The streetlights above Central Park buzzed faintly. Lili stood still on the cracked path that sliced through the sleeping park. Wind teased the hem of her coat. Her hands were cold despite the warmth clinging to the night, and her heart thudded with anticipation.Every instinct screamed to fade into shadow and disappear into the brush or the statues or the mist pooling near the benches. But she didn’t. She stood beneath the broken angel statue near the fountain like the note had told her.
“Well,” came a voice. “I wondered if you’d have the spine to come.”
She turned slowly. Fosin stood just beyond the edge of the path, wrapped in a tailored coat, a single cigarette glowing between his fingers. Around him, two shadows materialized.
“I debated it,” Lili said coolly. “But then I remembered what you are. You wouldn’t write unless you wanted something.”
He chuckled, taking a long drag. “Right again. You were always my favorite.”
“Spare me.”
“I could have,” he said, smoke twisting between them. “But I didn’t. So here we are. You want to know how your parents are doing?”
Lili’s hands curled into fists at her sides, but she didn’t move. “If you’ve touched them—”
“Touched?” he interrupted with mock offense. “Lili, darling, I’m not a monster yet.” His smile sharpened.
He stepped closer, only a few paces away now. “But I might be… if you don’t give me what I want.”
“And what’s that?”
“Simple,” Fosin said, dropping the cigarette to the stones and crushing it beneath his heel. “Come back to Stronghold. No more of this rebellion nonsense. We both know Rafael won’t ever really trust you. But I do. I know exactly what you’re capable of.”
Lili laughed bitterly. “You know what I survived. That’s not the same.”
“Oh, but it is,” Fosin whispered. “You’re mine, Lili.”
A sudden wind cut through the park, lifting the edges of her coat, the strands of her hair.
Her voice dropped to a near-growl. “You shouldn’t have involved my family.”
Fosin raised a brow. “And yet, here you are.”
“I made a promise,” she said quietly.
“Oh?” Fosin grinned. “To whom?”
“To myself,” she answered. “That the next time I saw you, I’d burn what you built to the ground.”
Fosin only smiled wider. “So burn me, darling,” he said. “But know what it’ll cost you.”
Lili didn’t wait. The second his smirk tilted just a degree too far into arrogance, her shadows surged one slicing clean across Fosin’s cheek, leaving a jagged, black-glowing gash.
His head jerked to the side.
The wound stitched itself shut instantly.
Her mouth fell open, breath caught halfway in her lungs. “What the fuck!?”
Fosin’s tongue slid across his teeth. He giggled. “Oh, Lili… You really thought you were the only monster?”
He snapped his fingers. “Capture her.”
The shadows beside him moved.
Lili ducked low, sliding back as one attacker lunged. Her own shadows rose behind her like wings, catching the blow, twisting around the figure and strikingback.
The other came from the side and Lili barely turned in time. Pain seared her shoulder. She gritted her teeth and retaliated, but both attackers were anticipating her movements.
The fireball hit one of the attackers chest, swallowing him whole.
The second one, sensing the shift, twisted—and instead of striking, moved to Fosin. Wrapped an arm around him, and with a sudden gust of displaced air, both of them vanished.
Lili stood in the center of the path, shadows rippling, chest heaving.
Notori landed beside her a moment later. His chest rose and fell like he’d run through hell to get to her. His eyes blazed, scanning her quickly, searching for wounds.
“You okay?” he asked, voice low but tight, like it cost him to stay calm.
Lili’s gaze was fixed on the empty space where Fosin had stood seconds ago. “He healed.”
Notori’s hands curled into fists, the fire still flickering at his knuckles.
Lili’s head snapped toward him. “I thought he didn’t have any powers.” Her pupils thinned to slits for a heartbeat, and her tone cracked with disbelief.
Notori didn’t respond immediately.
“How did you find me?” Lili asked, suddenly. Her voice softened, but only slightly.
Notori exhaled through his nose. Then, hesitantly, “Mike. He—planted a tracker in your phone. I didn’t know until it went off. I—I wouldn’t have let them do it, but…”
He looked at her then fully. No flames now, just raw worry in his expression. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Lili blinked.
For a second, pain wavered behind her stare. She turned away, just slightly. Her voice came low. “I wasn’t planning on dying.”
“But you thought it was a chance you’d have to take,” Notori said, stepping beside her.
She didn’t deny it.
The wind stirred fallen leaves across the path, cool air brushing against their skin.
Then Lili muttered, almost bitterly: “Next time, Mike can shove that tracker up his—”
“Agreed,” Notori said quickly, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth.
Despite everything, Lili snorted.
***
Lili and Notori landed hard on the gravel in front of the base doors. The reinforced gates slid open and out strode Mike and Rafael, both already marching toward them.
“Have you lost your mind, Lili?!” Mike screamed first.
Lili didn’t flinch. But she also didn’t speak yet.
Rafael’s voice followed close behind, lower but no less furious. “You left the base without clearance. You risked not only your life, but the integrity of this entire operation.”
“She left because Fosin sent a threat. I followed her to have her back. That’s more than you did.” Notori defended her.
“That doesn’t justify sneaking out in the dead of night,” Mike snapped. “And it damn well doesn’t justify dragging another Gifted into the line of fire without informing command.”
“I was careful,” Lili said at last. “Until Fosin healed from the wound right in front of me.”
That shut them both up.
Rafael’s gaze hardened. “He what?”
Notori answered. “She sliced his cheek open. It closed in seconds. He didn’t even flinch.”
Mike’s fury shifted. “Regenerative?” he muttered. “Torin’s bloodline didn’t have that.”
Rafael ran a hand down his face, muttering a curse beneath his breath. “Any other revelations?” he asked bitterly.
Lili hesitated. Then pulled the crumpled note from her coat and held it out. “He knew where my parents are. He used them to lure me out. And he clearly has rats inside this base.”
That made Rafael pause. “We’re changing protocols immediately,” Rafael said. “All communication logs. All surveillance. We sweep every hallway, every line of code.”
Mike snatched the note from Lili’s hand, scanning it with a tightening expression.
“Next time,” Rafael said, stepping closer to Lili, “you tell me when you’re threatened. You disappear again, and you’re done here.”
Lili met Rafael’s gaze as if daring him to push harder, but beneath it, Notori saw something else. A bruised flicker of shame.
She gave a stiff nod. “Understood.” Then she drew in a shaky breath. “I’m sorry,” she added, voice lower now. “I panicked. I thought… if he had someone inside the base, if I said anything—I’d only trigger the reaction. I didn’t want to put anyone else in danger.”
Rafael’s expression didn’t change, but the edge in his posture eased by a fraction. “Your parents can defend themselves,” he said after a pause. “And I had someone placed nearby to monitor them quietly. You weren’t alone, even if you thought you were.”
Lili blinked. “I didn’t know…” Her voice cracked at the edges. She swallowed the tremor.
“But the moment I saw him… I realized he didn’t have shit. It was bait. He just wanted me.”
Mike crossed his arms. “What did he want from you, exactly?”
Lili froze. Her fingers curled slightly, gripping the side seams of her jacket. She hesitated, then looked away. Finally, Lili spoke: “He wanted me back.” She turned her gaze back to them, searching their faces for mistrust, doubt, anything that might signal a fracture she couldn’t mend.
Mike’s brow furrowed. Rafael’s jaw clenched, but neither spoke yet.
Lili continued with voice gaining firmness despite the knot in her throat. “He thinks I belong to them. That I’ll eventually return. But I won’t.”
Rafael looked at her long and hard. Then, finally, he said, “Then let’s make damn sure he never gets another chance.”
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