Chapter 43 Tremors in the Dark
Kai’s POV
I didn’t make it far before the cold night swallowed me whole. The hallway lights flickered overhead, casting long, twisted shadows across the metal floor. My pulse still thundered from the glitch, every nerve ending vibrating with leftover static like I had electricity for blood.
I almost killed her.
The thought stuck to my spine like frost, refusing to melt.
I reached the end of the corridor, pressed my palm to the wall, and breathed in sharp, uneven gulps. My wolf was pacing restlessly inside me, snarling and whimpering at the same time. The alien part of me those cold, silver-coded instincts had gone eerily quiet.
Like they were waiting. Calculating. Ready to try again.
I shouldn’t be anywhere near Zara. Every cell in my body knew that. Every shred of logic screamed it.
But I still heard her voice echoing in my skull like a heartbeat.
“I’m not afraid of you, Kai.”
The fact she wasn’t terrified made me more afraid than anything.
I turned back toward the clinical wing, fists clenched so tightly silver blood pricked through my knuckles. I needed to leave get space anything to keep her safe. But the second I took another step, a familiar tremor jolted through me.
Zara.
Her scent hit me first wild moonlight and something I could never name. Something older than wolves. Something that always pulled me back no matter how far I tried to run.
Before I could react, soft footsteps approached behind me.
“Kai.”
Her voice. Unsteady, but not weak.
I didn’t turn around. If I looked at her, I’d break.
“You should be resting,” I said, forcing steel into my tone.
“You shouldn’t be walking anywhere alone.”
“You left me strapped to a table,” she replied, not accusing, just stating it like a fact. The honesty in her words sliced deeper than any blade.
“I unstrapped you.” My voice came out rough.
“And then I left because I”
“You almost hurt me,” she finished softly.
I closed my eyes as heat stabbed behind them.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Too bad,” she whispered.
“Because I remember… pieces.”
That made me turn. Slowly. Like something else was forcing my muscles to obey.
She stood there in the dim hallway, bare feet on the floor, hair falling messily over her shoulders, the blindfold Dr. Voss had used now clutched in her hand like a trophy she’d stolen back.
Her eyes met mine, and something flickered in them like fear, confusion, and something that looked painfully like longing.
“What pieces?” I asked, voice low.
“I remember you telling me to move,” she said.
“I remember… your hand. The claws.”
A tiny shiver ran through her.
“And I remember that you stopped.”
She stepped closer.
“You stopped because of me.”
No. I stopped because the original version of me the one trapped somewhere in space had ripped control back in a moment of rebellion. Because my programming glitched. Because I’m a broken weapon pretending to be a man.
But not because of heroism.
“Zara, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying,” she whispered.
She moved closer again. One step. Then another. Until she was so close the heat of her breath hit my jaw.
“You didn’t hurt me,” she continued.
“You fought yourself to stop. No one else would’ve done that.”
“You don’t get it.” My voice cracked.
“I’m dangerous. And you’re”
“What?” she challenged. “Fragile? Helpless?”
I laughed once, sharp and humorless.
“You shattered an entire junior’s skeleton without touching him.”
Her breath hitched.
“I— I didn’t mean to. I don’t… remember it right.”
“And that’s the problem.” I stepped back, but she followed instantly.
“You’re not safe either, Zara.”
Her chin lifted in defiance.
“Then maybe we’re only safe with each other.”
My heart stuttered.
Then she grabbed my shirt.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t shy. It wasn’t careful.
It was desperate.
Her lips crashed against mine before I could even breathe.
And every thought, every fear, every rule, shattered like fragile glass.
I kissed her back, hands gripping her waist, pulling her against me like she was the only thing anchoring me to this reality. Her fingers threaded into my hair, tugging hard enough to make me growl.
The hallway spun. My chest burned. Her pulse hammered against mine like a frenzied rhythm locked to my heartbeat.
Fuck!!! I loved kissing her so damn much.
When she pressed me back against the wall, I didn’t fight it. I wanted her too much. Needed her too much. Needed the proof that I was still someone who could choose, not just something programmed to destroy her.
But there was more happening beneath the surface.
The second her lips touched mine, a flash tore through my skull bright, silver-white light. A memory not mine but ours flickered like a broken reel:
Running through a burning silver city.
Zara no, a version of her covered in starlight, chasing something screaming.
My hands drenched in silver blood.
Her voice calling my name from another lifetime.
I jerked slightly, breaking the kiss for half a breath.
Zara blinked up at me, lips swollen, breathing uneven.
“Kai?” she whispered, fingertips resting on my jaw.
“What is it?”
“I’m seeing things,” I confessed.
“Memories that don’t belong here.”
“Me too,” she breathed.
“Every time I’m near you, Kai… everything gets louder.”
Her hand slid to my chest, resting right over my racing heart.
“This scares me,” she admitted.
“Not you. Thiis. Whatever’s happening to us.”
“I know.” My hands cupped her face.
“But I’m not letting anyone take you again. Not Voss. Not this place. Not my programming.”
Her eyes softened.
“You make it sound like I’m already yours.”
“You are.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
Her breathing hitched again.
And then....
The lights overhead crackled violently, buzzing like a swarm of angry insects.
Zara stiffened.
“Did you feel that?”
Yes.
A pulse of energy rolled through the academy, ancient, heavy, almost gravitational. The air thinned instantly, like someone was stealing the oxygen from the walls.
My wolf pressed forward inside me with a whimper.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“What was that?” Zara whispered.
“Something… old,” I said.
“Something waking up.”
Another pulse hit us stronger making the floor vibrate under our feet.
Zara clutched my arm as her pupils blew wide. Her irises flickered gold for a split second, bright, burning gold like a star before returning to normal.
“Zara” I breathed, grabbing her shoulders.
“Your eyes”
She didn’t hear me.
She was frozen, staring past me down the hallway.
“Kai.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Do you… see that?”
I turned.
And my heart nearly stopped.
At the far end of the corridor, two figures stood in the shadows, unmoving, silent, silhouettes carved out of the dark.
One tall.
One slightly shorter.
The same shape of jaw.
The same stance.
The same strange lunar aura that clung to Zara every time her powers flickered.
The taller figure stepped forward.
Silver eyes glowing like twin moons.
The shorter figure followed.
And then a voice, very calm, deep, impossible filled the corridor.
“Zara. It’s time.”
Zara’s hand crushed mine.
“Kai,” she whispered, breath shaking violently.
“Those are”
“Your parents,” I breathed, every instinct in me roaring.
I knew. The resemblance was uncanny.
The ones who supposedly died.
The ones who abandoned her here.
Standing ten feet away.
Alive.
And staring directly at us.
The hallway lights went out in a single, synchronized blink.
Darkness swallowed the world.
And Zara’s parents stepped forward.