Chapter 168 Seraphine
The room didn’t stay heavy for long.
Not when there was something to do.
Lukas moved first, efficient as always, already pulling a thin, glass-like tablet from his coat. It shimmered faintly the moment it activated, lines of text and symbols shifting across its surface like it was alive.
“The standard system,” he said, setting it down on the table between us. “Most newly awakened are given access within their first twenty-four hours.”
I blinked. “…I was not.”
Silence.
Slowly I turned my head toward Dante.
He didn’t meet my eyes at first. Which told me everything I needed to know.
“Dante,” I said flatly.
He winced. Actually winced. “I—”
“You forgot?” I finished, one brow lifting.
Lucian snorted from across the table.
Amara covered her mouth, already losing it.
Dante dragged a hand down his face. “In my defense—”
“No,” I cut in immediately, folding my arms. “There is no defense for this. You forgot to introduce me to the entire system of knowledge that apparently everyone uses?”
“I don’t use it that much,” he muttered.
Lukas gave him a look.
Not a subtle one either.
It was the kind of look that said you are an idiot without needing to speak.
I laughed.
I couldn’t help it.
The tension cracked just enough, and the sound slipped out of me before I could stop it.
Dante shot Lukas a glare. “Don’t.”
Lukas didn’t even blink. “You rely on Lucian.”
Lucian lifted a hand lazily. “I am, in fact, the brains of this operation.”
“You are insufferable,” Dante muttered.
“And yet correct,” Lucian shot back.
Amara was fully grinning now. “This is amazing. Please keep going.”
I shook my head, still smiling faintly despite everything. “We are focusing.”
“Right,” Lukas said smoothly, already tapping into the system. The surface lit up brighter, expanding into a layered interface filled with categories, entries, and coded markers. “We input the data carefully. Not everything. Just enough to attract attention.”
I stepped closer to the table, my focus sharpening again.
“Ask what you need.”
Lukas nodded once, shifting into something more clinical. “Start from the beginning. The gentle awakenings. I need specifics.”
I exhaled slowly.
“Energy output is high,” I began. “I can only do two a day.”
Lukas’ fingers moved quickly across the surface, typing.
“Limit confirmed. Continue.”
“It doesn’t hurt them,” I said. “At all. No physical trauma. No forced shift.”
Lucian’s brows lifted slightly. “That alone is going to make people lose their minds.”
Lukas didn’t look up. “Continue.”
“No side effects,” I added. “None that I’ve seen. No delayed damage, no instability.”
Rhevik shifted slightly behind us, clearly listening closely.
“For me?” I continued, my voice tightening just slightly. “It drains me. A lot. It pulls from my core. I need time to recover.”
“How long?” Lukas asked immediately.
“Depends,” I said. “Minimum twenty-four hours. Sometimes up to seventy-two if I push it.”
“Recovery variance noted.”
His fingers didn’t stop moving.
“How long until awakening occurs in the subject?”
“Twenty-four to seventy-two hours,” I answered. “They don’t shift immediately. It’s gradual. They feel it first… then it comes.”
Edrin nodded slightly behind Rhevik. “That aligns with natural awakening timelines.”
“Exactly,” I said. “It’s like guiding it instead of forcing it.”
Lukas finally glanced up at me. “Success rate?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Ten out of ten.”
Lukas held my gaze for a second longer, then nodded once and entered it into the system.
“Confirmed.”
The screen shifted again, highlighting key phrases, categorizing the information automatically.
Lucian leaned slightly closer, squinting at the display. “Yeah… that’s going to blow up.”
“No,” Lukas said calmly. “It’s going to detonate.”
Dante stepped closer beside me, his presence solid, grounding—but I could feel the tension still coiled tight in him.
“You’re putting a target on yourself,” he said quietly.
I didn’t look at him. “I already have one.”
That shut him up. For a second.
Lukas finished inputting the last of the information, then paused, his hand hovering over the final command.
“This will release it into the network,” he said. “Once it’s out, it cannot be contained.”
Amara tilted her head. “How fast does it spread?”
Lukas didn’t hesitate. “Instantly.”
Lucian exhaled. “Fantastic.”
Valin muttered under his breath, “Here we go.”
Rhevik straightened slightly. “Then we prepare.”
Edrin nodded. “Agreed.”
Dante’s hand brushed lightly against mine. Not enough to distract. Just enough to remind me he was there.
“Say the word,” Lukas said.
I looked at the screen. At the information. At the storm we were about to unleash. Then I nodded.
“Do it.”
Lukas pressed the command. The screen pulsed once. Then went still.
And just like that... The bait was set.
Dante moved first beside me, his energy sharp, decisive, cutting straight through the tension. “We’re not staying here.”
Lucian didn’t even hesitate. “Nope. Absolutely not. I already hate this place and nothing has even exploded yet.”
Amara snorted softly. “Give it five minutes.”
Despite everything, my lips twitched faintly.
Dante didn’t.
“We’re going to my penthouse,” he continued, already shifting into command mode.
Lucian blinked. “Yours?”
“Reinforced,” Dante said, voice flat, controlled. “Fire-resistant everything. Walls, floors, structure. If something shows up and pisses her off enough to shift again—”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to. Everyone in the room had seen it. Had felt it.
Lucian’s expression shifted immediately. “Yeah. Okay. That’s actually… very smart.”
Amara crossed her arms. “I, for one, would prefer not to be incinerated in a luxury building.”
Valin nodded once. “Agreed.”
Edrin gave a quiet hum of approval. “A controlled environment is preferable.”
Rhevik glanced at me briefly, then back to Dante. “Then we should move quickly.”
“Now,” Dante confirmed.
Lukas closed out the system with a precise motion, the glowing interface dimming instantly as if it had never existed. “Then this meeting is concluded—”
“There is another issue.” Rhevik’s voice cut through the room, steady but tight.
Of course, there was. There was always another issue.
Lucian dragged a hand down his face. “Of course there is.”