Page 262 of Interion

“Let me know if anything happens with Kyller.”

She tucked the device inside her uniform collar and saluted, then sat down near the screen to get a better view.

Zion led the psychic to the edge of the blue dome and called Yugo, the blocker stationed at the test’s control center. He needed to ask the man to open part of the barrier so the psychic could get inside and communicate with the students. Even telepathic power was blocked in there.

The phone rang until it went to voicemail. Zion called a second time, but got the same result. He paced back and forth while making a third attempt. Each ring turned the itch under his skin into an icy chill down his spine. He ended the call and dialed Kaori’s number—and to his immense relief, she answered on the first ring.

“Kaori, try calling Yugo. He’s not answering.”

The phone went silent, and two minutes later she responded.

“He’s not answering. We’re sending a drone to notify him.”

Zion waited on the line again. He was growing impatient, and that sense of danger was pushing past what he could bear. He tried to convince himself they weren’t chimeras, since no connection between them and water had been proven so far—it was just an observation he and his men had made. He wanted to believe the algae were simply spiraling out of control due to some natural cause. And one last time, he told himself there was no way the chimeras could get through the barrier.

“General?” Kaori called from the other end of the line. The way she said it made Zion’s heart race. She was using that clipped tone she had when saluting—the battle voice that usually preceded trouble. “The drone crashed. We’re sending a second device to the location.”

“Has a drone ever crashed without reason?” he asked, trying to keep his composure.

Gods! He was hyperventilating, his chest heaving rapidly. He was a general with two hundred years of experience, but he felt like a clueless teenager whenever his partner was involved.

“No.” That was the answer he got, while he heard his second-in-command kicking one of the boys off the console to take his place and launching into a relentless clatter on the keyboards. Zion ran his hands through his hair and stayed on the call. His mind raced through a thousand theories. He took a deep breath for the tenth time and touched the dome, making it glow blue—impenetrable as an iron wall.

“Fuck. The second drone crashed too.” Zion thought he was having a heart attack. “The drone in area one just went dark.”

The psychic beside Zion stood wide-eyed. He didn’t dare speak a word, and Zion preferred it that way—he was afraid he’d explode at anyone who did. His heart was pounding so fast and loud he could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

The two were staring at the barrier when they heard a muffled scream from one of the students. A sound of pure terror. Moments later, a red flare shot up. His heart stumbled once, as if pausing before the wild sprint that followed, along with the raw terror that flooded his chest. A single word refused to leave his mind, filling every corner and blocking any coherent thought. Not a word—a name: Kyller.

“The signal came from area one.” Kaori’s voice pulled him from his paralyzing stupor.

Immediately after, Zion heard noises and several voices speaking at once. He couldn’t make out what they were shouting.

“General, Elias Náthila’s heartbeat has stopped.” The woman sounded shocked on the other end. Zion heard, in total despair, another scream that cut off abruptly. “Dalila Merid’s heartbeat has stopped too.”

From where he stood, he heard grotesque howls. Five synchronized howls—hoarse, high-pitched, and drawn out. The sound made his already racing heart hammer even harder against his ribcage. There was no longer any doubt about what they were dealing with. They were the chimeras. They were inside. He had failed to capture them, and now they had come to show him the price of that failure. Zion was gasping. Desperate, he lowered his barrier and yanked on the bond so recklessly that he crashed into a wall of bones.

“Kyller?” he called, pacing back and forth, grinding his teeth. She didn’t respond.

“Kaori, how is she?” He turned to his second-in-command.

Another flare shot up. Rarely in his life had he felt this desperate. His heart seemed to be plummeting into an abyss of fear.

“The flare isn’t hers. Kyller is in the tree, heartbeat elevated, one-forty per minute.”

“Kyller?!” he shouted in despair, punching the dome that separated him from his partner. He was certain they were the chimeras. Only they could make the cameras go dark—just like during the attack on the medical base at the border.

“I’m here, Zion.” He heard Kyller respond as she lowered her barrier. Her feelings struck him with the force of a hurricane.

Panic.

She was in a panic, gripped by fear.

His shadows climbed the barrier, devouring energy and trying to punch a hole through the defense, just as he’d done with the protection at home. But the barrier didn’t show a single scratch.

He took another deep breath. He couldn’t let himself be consumed by fear—Kyller needed him. So he told her what was happening and, finally, dreading her reaction, shared his suspicions about the chimeras. He was afraid she’d go into even deeper shock, but he needed his partner to know what she was dealing with so she could stay safe while he found a way to bring down the barrier.

“They’re not chimeras, Zion,” she replied, and he froze in place.