Brenn’s scream echoed off the metal walls, rattling the command center like the room itself wanted to tear free and escape what was happening inside it.
Kira froze mid-step.
Halverson’s rifle hung limp at his side.
Rael so calm, so precise, so unshakeable went pale.
I walked closer.
I shouldn’t have.
But something pulled me toward Brenn not curiosity, not bravery, but a resonance. A vibration under my skin.
The faint hum of the Tower’s pulse.
I knew it anywhere.
“Kyle,” Rael said sharply. “Stop.”
I didn’t.
Brenn writhed against the cables cinched around his arms and legs. His back arched unnaturally, tendons standing out beneath his skin like they were being pulled from inside.
His voice came in two tones human and something woven through it.
Something wrong.
> “ Kyle
