Erebus pressed against his side. The cat’s new form loomed beside him, massive and dark, fur drinking the light. Saber fangs curved past his jaw, pale against the black. Claws the length of Jared’s fingers rested on the wet grass. Dark seeped from Erebus in thin tendrils, pooling beneath his paws, curling through the air.
Jared leaned on Erebus. His legs shook. His ribs screamed. Michael leaned against the car, one hand pressed to his chest, breathing shallow. The blue glow had faded from his eyes. Gobo stood nearby, watching the tree line. Kenan remained on his knees. His glasses hung crooked on his face. His hands pressed into the grass where Isaac had dissolved.
“Kenan.” Jared’s voice came out raw. “We have to move.”
Kenan didn’t respond.
Then Jared heard it. Sirens. Multiple vehicles. Converging fast.
Michael straightened. “That’s not casual traffic.”
Gobo’s hand went to his weapon. “How many?”
Michael’s eyes scanned the street. “Too many.”
Jared forced himself upright. The world tilted, then steadied. He looked toward the park entrance. Three black SUVs screamed around the corner, tires skidding on wet pavement. They halted in a staggered formation, doors opening before the vehicles had fully stopped.
Agents poured out. Dark tactical gear. Rifles raised. Visored helmets that hid their faces. They moved with precision, fanning out, securing angles, covering each other. Elite. Professional. SIU hunter team.
Adrian stepped out of the lead vehicle.
Jared’s chest tightened. Adrian wore the same coat from the office. His face was pale, drawn, carved from stone. His brown eyes swept the scene, taking in the residual Dark, the collapsed figures, the massive shape of Erebus. Then they found Jared.
Adrian wasn’t angry.
The realization hit Jared like a physical blow. Adrian’s jaw was tight. His hands were visible, empty, held slightly away from his body. His eyes were wide and fixed on him with something that looked closer to terror than anything else. He was afraid.
Adrian raised a hand. The agents halted.
“Jared.” Adrian’s voice carried across the park. Flat. Controlled. “I need you to step away from the Dark Anchor site.”
Jared looked down at where Isaac had died. The grass was undisturbed. No body. No residue. Just memory and the weight of a man folded into his chest.
“It’s contained,” Jared said. His voice barely carried.
Adrian took a step forward. “I can see that. But I need to verify. I need you to step back.”
Gobo moved. The goblin placed himself between Adrian and the group, his bulk blocking the line of sight. His tusked jaw set hard.
“He said it’s contained.”
Adrian’s gaze didn’t leave Jared. “Jared. I don’t want a fight. But I will secure that scene.”
Then the air between them split. A vertical seam of silver light opened. Qhall stepped through. He wore his usual tailored suit, neat and precise. His lavender-grey skin caught the rain, his tentacles curling with controlled stillness. His silver eyes swept the park.
He had seen the SIU. He had assessed the situation in less than a second. His gaze settled on Jared.
You are not a Dark Anchor. The thought touched Jared’s mind, calm and certain.
“No,” Jared said. “Isaac was. He’s gone now.”
I see. Qhall’s tentacles curled once, then stilled. And the SIU is here to retrieve you.
Adrian’s voice cut through. “Qhall. This is an SIU operation. You have no standing here.”
Qhall did not turn to face him. I have standing wherever I choose to stand, Adrian. You know this.
Another tear in reality. This one smaller, rougher, a ragged split that spat out a tall Black man in practical clothing. Marcus Okonkwo landed in a crouch, his eyes scanning the park with clinical speed. He found Kenan immediately.
He crossed the distance in long strides. Marcus dropped to his knees beside Kenan. His hands found the smaller man’s shoulders, gripping him, turning him.
“Kenan. Look at me.”
Kenan’s eyes were hollow. “He’s gone, Marcus.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened. He looked at Qhall and the SIU agents.
“We need to leave,” Marcus said. “Now.”
Kenan shook his head. “I can’t.”
“You can.” Marcus’s voice was firm. “You will.”
Adrian raised his hand again. The SIU agents shifted, weapons tracking the new arrivals. “Nobody is leaving. This scene is under SIU jurisdiction. All individuals present will be taken into custody for evaluation.”
Qhall turned. The movement was unhurried. A single tentacle flicked.
No.
Adrian’s expression hardened. “I don’t want to do this the hard way.”
Qhall’s silver eyes held no malice. Then don’t.
Adrian’s hand trembled. His fingers curled into a fist. “I have my orders.”
And I have my obligations. Qhall stepped forward. His shoes pressed into the wet grass. He wore no armor. Carried no weapon. I promised Jared I would contain him if he became a threat. He is not a threat. I will not allow you to take him back to a facility where he will be studied, controlled, and eventually destroyed by your protocols.
The SIU agents shifted. Their visors caught the rain. Their rifles remained trained on Qhall.
Adrian held Qhall’s gaze. “Stand down.”
Make me.
The moment stretched. Rain pattered against concrete. The sirens had died, leaving only the wet hum of the city.
Then Adrian gave the signal.
The first agent fired. A pulse round, non-lethal, meant to incapacitate. Qhall was no longer there. He moved like water, like shadow, like something that had already calculated every possible trajectory before the trigger was pulled. The round passed through empty air.
Qhall reappeared behind the agent who had fired.
