Page 10 of Third

Dangerous.

The rage was gone. But something else remained.

He could still feel thebond.

And it was changing.

Subtly, but unmistakably. Not just in strength, but in nature. The tether no longer throbbed with aggression—it hummed with something deeper, something that made his thoughts blur and his instincts tilt sideways. His body still felt like his, but there were undercurrents he couldn’t map. Ashift in his awareness, asoftening in the edges of computation. Whatever this bond was becoming, it was altering more than his chemistry.

It was rewriting who he was. Not just his physiology or reflexes, but the very foundation of how he processed the world. Logic, once his primary operating system, now bent to instinct. Calculation faltered. Precision wavered. The craving wasn’t just rewriting his chemistry—it was unraveling the identity he had built over a lifetime of discipline andduty.

Anya shifted beside him, quiet now, her strength dimmed by exhaustion. He could see it in the way her shoulders sagged, the way her eyes blinked more slowly. He said nothing.

Instead, he gestured to the reassembled sleeping platform. “You should rest.”

“I’m fine,” she murmured, not looking athim.

“You are not,” he said simply. “Your vitals are fluctuating. Your stability compromises mine.”

She frowned but didn’t argue. She lay down slowly, her body wrapping itself inward.

Tor’Vek stood still, watching her for a long moment, then moved to the farwall.

And stopped.

The distance pulled at him like gravity in reverse. He could feel the flicker returning—the bond reacting, heating, whispering. He shouldn’t need this. It was illogical. Unacceptable.

He crossed theroom.

Sat besideher.

Her eyes opened slightly. “What are you doing?”

He lay down, careful, measured, his body close but not touching. “If I remain near, my system stabilizes. If I do not, Imay destroy the room again.”

She didn’t respond, letting loose a deep sigh. Her gaze flicked to the ceiling.

He closed hiseyes.

He didn’t intend to sleep.

The bracelet pulsed.

And Selyr’s voice returned from overhead speakers.

“Well done, Warrior. Shall we escalate?”

Tor’Vek’s eyes snappedopen.

The bracelet grewhot.

Another rune appeared.

“Let us try something more... primitive,” Selyr purred. “Let us see how you processcraving.”

Craving.

Tor’Vek froze. The heat moved deeper, threading through muscle and nerve and thought. It wasn’t like rage. It didn’tburn.

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