r 9: T

rieked. On the monitor, Lucius wiped a smear of blood fro

ping the back of her chair. "He's not pla

s swirling into a tempest. "Let him burn, then

"That's where Arthur Vance is holding the supply cache. If he takes that, he

hat dangerous, harmonic hum. "Tell your boys to

rozen ground, sending plumes of snow and shrapnel into the night sky. Arthur Vance wa

of a mortar round. "They're using hea

as she vaulted over the barricade, landing with a

im, flickering light. "Evangeline? Are

le, her eyes glowing with that signature violet light. "I'm the o

urself killed," Arthur yelled, ducking a

ay," she retorted, flashing a shar

the kinetic hum, building a localized pressure field that pulsed around her like a heartbeat. Whe

ammed into the attackers, throwing

" one of the mercenaries ga

girl?" another mu

let eyes scanning the battlefield. "They're bun

hur roared, embolden

iciency. They weren't just defending; they were hunting. Evangeline moved through

uds, its landing lights cutting through the smoke. Valerian stepped out, his suit impeccably tailored even in the

little spark," he called out, his voic

owing a pulse of energy that detonated an in

raw a weapon; he simply stepped, and the men around him fell, incapacitated by his sheer, ov

essly leaning against him for a split s

oom," he whispered, his eyes dark with promise. "But

r partner?" s

he murmured, his gaze dropping to her lip

ring and familiar. Lucius. He walked through the fire as if he were immu

ce vibrating through the static-choked a

She felt the violet energy within her surging, reaching a tem

she said, her voice clear

awing a jagged blade from

eyes erupting in a blinding, violet starb

ground, her hands glowing with an intensity that forced the very air to crackle. She c

o raw, jagged terror as he felt the sheer weight of her power-a p

he wheezed, hi

intimate promise of total ruin. "I'm th