Shadow Reckoning

Shade moved first.

His knife flew through the air, aimed for Lucian's throat.

Lucian barely flinched as Selene caught it mid-air, spinning it effortlessly in her fingers before flicking it back toward Shade.

He dodged, but barely.

Lucian sighed. "Always so predictable."

Shade's voice was ice. "Let them go."

Lucian tilted his head. "Why? They're useless. Failed experiments. But you—" He gestured toward Shade. "You were perfect."

Shade's pulse pounded. "I wasn't yours."

Lucian chuckled. "Aren't you?"

Then, before Shade could move, Lucian pressed a button on the control panel.

The lights in the lab shifted. A low-frequency hum vibrated through the air.

And inside Shade's skull—

A switch flipped.

His vision blurred. His breath hitched. His veins burned.

No.

No.

Not again.

Jade's voice cut through the fog. "Shade?"

Shade clenched his fists, fighting it. His instincts screamed to kill, to obey the command buried deep in his brain, the programming that had never really left.

Lucian watched with amusement. "That's it. Feel it. The real you. The Revenant."

Jade grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. "You're not him, Shade. You hear me? You're not him."

Shade wanted to believe her.

But the monster inside him was awake.

And it was hungry.