CHAPTER 31 — WHAT THE DARK TAKES
Night didn’t fall on the city.
It collapsed.
From the highest tower of the compound, Amara watched the lights flicker across districts like scattered embers—some bright, some dim, some gone completely dark. Power outages. Communication disruptions. The council’s signature.
They were no longer testing her.
They were hunting.
Behind her, Alessandro stood silent, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the same horizon. He had been like that all evening—watchful, tense, carrying a violence he was deliberately keeping caged.
“They’re isolating the south and east sectors,” Clara said from the console. “Cutting them off from emergency response.”
Amara didn’t look away. “They’re forcing panic.”
“And loyalty tests,” Alessandro added. “Anyone who hesitates will be mark
