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They fear you because they know what you could become, the entity purrs in my mind. One word from me, and you could make them all kneel.

"I'm helping them," I snap, but even I can hear how my tone emits that unnatural resonance now.

More PA officers arrive and form a perimeter that includes me as much as any remaining threats. Their gear gleams under the sanguine moon's light, designed specifically for containing rogue paranormals. Behind them, specialized PA illusionists are already weaving mass-confusion charms over the panicked human bystanders to blur their memories of the magical fire and shifting shapes into nothing more than a gas explosion and terror.

Darius steps closer, his presence the only barrier keeping the power from spiraling beyond control. "They're scared, Rene. You just vaporized twelve trained assassins without breaking a sweat."

A surviving coven member makes the mistake of targeting a group of fleeing shifters. I raise my hand automatically, but Darius catches my wrist.

"Let me handle this one."

He transforms mid-stride, his enormous black wolf form tackling the assassin, asserting total physical dominance. Every movement is a calculated display of lethal mastery, neutralizing the threat with an incisive clarity that keeps the authorities' containment spells at bay.

He seeks to limit you, the trapped entity whispers. But you were made for so much more.

Darius shifts back to human form in a fluid motion, wiping blood from his knuckles as the last assassin's body hits the pavement. The PA officers maintain their defensive positions, but their weapons lower slightly now that the immediate threat is neutralized.

"We have to get moving." He approaches me the same way he did that first night in the clearing—measured steps and open hands. "The ritual chamber will have to wait."

"Wait? People are dying while we⁠—"

"Look at the analytical reports." He takes out his phone and shows me feeds from across the city. "Every tunnel entrance we mapped is either collapsed or teeming with coven reinforcements. They're forcing us to use the northern access point."

I study the surveillance footage, watching white-robed figures pour into subway entrances like ants into a disturbed hill. The flawless timing makes my stomach clench—this is a masterfully executed ambush, a blueprint designed to trap us from every angle.

"The northern tunnels flood during heavy rain. One blown water main and we're dead."

"Better than walking into a kill box." He glances at the PA officers, their suspicious intensity burning into us. "Besides, we need intel before charging in blind."

The entity’s whisper slides through my consciousness, a velvet-soft blade dragging across an open wound. He seeks to delay the inevitable. You could end this now, little Crowe.

I shake my head, trying to dislodge the voice. "Fine, but if more people die because we waited⁠—"

"They won't." Darius moves closer, his being calming the chaotic energy sparking along my skin. "Look at the authorities—they're waiting for direction. Get a message out to Nolan so he can manage his side. This weight is distributed among us, and I trust you to lead whatever comes next."

The trust in those words hits harder than any explosion tonight. After watching me obliterate a dozen trained killers with barely controlled power, after seeing the PA officers treat me like a potential Code Seven threat, he stands beside me, unshaken and immovable.

"Even after what just happened?" I gesture toward the ash piles that used to be coven assassins.

"Especially after what just happened." His eyes hold mine unwavering. "You saved those families. You chose control when you could have chosen destruction."

This time, the entity purrs. But how long before the choice is no longer yours?

We move through the devastated park toward the emergency command center, where paranormal and human authorities coordinate their response to the citywide attacks. I keep my hands clenched at my sides, feeling power thrum beneath my skin.

A quiet note escapes my throat beneath the noise of the park. "Darius, what if next time I can't choose control?"

His delayed response speaks volumes, offering an authentic gravity that far outweighs the comfort of easy reassurance. Around us, emergency crews work to clear debris while medics tend to wounded civilians. The blood orb continues its ascent and paints everything in shades of crimson that make the destruction look even more apocalyptic.

"Then we'll figure it out together," he finally responds. "But I'm not walking away from you, Rene. Not now, not when this is over."

The certainty in his voice should comfort me. Instead, it makes the entity's laughter echo through my skull.

I flex my fingers at my sides while watching the faint ore-like glow throb beneath my skin in time with the bleeding moon's ascent. I reduced twelve assassins to ash in under a minute, and the terrifying truth is that it felt natural. The action became a smooth and effortless extension of my own will, mirroring the simple cadence of breathing, a sharp departure from the turbulent waves of the past.

And that is exactly what commands my absolute silence as we walk toward the command center, easily overshadowing the PA officers watching my every step and the crimson sky descending over the city like a closing fist.

My thoughts are wholly consumed by a small, quiet realization nagging at my consciousness. My own voice, separate from the entity, wonders what happens when effortlessness transitions into a foreign territory and when the line between saving people and destroying them gets so thin that I can't feel it anymore.