His tentacles whipped forward. They wrapped around the agent’s helmet, and the man’s body seized. His rifle clattered to the ground. His limbs locked. Qhall released him, and he crumpled, unconscious, but breathing.
Gobo roared. The goblin surged forward, meeting two agents who had flanked left. His fist connected with the first agent’s chest plate, denting the composite, sending him stumbling backward. The second agent tried to bring his rifle up. Gobo grabbed the barrel and twisted. Metal groaned. The agent released the weapon and stepped back, hand going to his sidearm. Gobo grabbed his wrist and broke it in a savage twist.
Qhall moved again. A flash of light. Three agents dropped in succession. He did not kill them. He disabled them. Each move precise. Each target neutralized without wasted motion. A tentacle to the temple. A palm strike to the throat. A sweep of the leg that became a joint lock.
The remaining agents adjusted. They communicated in hand signals, repositioning, covering each other. One laid down suppressing fire while another tried to flank. Qhall anticipated it. He was always where they were not. He moved through their formation like a surgeon through tissue.
One agent got close. Close enough to see Qhall’s face. The Mind Flayer looked at him. The agent’s expression went slack. His weapon lowered. He stood motionless, enslaved, a puppet with cut strings. Qhall touched his forehead, and the agent slept.
Michael watched from the car. His hand rested on his cane, his attention remained fixed on the fight. Gobo stood in front of him, blood already seeping from a cut on his brow. The goblin’s chest heaved, but he did not retreat.
Jared pulled Kenan. His arms wrapped around Kenan’s waist, lifting him bodily. Kenan struggled, weak, more reflex than resistance.
“I’ve got you.” Jared’s voice broke on the words.
He hauled Kenan toward the car. Erebus moved with him, the massive cat positioning himself between them and the chaos. Jared lifted Kenan onto Erebus’s back. Kenan’s fingers found the thick fur. He clung there, silent, eyes fixed on the space where Isaac had been. Marcus walked with them, holding on hand on Kenan's thigh.
Together, they moved back so they were near the car. Jared collapsed in a pile beside the front wheel. Marcus kneeled next to him, watching Qhall fight.
Gobo wiped blood from his brow. The goblin’s grin spread wide.
Qhall faced the remaining agents. Five of them, spread in a semicircle, weapons trained on him. They had seen what he had done to the others. They knew their odds.
Adrian stood among them. His hand was raised. The order to fire hung in the air.
You will lose more than you can afford to lose today, Qhall said. His voice resonated, not in the air, but in their minds. I do not wish to harm you further. But I will protect what I have sworn to protect.
Adrian’s jaw worked. His gaze found Jared.
Jared knelt beside Erebus, one hand on Kenan’s back, the other pressed to his chest. The Dark inside him pulsed with Isaac’s presence, steady and warm.
“Adrian.” His voice carried across the park.
Adrian’s eyes met his.
“I’m not a Dark Anchor,” Jared said. “I’m not your enemy.”
Adrian’s hand lowered. Just slightly.
“Please,” Jared said. “Don’t make this worse.”
The silence stretched. The rain fell harder. Adrian closed his eyes. Adrian's hand remained raised. Jared could see it trembling.
“Jared,” Adrian said quietly, “you don't understand what the readings are telling us.”
“Maybe I don't.”
“Then how can you know you're safe?”
Jared looked toward the place where Isaac had disappeared. “I don't.”
Adrian stared at him.
Jared swallowed. “But neither do you.”
He lowered his hand fully.
“Stand down,” he said. The words came out rough, scraped from somewhere deep.
The agents hesitated. One looked at him, questioning.
“I said stand down.”
They lowered their weapons.
Qhall’s tentacles curled slowly, settling against his jaw. Wise.
Adrian stepped forward. Past Qhall. Gobo stepped in front of him as he approached, not allowing him to move closer. Adrian stopped ten feet from Jared.
Adrian stared at him. The fear was still there, visible in the tremor of his hands, the tightness around his eyes. But something else moved behind it. Something Jared had seen before, in the bedroom, in the dark, when Adrian had held him and said words that couldn’t be unsaid.
“Come back,” Adrian said. “Let me help you.”
Jared’s chest ached. “I can’t.”
Adrian said nothing.
Jared couldn't look at Adrian. He turned his eyes up to the sky. “I have to understand what I am now.”
The rain ran down Adrian’s face. His hand reached out, then stopped.
Qhall’s voice touched Jared’s mind. We should go.
Jared looked at Adrian. “I’ll come back.”
Adrian’s smile was small. Bitter. “Will you?”
Jared climbed onto Erebus’s back, settling behind Kenan. His arms wrapped around Kenan's waist, holding him steady. The Dark inside him reached out, wrapping two thin tentacles around Kenan's chest. Kenan made a soft noise and pressed a hand against the Dark.
Erebus stood. The massive cat’s muscles coiled. Dark poured from him in thick waves.
Hold tight, Erebus’s voice touched Jared’s mind.
Jared pressed his face into Kenan’s shoulder. “I’ve got you,” he whispered.
Erebus moved.
The world blurred. Rain became streaks of silver. The park fell away, replaced by streets, alleys, rooftops. Jared closed his eyes and felt Isaac’s presence, warm and steady, folded into the Dark.
Behind him, the park grew small. Adrian stood in the rain, watching until they disappeared.
