Chapter 65: The Time We Don’t Have
No one moved for a long moment after he disappeared.
The clearing stayed exactly as it was—tense, silent, coiled—like the Dominion itself didn’t trust that he was actually gone.
I didn’t trust it either.
The connection had dropped back into stillness, but not absence.
Never absence.
Just… waiting.
“He shouldn’t have been able to get that close.”
Rowan’s voice cut through the quiet, sharper than usual.
“He didn’t cross the ridge,” Lena said.
“He bypassed it.”
Darius’ jaw tightened.
“He’s not bound by territory.”
“No,” I said quietly.
“And he’s not bound by time either.”
That was the part that unsettled me most.
He wasn’t waiting for us to prepare.
He wasn’t following any pattern we could predict.
He was moving when it suited him.
Which meant—
We were always reacting.
And that meant we were always behind.
Darius turned to me.
“What did you feel?”
I hesitated.
Because the answer wasn’t simple.
“He pushed differently this time.”
“How?”
“Before, he was outside the connection.”
“Yes.”
“This time…”
I swallowed.
“He was inside it.”
The words settled heavily.
Rowan blinked.
“…that sounds worse.”
“It is,” Lena said quietly.
Darius’ gaze sharpened.
“Explain.”
“He didn’t just move through the structure,” I said.
“He adapted to it.”
The realization hit harder the second time I said it.
“He’s learning.”
The silence that followed was sharp.
Immediate.
Unavoidable.
Because that changed everything.
“He’s adapting to your control,” Lena said.
“Yes.”
“Which means every time you use it—”
“He gets better at breaking it.”
Rowan ran a hand through his hair.
“Great.”
“Love that for us.”
Darius didn’t react outwardly.
But I felt it through the bond.
The shift.
The recalculation.
“Then we change the approach.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“We stop giving him patterns.”
That made sense.
Painfully.
“He’s reading what I do,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Then I need to change it faster than he can adapt.”
“Yes.”
The bond pulsed.
Sharp.
Aligned.
“That’s not easy,” Rowan muttered.
“No,” Lena said.
“But it’s necessary.”
I exhaled slowly.
Because this—
This was the part that scared me.
Not the fight.
Not the power.
The speed.
The constant adjustment.
The fact that I didn’t get to learn slowly.
I had to evolve faster than something that was already ahead of me.
“He said something else,” I said quietly.
Darius’ attention snapped back to me.
“What?”
“He said he’s running out of time too.”
That shifted everything.
Rowan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“But it matters.”
Because if he—
Something that powerful—
Was running out of time—
Then whatever was driving him—
Whatever was coming—
Was worse.
Lena’s expression darkened.
“That suggests escalation.”
“Yes.”
“Or a limit.”
Darius’ voice was low.
Controlled.
“What kind of limit?”
“I don’t know.”
“But he’s not just here to test me.”
“No,” I said.
“He’s here to end something.”
The connection stirred faintly.
Not reacting.
Not pulling.
Just…
Present.
Like it knew.
Like it was waiting for the same thing.
I rubbed a hand over my arm, trying to shake the feeling.
“We don’t have as much time as we thought.”
“No,” Darius agreed.
“We don’t.”
Rowan exhaled sharply.
“So what—he just keeps showing up whenever he feels like it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not a strategy.”
“It is,” Lena said.
“It’s his.”
And that was the problem.
He controlled the pace.
The timing.
The pressure.
We didn’t.
Not yet.
I stepped forward slightly.
“Then we take it back.”
Darius looked at me.
“How?”
“We stop waiting for him to show up.”
Rowan blinked.
“…you want to go find him?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
That was immediate.
Firm.
Final.
Darius didn’t even hesitate.
“That’s not happening.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re not ready.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“I almost stopped him.”
“You did.”
“And I’ll get better.”
“Yes.”
“But not fast enough for that.”
The truth of it settled in my chest.
Cold.
Heavy.
But not entirely wrong.
Still—
“We can’t keep reacting,” I said.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Darius didn’t answer immediately.
Because he was thinking.
Calculating.
Reworking everything we had just learned.
Then—
“We control the environment.”
I frowned.
“We already tried that.”
“No.”
He shook his head slightly.
“We controlled the ground.”
“This time—”
His gaze locked onto mine.
“We control the engagement.”
The difference hit instantly.
“How?”
“You don’t meet him head-on.”
“I already am.”
“That’s the problem.”
The bond pulsed.
Uneasy.
Because part of me knew—
He was right.
“You’re trying to match him,” Darius continued.
“You don’t.”
“Then what do I do?”
“You outmaneuver him.”
That sounded easier than it was.
“How?”
“By not letting him dictate the terms.”
Lena’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re suggesting we create a controlled conflict.”
“Yes.”
“Not a full engagement.”
“No.”
“Something smaller.”
“Contained.”
Rowan frowned.
“So we bait him again?”
“No,” Darius said.
“We limit him.”
I looked at him.
“That’s what I’ve been doing.”
“Yes.”
“But now we do it on our terms.”
The pieces started to form.
Slowly.
“This isn’t about stopping him completely,” I said.
“No.”
“It’s about controlling how he moves.”
“Yes.”
“And forcing him into a position where I have the advantage.”
The bond flared.
Understanding.
Alignment.
Darius nodded once.
“Now you’re thinking like it.”
That part—
That part I didn’t like.
But I understood it.
Because whatever this power was—
Whatever I was becoming—
It wasn’t just about strength.
It was about control.
Real control.
Over everything.
Even him.
I exhaled slowly.
“Then we do it.”
Darius’ gaze held mine.
“We do it right.”
“Yes.”
Because next time—
There wouldn’t be room for almost.
There wouldn’t be room for hesitation.
And there definitely wouldn’t be room for failure.
Because whatever time we thought we had—
Was already running out.
And next time—
He wouldn’t stop at testing me.
He would end it.
Unless I ended it first.