The word hung in the air like a blade.

Vex’s expression didn’t change—didn’t flicker with anger or surprise or anything at all. She simply nodded, as if Julian’s refusal had confirmed something she already suspected.

"Pity." Her hand dropped. "Kill them." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Greenday fighters moved as one.

Emma exploded.

Fire roared from her in a controlled detonation, not wild but aimed—a expanding ring of flame that forced the nearest fighters to scatter or burn. Two weren’t fast enough; their screams cut short as they fell.

Zoe didn’t wait for commands. She lunged, her massive wolf form a blur of black fur and gleaming fangs. A fighter raised a weapon—too slow. Zoe’s jaws closed on his arm, and the crack of bone was audible even over the chaos.

Fey’s hands moved in precise patterns, and suddenly the air was full of water—not summoned, but taken, ripped from the cracked pipes beneath the street, from the moisture in the air, from the very blood of the fallen. It twisted into whips and blades, lashing out at the surrounding enemies with lethal precision.

Dori pressed against Julian’s back, her Conceal useless now—they were already seen, already fighting. But her hands gripped his coat, and her voice, when it came, was steady.

Julian moved.

His katana cleared the sheath in a singing arc of steel and lightning. The first fighter to reach him died without knowing he’d been struck—a clean line across the throat, blood spraying, body crumpling. The second tried to block with a reinforced arm; Julian’s blade sheared through it like paper and kept going, opening chest to sternum.

[Boost] + [Lightning] + [Shadow].

He flowed through the battle like water through rocks, each movement precise, economical, lethal. A thrust here—a heart. A slash there—a throat. A shadow tendril from his feet—an ankle broken, a fighter falling, a blade finding his neck.

But Vex was watching. Vex was waiting.

And when Julian’s momentum carried him within reach, she moved.

Her skill activated—something fast, something sharp. Julian’s instincts screamed, and he twisted, but her blade still found him—a shallow cut along his ribs, blood welling instantly.

’Fast. Faster than she looks. A speed enhancement, maybe. Or temporal perception.’

He recovered, katana rising to meet her next strike. Steel sang against steel as they exchanged blows—her speed against his precision, her aggression against his control.

"You’re good," Vex admitted, her cold smile widening. "But not good enough."

She pressed harder. Faster. Julian gave ground, not from weakness but from calculation, reading her patterns, searching for the opening—

Emma’s fire roared past his shoulder, forcing Vex to dodge. The opening appeared.

Julian took it.

Shadow wrapped around Vex’s ankle—not to hold, just to trip. She stumbled, just slightly, just enough. Julian’s katana lashed out—

And stopped a hair’s breadth from her throat.

"Yield," he said quietly.

Vex’s eyes, wide with shock, found his. For a long moment, she didn’t speak. Then her lips curved—not in fear, not in defeat, but in something that looked almost like admiration.

"Interesting," she breathed. "Very interesting."

Around them, the battle continued—but Julian could feel it shifting. The Greenday fighters, seeing their commander captured, were losing cohesion. Fey’s liquids were binding them. Emma’s flames were herding them. Zoe’s presence was a constant threat, a reminder that resistance meant death.

Vex looked at her dying forces, then back at Julian.

"Kill me," she said quietly. "That’s what you do, isn’t it? Kill anyone who stands in your way."

Julian’s blade didn’t waver. "If necessary."

"But not yet." Her smile widened. "You want information. Greenday’s weaknesses. Eclipse’s plans. All the things I know that you don’t."

"Knowledge can be extracted without your cooperation."

"True." Vex’s eyes glittered. "But cooperation is so much faster. And I have a proposal."

Emma moved closer, flames still dancing at her fingertips. "Don’t listen to her, Julian. She’s playing games."

"Probably." Julian’s gaze never left Vex’s face. "But I’m curious what game she’s playing."

Vex laughed—a genuine sound, warm despite the circumstances. "I like you. I really do. Most people who challenge Eclipse die screaming. You actually have a chance."

She reached up—slowly, carefully—and pushed Julian’s blade aside. He let her. If she tried anything, she’d be dead before she completed the motion.

"Here’s my proposal: Let me live. Let my people live. And I’ll give you Greenday."

Emma blinked. "What?"

"Not the outpost. Not the patrol. All of it." Vex’s eyes locked on Julian’s. "I’ve served Eclipse for years. Watched them take everything—my people, my resources, my dignity. They promised protection. Instead, they made me a servant." Her voice hardened. "I’m tired of serving."

Fey, still controlling her liquid whips, raised an eyebrow. "And we’re supposed to trust you? Just like that?"

"No. You’re supposed to use me. I have access, information, influence. In exchange, you let me live, let my people live, and when Eclipse falls..." She smiled coldly. "I get to watch."

Julian studied her for a long, silent moment. His mind raced through possibilities, probabilities, traps.

’She could be lying. Could be setting them up. Could be playing the longest game.’

But his instincts—honed by years of survival, by battles won and lost, by the weight of everyone he protected—told him something different.

She was telling the truth.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

Vex’s smile faded. "Because three months ago, they took my daughter. ’Recruited’ her, they said. Sent her to one of Darwin’s ’projects.’" Her eyes went cold—colder than Julian’s, colder than anything he’d seen in a long time. "I want to watch him burn."

Silence settled over the battlefield.

Emma’s flames dimmed slightly. Fey’s liquids slowed. Even Zoe’s growl faded to a low, rumbling uncertainty.

Julian looked at his women—at their faces, their eyes, their silent counsel. Then back at Vex.

"Convince me."

Vex reached into her coat—slow, careful, deliberate. She produced a data chip and held it out.

"Complete layout of Greenday’s main base. Defenses, patrol schedules, command structure. Everything you need to take it without a fight." Her eyes met his. "Use it. Prove you’re serious. And when you’re ready to move against Eclipse..."

She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to.

Julian took the chip.

"Emma. Search her. Then bind her and her people. We’ll move at nightfall."

Emma blinked. "Wait—we’re actually—"

"Going to use her? Yes." Julian’s eyes never left Vex’s face. "If she’s lying, she dies. If she’s telling the truth..." He paused. "We just gained an army."

Vex’s smile returned—warmer this time, almost genuine.

"Welcome to the war, stranger."

Julian didn’t smile back.

But something in his eyes shifted—a calculation, a possibility, a new variable in an ever-expanding equation.

The war against Eclipse had just gained a new ally.

Or a new enemy waiting to betray them.

Either way, they were one step closer to Darwin’s throne.