Chapter 197: Adam's Proposal

IVY’S POV

Adam looked better than I'd seen him in months. The treatment had stabilized his degradation. He'd gained weight. The hollowness in his eyes had faded.

He was actually sleeping now, Dr. Cross had mentioned. Not just collapsing from exhaustion.

"I need to tell you something about your children," he started. “Something I discovered when synthesizing the cure."

"What kind of something?" I asked.

"The kind that changes everything you think you know about what they are. Something extraordinary about their genetic structure."

He pulled out charts. DNA sequences. And some analysis I barely understood.

"Luna's not just a powerful Phantom," Adam said. "She's what we call a Prime. It happens once every few centuries, a Phantom whose DNA is perfectly balanced. Capable of evolution without degradation."

Damon leaned forward. "What does that mean?"

"It means her abilities will keep developing throughout her life. Not just getting stronger, actually evolving. New capabilities we can't predict. She could potentially reach power levels no Phantom has ever achieved."

My stomach dropped. "That sounds terrifying."

"It would be," Adam agreed. "Except there's a counterbalance."

He pulled out more charts. Emmett's genetic profile.

"Emmett is her opposite. His Null abilities will grow to match Luna's power exactly. They're genetically linked in ways siblings normally aren't."

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"Your mate bond."

Adam looked between us.

"The bond between you and Damon was so strong during pregnancy that it affected the twins in utero. They developed not just as siblings but as complementary forces. Two halves of a whole."

I thought about how Luna and Emmett interacted. How they balanced each other instinctively. How Emmett's abilities dampened Luna's surges without either of them trying.

It made sense now. Terrifying sense.

"What happens if they're separated?" Damon asked the question I was afraid to voice.

"I don't know," Adam admitted. "The genetic link is unprecedented. But I suspect they'd both suffer. Luna's power would destabilize without Emmett's counterbalance. Emmett's Null abilities might turn inward without Luna's energy to regulate."

He paused.

“Simply, they need each other."

“Great,” my wolf muttered. “More pressure on two-year-olds.”

Adam continued. "That's why I wanted to talk to you. Luna and Emmett need specialized education that no one currently living can provide. But I've been researching. I've decoded enough ancient Phantom history to recreate traditional training methods."

"Training methods," I repeated flatly.

"Not weapons training. Education, control, history and ethics."

He met my eyes.

"Let me establish a school. For Luna and Emmett, yes. But also for Maya. For Isla's twins when they're born. For any Phantom children who emerge."

My immediate reaction was hell no.

Project Nightshade had been a "program" too. Started with good intentions probably. Ended with tortured children.

"I know what you're thinking," Adam said quietly. "But this isn't that. I'm not creating weapons. I'm trying to prevent what happened to me from happening to them."

"By putting them in a program," Damon said.

"By giving them community. Others like them. Teachers who understand what they are."

Adam's voice got intense.

"Luna and Emmett will be the most powerful Phantoms in generations. Possibly ever. Without proper training, they'll hurt someone. Maybe kill someone. And it won’t be because they're bad. It’d be because they're children with abilities they can't fully control."

He wasn't wrong.

Luna had already caused damage during power surges. Emmett's Null abilities had accidentally suppressed allies during the battle.

They were two. They'd only get more powerful.

"What exactly would this school teach?" I asked.

"Control first. How to regulate their abilities. When to use them and when not to."

He ticked points off on his fingers.

"History second. Understanding what Phantoms were, what we became, why we're feared. Learning from past mistakes."

"Ethics third. The responsibility that comes with power. How to be strong without being dangerous."

"And integration fourth. How to live among regular wolves. How to be part of pack society instead of separate from it."

It sounded reasonable. Almost too reasonable.

"I'll think about it," I said.

He nodded. "That's all I'm asking. Just think about it."

That night, Luna woke up screaming.

Nightmares were rare for her. She usually slept straight through.

I was in her room in seconds. Damon right behind me.

She was sitting up when we got to her, tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide with terror.

"The bad future," she sobbed. "I saw the bad future again."

I pulled her into my arms. "It's okay. It was just a dream."

"No, Mama. It's real. I see it sometimes. The bad things that could happen."

Through our bond, I felt what she was feeling.

Fear. Overwhelming fear of herself.

I saw the images in her mind. She lost control of her powers and people are dying.

All because she couldn't stop it.

"I don't want to be scary," Luna cried into my shoulder. "I don't want to hurt people."

My heart broke.

"You're not scary, baby. You're powerful. There's a difference."

"But what if I can't control it? What if I get mad and someone gets hurt?"

Damon sat on the bed, rubbing Luna's back gently.

"That's why we'll teach you how to control your powers," he said. "So you can be powerful and safe."

Luna pulled back slightly. "How?"

"We're figuring that out."

She looked at me with those too-aware silver eyes.

"The school man wants to teach me?"

She'd been listening somehow. Or maybe she'd seen it in one of her visions.

"Maybe," I said carefully. "We're still deciding."

"Will it make me not scary?"

"You're not scary now, Luna. But it could help you feel more confident. More in control."

She considered this.

"Emmett comes too?"

"If we do it, yes. Emmett comes too."

Luna nodded. "Okay. Then I want to go. I don't want to be the monster."

After we got her back to sleep, I found Damon in our room.

"She thinks she's a monster," I said. "She's two years old and she thinks she's a monster."

"She's not. But she needs help believing that."

I sat on the bed heavily.

"Adam's school might be exactly what she needs. A place where being powerful doesn't make you dangerous."

"You trust him?" Damon asked.

"I trust that he survived being weaponized and came out the other side wanting to help others avoid it. That's worth something."

“And Luna needs this,” my wolf added. “She needs to feel safe with herself.”

"Alright," Damon said. "We talk to Adam tomorrow. Get details. Set conditions. But we consider it seriously."

I nodded.

Then I went to check on Luna one more time.

She was sleeping peacefully now, curled up next to Emmett in his crib. They'd crawled to each other somehow.

Even unconscious, they gravitated together.

“They need each other,” my wolf observed. “And they need help learning what they are.”

"Yeah. I know."

I just hoped Adam's school could provide that help without turning them into something they shouldn't be. Without creating the very monsters Luna feared becoming.