Chapter 278
The gun doesn’t shake.
That’s the first thing I notice, standing in the circle of light between cold lab walls and Lily’s outstretched arm. Her grip is steady. Her aim’s perfect. Not a tremble in sight. I’m staring down a barrel held by a woman who’s made peace with her decisions.
“I said move,” she tells me, motioning with the gun toward the far wall.
And I move, because right now she’s got all the cards and I don’t feel like getting shot before I understand the rules of this game.
There’s a glint of metal on the counter. My stomach turns when I realize what it is.
A collar.
Another damn collar.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lily says when my eyes flick to the corner of the lab. Probably calculating, probably stalling. “It won’t save you. Nothing will.”
She tosses the collar toward me like it’s a necklace and not a weaponized mind leash. It lands at my feet with a metallic clink, and I just stare at it.
“Put it on,” she says.
“No,” I say automatically.
She tilts her head, not annoyed, just clinical. “That wasn’t a request.”
The muzzle of the gun dips slightly, just enough to remind me she’s not bluffing.
I pick up the collar. It’s heavier than I remember. Cold. The surface hums faintly against my skin, like it’s alive. Like it knows me.
When I snap it around my neck, there’s a whisper of static and then—pain. Not searing, not mind-numbing. Just wrong. A buzzing pressure behind my eyes, like someone’s sliding into my thoughts and poking around. Not full control. But more than before. Stronger. Tighter.
“You upgraded,” I say, my voice flatter than I intend. My fingers twitch, resisting the urge to rip the damn thing off.
“Of course I did,” Lily says, already moving toward the back of the lab. “You think I’d confront you without insurance?”
She taps a wall panel, and the sleek chrome splits open like a blooming flower, revealing a chamber that doesn’t belong in any sane place. Two pods. Human-sized. Cocoon-shaped. Connected by a tangle of crystal-studded tubes pulsing with a dim blue light. I can feel it from here—Darklite.
My throat tightens.
“No,” I whisper, taking a step back before I even realize I’m moving.
“Yes,” Lily counters, almost cheerfully. “Let’s not make this dramatic.”
She gestures with the gun again. “Into the left pod, please.”
“What is this?” I ask, even though I already know. The answer is a scream waiting to happen.
“A gift exchange,” she says with a tight smile. “Only I get to keep both gifts.”
She gestures again, and this time I obey. I step into the pod. It’s not cold like I expect. It’s warm. Almost… welcoming. That freaks me out more than anything else.
Lily steps up beside me and starts attaching leads to my collar, wrists, temples. Her hands are practiced. Mechanical. She doesn’t even flinch when my arm jerks away from hers.
“This shouldn’t work, you know,” she says conversationally as she tightens a strap around my chest. “Not with human tech. But once I learned how to filter the Darklite through the right frequency, the math started making sense.”
“You’ve do love your experiments,” I say, dryly. “And how many volunteers did you run this little test on?”
Her eyes flash. “Dozens.”
Of course. Enkians. Elder Kin. Anyone not her.
She smiles like she’s proud of herself. “If I’ve calculated the sequence correctly, your body might even survive the procedure. Probably. But I wouldn’t count on it.”
My heart slams against the strap around my ribs.
“What procedure?” I bite out.
She doesn’t look at me. Doesn’t have to. Her voice floats back like we’re just discussing research over coffee. “Oh, Phoebe. You were the one who gave me the idea. The moment you said it—change at a molecular level—I knew. That was the answer. Not augmentation. Not imitation. Transformation.”
“I’m not human,” I snap.
She spins to face me, eyes blazing. “Exactly. That’s the problem. Humanity. Weak. Static. Finite.”
She says the word like it’s a disease.
“I tried to cure it the old way,” she says, voice low and reverent now. “Genetic grafts. Neural recoding. Failed every time. But then Shoal came along with his shiny regrets and a whole list of test subjects, and then the Elder Kin... And suddenly, the universe cracked open. I saw it.”
I go cold. “You saw what?”
She touches one of the tubes between our pods. A pulse of light rushes through it.
“It’s in the blood, Phoebe. That’s what sets you apart. That’s what sets them apart. Every single other difference traces back to that one thing. The blood.”
Something drops in my stomach. A piece I didn’t know was missing just slammed into place.
Lily’s eyes gleam. “Do you know what happens when you put Enkian blood under a scope and compare it to Darklite?”
I don’t answer.
She leans in. “They’re nearly identical. On a molecular level.”
I don’t have the strength to be surprised. It makes sense. I should’ve guessed it sooner.
I meet her gaze and say quietly, “That’s what connects us. Enkians and Darklite. It’s a network. A circuit. That’s why the Elder Kin mutated when they were exposed to too much. It overrides natural evolution. Forces it. And when the Darklite vanished, the Enkians… stopped evolving.”
Her eyes widen, a beat of genuine respect breaking through the mania. “Exactly. You’re catching on. So quickly. I knew you would.”
“But there’s still something you don’t know,” I say, carefully.
She stills.
“There’s one missing piece, right? One mystery that’s still bothering you. Why does one affect the other? What’s the catalyst?”
Lily’s jaw tightens. She doesn’t speak.
Because she doesn’t know.
But I do.
I feel it like a heartbeat echoing in my bones.
The Ether.
I don’t say it out loud, of course. She can’t know. She cannot know. She thinks the blood is the source, but it isn’t. It’s just the delivery system. The real source—the true fire behind the power—is the Ether. The great current. The divine script humming beneath all things.
The blood carries potential.
The Ether activates it.
It shapes intention, translates will into action, dream into form. It’s what gives the gods their power. It’s what makes Heirs like me more than just flesh and blood. The stronger the bloodline, the deeper the connection to the Ether. And I’ve never met anyone with a stronger tie to it than Electra.
Lily doesn’t need the Ether to run her twisted science.
She just needs me.
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