The city below had awakened.
From every darkened street and hollow tower, threads of Drag-light unfurled like veins, pulsing brighter with each passing second. Dozens—no, hundreds—of signatures were locking on to the rooftop where Kade and Asha stood. The words of the slain hunter still echoed in his mind:
> “NEURO ACTIVITY: MATCH CONFIRMED. HOST: Kade Vale.”
And then, almost mockingly:
“Extraction imminent.”
Asha pulled herself to her feet, still trembling from the uncontrolled surge of her Koua. Her crimson-fractured eyes darted to the horizon. “Kade… there’s no way out.”
He felt it too. Every exit was already being sealed by Drag-born hunters, neuro-trackers moving in precise patterns like a hive mind closing its net.
“Then we make one,” he said, his voice lower than usual, qu
