Lili stormed through the corridor. Shadows twitched, desperate to spill out, to lash, to scream, but she barely held them in check. Her fists were clenched, eyes burned red with unshed fury and something wounded. Halfway to her quarters, a familiar figure appeared ahead. Notori, casually walking from the opposite direction, halted mid-step the moment he saw her. “Lili—?”
But she didn’t stop, didn’t even slowed down as she moved past him. Then she reached her door and stepped through, the door slammed behind her with a verdict.
Notori stared at the closed door in silence, the echo of its slam still ringing in his ears. Whatever words had risen in his throat dissolved before they could reach his lips.
He ran a hand through his hair and glanced once down the corridor—as if searching for an easier choice, but there wasn’t one. So he stepped forward.
He raised his hand, hesitated mid-air. But then he drew a steady breath and knocked.
“Lili,” he said. “I know you don’t want anyone right now. But I’m still here.”
The silence behind the door stretched.
“I won’t ask you to talk,” he said softly, almost more to the silence than to her. “But I’m not leaving unless you tell me to.”
The door flew open so sudden, Notori instinctively stepped back.
Lili’s shoulders were tense, fury radiating off her in waves.
“Will you let me in?” he asked gently, despite her blaze.
Lili didn’t answer. She stared at him as if searching for some flaw or crack in him she could strike and send him running.
But her voice didn’t rise to curse. She stepped back. Notori didn’t hesitate to cross the threshold and closed the door behind him without a word.
He moved toward the bed and sat beside her. “Is it about the mission?”
“No,” Lili replied. “It’s about the aftermath.”
Her gaze stayed forward, on nothing and everything at once. She wasn’t trembling, but there was a vibration in the air around her, like something on the verge of rupture.
“Not the fight,” she went on. “Not the danger. I can take that. I’ve always taken that.”
She turned to him then, slowly, eyes burning with something that wasn’t anger this time, but t weariness.
“It’s how they looked at me after. Like I’m some broken thing. Like I’m… wrong for hearing things. For knowing something’s inside me that doesn’t belong.”
Notori’s jaw clenched, and still, he said nothing. He simply listened.
“And the worst part,” she whispered, “is how easy it was to believe them.” Her voice cracked there, just a little.
“You’re not broken,” he said at last. “You’re surviving something most people wouldn’t even understand, let alone endure.”
Lili’s composure finally gave away. Her face sank into her shaking hands, fingers pressed hard against her temples.
Notori watched her for only a moment longer, then reached out, easing her toward him. He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. Soon he felt her shoulders shake with the force of a sob, heard the smallest, broken sound escape her, he knew he’d made the right call.
Her fingers gripped his sleeve. “Why are you here, Notori?” she asked at last, voice muffled against him. “Why don’t you think I’m crazy like the rest of them?”
He rested his cheek gently against her hair. “Because I’ve seen what they tried to make you,” he murmured, “and you’re still fighting.” He breathed in slowly. “That’s something I could never walk away from.”
“You think it’s normal to hear voices in my head?” she asked suddenly. Her fingers tensed slightly against his chest, and then she pulled away enough to rise from the warmth of his touch and study his face.
Notori didn’t flinch. Instead, he looked at her like he always had. “No,” he said. “It’s not normal. But nothing about what they did to you was normal either. The way you hear them, fight them, resist them… that tells me you’re still in control. And if you ever do lose that grip, I’ll be there.”
Lili stared at him, stunned. Something inside her began to loosen. Her fury softened into silence. Their eyes held the weight of things neither dared say aloud.
Notori tensed, breath catching in his throat. Her lips brushed his carefully. It was soft and fragile.
For a heartbeat, the world stilled—no shadows whispered, no ghosts clawed at the edges of Lili’s mind. Just warmth. His lips. His presence.
When she pulled away, it was barely an inch, her breath still brushing his lips. Her eyes searched his for doubt, for mockery, for the faintest ripple of retreat, but found none.
“I’m not good at this,” she whispered, voice hoarse from emotion. “I’m better with fighting.”
He gave a breath of a smile. “Then consider me warned.”
A shaky laugh slipped out of her, unexpected and short-lived. Her still slightly trembling hand rested over his heart. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted. “I don’t know if I’m safe for anyone to be close to. I don’t even know if I’m me half the time anymore.”
