Lily's POV
The timer hits three minutes and my brain kicks into overdrive.
"Sterling!" I shout at the blank-eyed detective. "James, I know you're in there. Fight it!"
No response. He just stands there like a robot, holding the detonator.
Dante's trying to use his telekinesis again, straining so hard blood drips from his nose. But the anti-magic dampeners are too strong.
"It's not working," he gasps.
2:47... 2:46... 2:45...
Think, Lily. Think!
I study the room. Bombs on every wall. Sterling in the middle with the detonator. The children tied to chairs twenty feet away from us. Exit door locked from the outside.
"The dampeners," I say suddenly. "Where are they?"
Dante looks around, then points to four devices mounted in the corners of the room. Small black boxes with blinking red lights.
"Can you destroy them if I get close enough?" I ask.
"Maybe. But even if you disable one, the others will still block my power."
"Then I disable all four."
"In two and a half minutes? While bombs are about to explode?" Dante stares at me. "That's suicide."
"So is standing here doing nothing!" I'm already moving toward the nearest dampener.
2:23... 2:22... 2:21...
The box is mounted high on the wall. I drag a crate over and climb up, my broken ribs screaming in protest.
Up close, I can see wires connecting the dampener to the wall. I don't know anything about technology or magic or bombs.
But I do know one thing.
Everything has a weak point.
I grab the box and yank as hard as I can. Pain explodes through my ribs but I don't stop. The box comes loose, wires sparking.
One down.
I jump off the crate and run to the second corner. Dante's watching me with something like awe.
"Lily, even if you get all four, we still have to get the kids and get out—"
"One problem at a time!" I climb up to the second dampener.
1:54... 1:53... 1:52...
This one's bolted tighter. I pull with everything I have. My hands slip. I fall backward, landing hard on my already-broken ribs.
Stars explode across my vision.
"Lily!" Dante rushes over. "You can't—"
"Yes, I can." I force myself up, climb again, pull harder.
The dampener rips free.
Two down.
1:31... 1:30... 1:29...
I'm running to the third corner when I hear Ethan crying.
"Uncle Dante! I'm scared!"
My heart breaks. But I can't stop. Not now.
The third dampener comes off easier—maybe I'm getting stronger, or maybe adrenaline is making me crazy.
Three down.
1:07... 1:06... 1:05...
One more. Just one more.
I sprint to the final corner. This dampener is higher than the others. I stack two crates, climb up shakily.
My hands are bleeding now. My ribs feel like they're stabbing into my lungs.
But I grab that box and pull with everything I have left.
It doesn't budge.
0:47... 0:46... 0:45...
"Lily, leave it!" Dante yells. "Get out of here!"
"Not without those kids!"
I brace my feet against the wall and pull. Pull. Pull.
The box rips free and I fall backward off the crates.
Dante catches me with his telekinesis—his power's back!
All four dampeners disabled.
0:31... 0:30... 0:29...
"Get the kids!" I shout.
Dante's power explodes outward. The children's chairs lift into the air, ropes falling away. They float toward us, crying but alive.
But Sterling still has the detonator.
0:19... 0:18... 0:17...
"Sterling, drop it!" Dante commands.
Sterling's finger hovers over the button, but he doesn't press it. Something's fighting the compulsion. Some part of him is still in there.
"James, please," I beg. "Emma's right here. Your daughter. You don't want to hurt her."
0:11... 0:10... 0:09...
Sterling's hand shakes. His blank eyes flicker—just for a second, I see the real him trying to break through.
"Emma," he whispers.
"Daddy!" Emma sobs.
0:05... 0:04... 0:03...
Sterling drops the detonator.
Dante's telekinesis throws all of us toward the exit—me, the kids, Sterling. The door explodes outward under his power. We fly through into the night air.
Behind us, the factory erupts in a massive fireball.
The blast wave slams into us. We tumble across the pavement. Heat washes over me, singing my hair.
Then silence.
I lie there, struggling to breathe, everything hurting.
"Ethan?" Dante's voice, desperate. "Ethan!"
"I'm okay, Uncle Dante." The little boy's crying but alive.
"Emma?" Sterling's voice is clearer now, the compulsion broken. "Emma, baby, are you hurt?"
"My arm hurts, Daddy. But I'm okay."
We all made it. Somehow, impossibly, we all made it.
Dante helps me sit up. In the firelight, his face is covered in ash and blood, but his eyes are fierce.
"You saved them," he says. "You disabled those dampeners with broken ribs and saved my nephew."
"We saved them," I correct. "Together."
For a moment, something passes between us. Something that isn't just gratitude or respect.
Then Emma screams.
We spin around.
Natasha Volkov stands there, pointing a gun at Sterling's head.
"Very impressive," she says. "But the game's not over."
Behind her, ten armed men emerge from the shadows. All pointing weapons at us.
"You see, the factory was just round one." Natasha's smile is vicious. "Round two begins now."
She looks at me. "Lily Chase. You're coming with me."
"Why?" I demand.
"Because Marcus Hale wants to meet the woman who's been hunting him." She gestures and two men grab me, yanking me to my feet despite my injuries. "He has a special punishment planned for people who interfere with his work."
"Let her go!" Dante's power flares, but ten guns click in response—all aimed at the children.
"Use your power and the kids die," Natasha says calmly. "Stand down, or I blow their brains out right now."
Dante freezes. His power recedes, and I see the agony in his face. He finally has his nephew back, and now he has to choose between saving him or saving me.
"It's okay," I tell him. "Protect them. That's what matters."
"Lily, no—"
"Take care of those kids, Dante." I try to smile even though I'm terrified. "And come find me when they're safe."
Natasha's men drag me toward a waiting van.
"Where are you taking her?" Sterling demands, still groggy from the compulsion breaking.
"Somewhere Dante Cross can't reach her." Natasha climbs into the van beside me. "Somewhere his power means nothing. Somewhere he'll have to watch her burn, just like I watched my life burn when Victoria Cross destroyed me."
The van door slams shut.
Through the window, I see Dante holding Ethan, Emma clinging to Sterling. They're safe. That's what matters.
Even if I'm about to die.
The van drives for what feels like hours. Finally, we stop. The doors open and I'm dragged out.
We're at the docks. A warehouse with water on all sides. Smart—harder for Dante to attack from multiple angles.
Inside, the warehouse is freezing. And standing in the center, surrounded by fire that doesn't seem to burn anything, is Marcus Hale.
He's younger than I expected. Maybe thirty. With wild eyes and hands that keep sparking with flames.
"So you're the truth-sensor," he says, walking around me. "The one helping Cross hunt me."
"I'm helping find the children you kidnapped," I correct.
He laughs. "Brave words for someone about to die."
"If you're going to kill me, just do it." I'm too tired and hurt to be scared anymore. "I'm done with the games."
"Oh, I'm not going to kill you." Marcus's smile is terrifying. "I'm going to break you. And then I'm going to make you call Dante Cross and beg him to trade himself for you."
"He won't do it."
"He will. Because despite everything, despite the monster he is, Dante Cross has developed a weakness." Marcus leans close. "You."
My truth-sense flares—but not because he's lying.
Because he's telling the truth.
"When he comes for you," Marcus whispers, "I'll be waiting. And then I'll kill him in front of you before I burn
you both to ash."
He snaps his fingers and fire erupts around me in a circle, trapping me.
"Let's begin," he says.