Lucas didn't panic.
Panic was useless. Planning kept you alive.
He checked the date on the bedside terminal.
June 22, 2221.
The apocalypse in Rise of Sorrow began on February 22, 2222.
Eight months.
Eight months until the sky fractured and the world descended into chaos. Until humans either awakened powers or twisted into monsters. Until animals grew fangs too large for their skulls and plants began hunting flesh. Until cities drowned in blood.
Eight months until Kayden Black lost all seven of his children.
Lucas clenched his jaw.
Not this time.
He forced himself to think logically. Thankfully, nothing irreversible had happened yet. Kayden's six children from his previous marriage were alive and safe. Julius hadn't begun his spiral of jealousy and cruelty. The disasters that originally led to their deaths hadn't been set in motion.
The timeline could still be rewritten.
The estate was quiet outside his window—manicured gardens, pristine fountains, armed guards at the gates. For now, the Black family was untouchable.
But once the apocalypse hit?
Security would collapse. Guards would mutate or desert. The vast manor would become impossible to defend. Wealth would mean nothing in a world where the food chain had been rewritten.
Still, there was one massive advantage.
Kayden Black was powerful.
And rich.
Stockpiling supplies wouldn't strain his finances. Acquiring land, weapons, generators, fortified structures—none of it would be difficult.
The real obstacle wasn't resources.
It was belief.
Kayden Black was many things—dominant, intelligent, calculating—but he was not a man who entertained fantasies. If Lucas walked into his office and declared, "An apocalypse is coming in eight months," he would be dismissed at best.
Institutionalized at worst.
Lucas stopped pacing.
No. He couldn't keep Kayden in the dark.
Kayden was the strongest piece on the board. In the novel, even before the apocalypse, he had influence, business power, and connections in government and research sectors. Once his abilities awakened, he became unstoppable.
If anyone could prepare on a large enough scale to survive the first wave, it was Kayden.
But to convince him…
Lucas needed proof.
Cold. Logical. Undeniable proof.
His assassin-trained mind began sorting through memories of the novel.
There were early signs.
Minor solar anomalies reported three months before the apocalypse. Unexplained animal aggression incidents. A meteorological phenomenon dismissed as a glitch. A classified research leak about abnormal radiation spikes.
Events too small for the public to connect.
But together?
A pattern.
If he could predict something—accurately, precisely—before it happened…
Kayden would have no choice but to listen.
Lucas inhaled slowly.
He didn't need Kayden to trust him.
He only needed Kayden to doubt reality.
Once doubt took root, logic would do the rest.
Eight months.
If he played this right, Kayden wouldn't lose his children.
And he wouldn't become the cold, merciless man the novel had carved from grief.
Lucas turned from the window, blue eyes no longer confused—but calculating.
If the world was ending, then he would make sure they were ready for it.
And this time—
Kayden Black would see it coming.