“You’re still Lili,” he said. “Even if the world tried to turn you into something else.”
His hand found hers, curling around her fingers. “And if you lose yourself again, I’ll help you find the pieces.”
***
In the morning, Lili walked the sterile corridors toward Rafael’s office. She tried to imagine the conversation in her mind and was ready for almost anything. The door creaked open, and she halted on the threshold. Sitting in front of Rafael were Colin and Astonia. All three looked at her at once.
Rafael’s gaze was calm, perhaps even cautious. Astonia’s eyes softened with maternal ache, lips parted like she was ready to speak, but didn’t dare yet. Colin sat rigid in guilt, his hands folded tightly in his lap.
Lili’s mouth opened, but no words came.
“Lili,” Rafael said carefully. “Come in. Close the door, please.”
Lili’s gaze never left her parents as she stepped in, her hands fists at her sides and breath trembled once. “What are they doing here?” Her voice came out sharp, defensive, cracked just at the edges.
Astonia finally stood. “We asked to speak with you. You haven’t answered a single message since—”
“I didn’t want to.” Lili’s words snapped. “You made it clear I was nothing more than a broken risk.”
“You misunderstood—” Colin tried, standing as well.
Lili held up a hand. “No. I didn’t. You were afraid of me. You still are.”
Rafael glanced at her, then at the others. “Lili, they’re here because they’re concerned. They asked to be involved, and I agreed. But this is your conversation to choose.”
Lili’s jaw clenched. The silence that followed was sharp.
She took a step forward. Then she said lowly, “Fine. Say what you came to say. But don’t expect me to make this easy for you.” She shut the door behind her.
The heavy silence in Rafael’s office was shattered only by the faint hum of the ventilation. Lili’s eyes snapped to her parents almost immediately.
Rafael cleared his throat, breaking the stillness. “When you shut down all communication with them, I thought—” His voice softened, “—that maybe it was time to try bridging the distance.”
Lili’s jaw clenched. The memory of cutting ties, the suffocating loneliness it brought, pressed heavy in her chest. But she hadn’t expected this reunion like this.
Astonia spoke next. “We’ve been working on something.”
Colin nodded. “The stolen car you helped secure… inside was a mass of the very material from which those bullets were made.”
Lili’s breath caught.
“As you already know, we’ve managed to develop a potential cure, or at least a way to counteract some of the mutation,” Astonia continued, eyes flickering with hope and exhaustion. “But we need to study the original material, to understand it fully. That’s why Rafael invited us.”
Rafael leaned forward. “It’s about finding answers. And maybe… a way forward.”
Lili’s gaze fell to her trembling hands, where shadows already curled. “So…” Her voice was hesitant. “You don’t think I’m crazy… hearing voices in my head?”
Colin’s eyes met hers. “No,” he said slowly, “Other infected heroes, before their final breath, reported the same.” His gaze sharpened with the weight of experience and fear. “These voices plead, demand, ask you to let go… to join them.”
Lili’s breath caught, a shiver running down her spine. She shook her head, looking away. “Or they want blood,” she admitted. “But I… I just… ignore them.”
Astonia’s hand brushed lightly against Colin’s arm. When both of their eyes flicked to the badge clipped to Lili’s side and then back at Rafael with a mixture of disappointment and concern.
Rafael’s expression remained unreadable.
“It was my decision,” Lili said first. “Whether you approve or not doesn’t change a thing. I’m an adult. I’m the one who chooses my battles and loyalties.”
Colin’s jaw tightened, Astonia’s eyes softened, but neither pressed further, caught in the silent truce of fractured trust and unspoken love.
The blaring alarm fractured the tense silence. Lili tensed before thought could form. Without waiting for Rafael’s command or glancing back at her parents, she bolted from the room already thinking about the prison.
The hallway twisted ahead and the hand reached from the rift, gripping her arm. Before she could brace or call out, she was yanked sideways into the fold in space. Her breath caught as reality shifted, her stomach twisting and then then she was outside, flung into the sunlight, her back cracking against gravel, hands scrambling as the wind was stolen from her lungs.
The prisoner towered over her, his hand tightening around her throat. She gasped, nails clawing at his wrist, the world tilting and ringing around her ears. Her Gift stuttered slow to respond, blurred by disorientation.
