Page 99 of Rebirth

His head jerks to the side at an unnatural angle as the other Corrupted cease fighting, turning as one to look behind them.

The silence. Is deafening.

And in the midst of it…my Soh’fee.

The veins have spread down her other arm, devouring her body at an alarming rate. And her eyes—her eyes shine with the same dark power I’ve felt within me.

Silence reigns as the hyu’mans, the Corrupted lower their weapons and turn to face her.

“Stop,” she says. Voice level.

And they do not move.

Turning to face me, there is only a moment where our gazes lock and the darkness fades from her eyes, the brilliant blue reclaiming her iris before she smiles faintly and her legs give out.

I catch her before she falls, cradling her to me, even as my tentacles remain trained on the threat around us.

“Soh’fee.” I call her name but she barely responds. All along her neck and arms, the dark veins fade, almost as if they weren’t there in the first place. All that remains is the one pulsing on her spine.

“Did I do it?” she whispers, head rolling back. “Did I make them stop?”

My throat tightens.

“Is anyone hurt?”

Despite all that’s happened, her hope in her species still comes to the fore.

“They have ceased,” I tell her, catching her head as it rolls back once more. She is weak. Weaker than before. But her display of strength has revealed one thing.

My Soh’fee is not a follower. She is a leader. Like that little child. Like that female back at the camp.

The network has chosen her as a conductor.

She holds the key to ending this scourge.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

SOPHIE

I feel sleepy. Oh so sleepy, even though I know I shouldn’t.

This isn’t simply tiredness from overwork and lack of rest. This is something else. As if the energy itself is leaching from my bones.

I’m moving. Somewhat aware that He’rox is carrying me and that all around us, the Corrupted move as one, coming after us.

“He’rox!” Adira shouts, but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t pause. I’m mildly aware that alarm rings through her and the others as they try to intercept the Corrupted who are heading our way, to no avail. They’re hitting them with non-lethal blows, trying not to harm them but push them back, and all that’s happening is the Corrupted stand after being struck down and continue on. As if they have one singular purpose.

But even as they come after us, they don’t attack.

They’re simply…following us. Following me.

The realization makes my head swim.

Adira appears alongside He’rox, somehow managing to keep up with him.

“Where are you taking her?”

“To my lab.”

---