Each impact sounded like hammers on steel.
Adrian stood frozen against the wall where Marcus had left him. His eyes couldn't leave Elena's body. What was left of it. The blood. So much blood. The way her upper half had just slid off. The wet sound when it hit the ground.
She'd been talking. One second talking, analysing, being Elena.
The next, she was in pieces.
His hand went to his revolver. Fingers numb. Shaking so hard he could barely grip it. He pulled the weapon free, raised it toward the fight.
The revolver slipped from his trembling hands and clattered to the floor.
Kane was crawling toward his rifle, gasping for air. His throat was already bruising purple.
Mara tried to stand. Her left leg bent wrong. She collapsed with a cry that cut off into whimpering.
The creature noticed her sound. Started toward her, leaving Marcus behind.
Marcus sprinted after it. "NO!"
The Damned Soul was faster. It was going to reach Mara first.
Kane grabbed his rifle. Raised it with shaking hands. Fired. The bullet caught the creature in the shoulder. It stumbled half a step but recovered.
Not enough.
It reached Mara. Bent down toward her.
Marcus covered the distance in a final burst of speed. His blade punched through the creature's back, through its heart, and emerged from its chest.
The Damned Soul froze. Black ichor poured from the wound.
He twisted the blade. The creature convulsed and went still.
Marcus held it there for several seconds, making absolutely certain it was dead, then wrenched his blade free.
The Damned Soul collapsed face-first onto the warehouse floor.
Silence.
Kane was gasping on the ground, one hand on his throat.
Mara was conscious, but her face was grey with pain.
Marcus stood over the dead creature, his blade dripping black blood. His face was pale but controlled. Professional.
Then he turned and looked at Elena's body. What remained of it. The pieces. The blood pool that had spread six feet in every direction.
His expression didn't change. But something died behind his eyes.
"We need to move," he said. His voice was flat. Empty. "Mara needs medical attention. Kane needs recovery time. We can't stay here."
He crossed to Mara first. Knelt beside her with careful gentleness. "Can you walk?"
"No. Leg's broken. Ribs maybe too." Her voice was tight with pain.
Marcus lifted her carefully. She bit back a scream but held on.
Kane had managed to stand. He retrieved his rifle with shaking hands, then made the mistake of looking at Elena again. His face turned grey. He looked away quickly.
"We can't leave her."
"We have to. I'll send a recovery team." Marcus's voice was still that flat, empty tone. The voice of someone not letting themselves feel anything. "Move. Now."
Kane stumbled toward the exit. Marcus carried Mara. Both of them passed Adrian without looking at him.
Adrian stared at Elena's body. At what the creature had done to her. His mind kept trying to process it and failing. She'd been alive. Talking. Then she wasn't. Just meat and blood and pieces that used to be a person.
He'd frozen. When it mattered, he'd frozen.
His legs finally responded. He bent down, picked up his revolver with hands that wouldn't stop shaking, and followed the others out.
The fog outside felt wrong now. Malevolent. Like it was hiding more horrors.
Their carriage was still waiting. The driver's expression didn't change when he saw only four of them returning. When he saw Mara's condition.
"Casualties?" His voice was routine. Professional. Like this happened every day.
"One," Marcus said as he helped Mara into the carriage. "Hunter Frost. Send recovery team to Warehouse Seven in the dock district."
The driver made a note in a small book. "Acknowledged."
Kane climbed in, moving like an old man. Adrian followed last. His hands were still shaking. Couldn't stop shaking.
The carriage started moving.
Marcus sat with Mara, keeping pressure on her ribs. She was pale but conscious. Breathing in shallow gasps. Kane stared at nothing, his rifle across his lap. One hand kept touching his bruised throat like he couldn't believe it was intact.
Adrian sat alone on the opposite bench. His revolver felt impossibly heavy in its holster.
The silence was suffocating. Absolute.
Finally, Kane spoke. His voice was rough, damaged. "The assessment was wrong. Intelligence said Stage 1 Revenant. That was a Damned Soul. Corrupted Stage 2."
"I know," Marcus said.
"Someone's going to die for this mistake. Someone in intelligence. Someone who sent us in blind." Kane's hands tightened on his rifle. "Elena was ready. She did everything right. Perfect analysis. Professional execution. The intelligence was wrong."
"I know."
"She never even saw it." Kane's voice cracked slightly. "Never even got to defend herself. It was just behind her and then..."
"I know." Marcus's voice was still flat. But his jaw was tight. His eyes were distant.
Adrian wanted to say something. Apologize. Explain. But what could he say? That he'd frozen? That he'd dropped his weapon? That he'd been completely, utterly useless while Elena died?
The carriage rolled through the dark streets. Back through the poor districts where no one noticed one more black carriage. Through the factory sector where the night shift was starting, workers flowing in to replace those flowing out. Through the wealthy quarter where gas lamps still burned bright and people walked without fear.
They didn't know. None of them knew what had just happened. What hunted in the shadows. What had just torn apart one of their protectors.
Better that way, Kane had said earlier. Ignorance keeps them sane.
The carriage finally stopped at headquarters. Medical personnel were already waiting. Someone must have sent word ahead.
They took Mara immediately, loading her onto a stretcher. She bit back screams as they moved her.
Kane climbed out slowly. Each step looked painful. He looked at Marcus. "Report to Vale?"
"I'll handle it. Get yourself checked by Rhys. That's an order."
Kane nodded and walked inside. His hand still touching his throat.
Marcus turned to Adrian. His expression was unreadable. Carefully controlled. "Follow me."
They walked through the headquarters in silence. Up stairs. Down corridors. Past the cell blocks to Adrian's quarters.
Marcus stopped outside room seven. "Inside."
Adrian unlocked the door and entered. Marcus followed and closed the door behind them.
For a long moment, Marcus just stood there. Silent. His blade was still sheathed but his hand rested on the pommel.
Then he moved.
Marcus grabbed Adrian by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Hard enough that Adrian's head cracked against stone.
"You froze." Marcus's voice was low. Shaking. "When it mattered.
Adrian couldn't breathe.
Marcus's grip tightened. "You dropped your weapon. Stood there like a useless piece of shit while we fought for our lives."
"I couldn't—"
"You couldn't WHAT?" Marcus slammed him against the wall again. "You couldn't function? Couldn't move? Adrian. Elena is dead, and you just stood there waiting to die."
"I'm sorry—"
"Sorry?" The word came out broken.
Marcus released him suddenly and turned away. His shoulders were shaking. The professional Hunter facade completely shattered.
"I should have left you here." His voice was quiet now. Broken. "Should have told Vale you weren't ready. Should have refused to bring you."
Adrian slid down the wall. His legs wouldn't hold him.
Adrian stared at him. At the rage and pain and guilt bleeding through every word.
Marcus turned back to the door. His movements were stiff. "Training at dawn. You will never freeze again."
He left. The door didn't slam this time. Just closed with a quiet click that was somehow worse.
Adrian sat on the floor where he'd fallen. Still wearing the gentleman's suit. Still able to feel Marcus's hands on his collar.
Marcus was right. He'd frozen. He'd been useless. Elena was dead and he'd just stood there.
But something else gnawed at him. Something Marcus had said. I should have left you here. Should have told Vale you weren't ready.
Adrian pulled his knees to his chest. His hands were still shaking.
He could still see it. The claw. The blood. Elena's body in pieces.
She'd never even screamed.
The hours crawled past. Dawn eventually came, grey and cold through his window.
Adrian didn't move. Just sat there on the floor, replaying it over and over.
The moment he'd frozen.
The moment the revolver had slipped from his hands.
The moment Elena died, I did nothing.