Gunfire cracked through the air..
“Stop!” Lukas voice followed soon after. “You’ll hit Lili!”
Even through the haze, her eyes snapped open in disbelief.
Blood ran from the prisoner’s nose. His eyes rolled back. The man staggered back and let her drop.
Lili crumpled, catching her breath, but didn’t stay down. Then her eyes flared red, shadows slicing to form into her arms. With a snarl, she lunged. The prisoner didn’t even finish turning before her shadows tore into him and he fell down.
Lili stood over the prisoner’s limp body, shadows still quivering around her. Her chest heaved while she watched blood soaking into the ground.
She turned, startled, as Lukas approached. His eyes skimmed her figure, checking for wounds, not even trying to hide it. “You’re alright?”
Lili blinked at him, breath still ragged. “Since when do you care?”
He rolled his eyes, but the defensiveness didn’t quite mask the twitch of discomfort on his face. “Oh, come on, Lili. We’re teammates.”
She stared at him a moment longer, shadows settling back into her skin.
Before she could reply, the sharp sound of footsteps echoed. She turned to see a rush of bodies spill from the base’s entrance.
Colin was first, eyes blazing gold. Astonia was close behind, with blades spinning around her body. Mike had his weapon drawn, and Rafael was at his side. “Back inside,” Mike ordered quietly, gesturing for Rafael to retreat. They all froze as their eyes locked on the body at Lili’s feet.
“Shit,” Colin muttered.
Astonia’s knives dropped slightly, but her eyes went to her daughter, then to the blood. Rafael’s jaw clenched as the reality sank in.
Lili only whispered, “He was going to kill me.”
No one dared question it.
Lili let out a strained breath. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know he was important. Instincts kicked in first.”
No one responded.
She turned toward the base, when she again heard the whisper. Lili spun back watching the corpse convulse. And then the body caved inward, collapsed while shadows erupted from it laughing. It launched through the air toward Rafael. Lili vanished mid-step, until she materialized in front of Rafael, absorbing the hit with the full force of her Gift. A blast of shadow erupted, wings slicing outward. The creature collided with her and detonated into wild smoke and clawed tendrils that raked across her shoulders, tearing fabric and skin. Her body jolted, knees slamming into the earth, but she stayed up. The silence came faster than anyone expected. Shadows dispersed into nothing.
Lili knelt between them, bleeding but still surrounded by the shadows.
Rafael was frozen. Astonia wasn’t. “Lili!” she screamed, voice shattering across the courtyard. She was running—barely aware her knives dropped from the air. Colin’s body blurred past her faster. He dropped beside Lili as she pitched forward, catching her before she hit the dirt.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered, voice cracking. “You hear me, baby? I’ve got you.”
Lili blinked up at him, dazed. “I’m fine—”
“No, you’re not,” Astonia breathed, dropping to her knees beside them. Her hands fluttered, unsure where to touch.
“You took that thing alone?” Colin asked, his voice low and trembling with awe and fear.
“I had to,” Lili whispered. “It was him or Rafael.”
Colin gently pushed back strands of hair from her blood-speckled forehead. “You’re not fine. You’re burning, Lili. You’re—”
“Alive,” she corrected, voice raw. “I’m alive.”
Astonia’s jaw clenched. She didn’t cry, but her hand closed around Lili’s, hard, and didn’t let go.
The base doors burst open, and Margherita charged out in a white coat, nurses trailing behind her. Her eyes scanned the chaos and found the heart of it cradled between Colin and Astonia. Blood painted the ground beneath their daughter.
“Let me pass!” Margherita’s voice rang out.
Colin didn’t move at first, arms locked around Lili as if letting go meant losing her again. Astonia looked up, eyes wild, lips parting to protest, but faltering beneath the weight of the doctor’s urgency.
Lili’s breath came slower now.
Even as her parents called to her, her eyes fluttered, lids heavy with exhaustion.
“Lili, no,” Astonia said, brushing her daughter’s cheek. “Don’t close your eyes. Don’t give in. Stay with me, please—”
“Sweetheart, you’re not done,” Colin added, his voice breaking. “Don’t let go.”
But Lili was fading, her head leaning into the crook of Colin’s shoulder, her lips murmuring a breath that might’ve been sorry, or enough…
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