Gunfire tore through the hallway as Leah sprinted. Her boots hit the floor hard. Smoke curled around her like ghost hands, and the emergency lights blinked in and out, painting everything in red and white flashes.

She didn’t stop.

She couldn’t.

Her chest burned, her legs felt like lead, but she kept going because Jason had asked her to. Because she had to get to Maya and Ben. Because this wasn’t just about survival anymore. It was about something bigger. Something free and loose in the world, carrying David’s fragile soul and a hundred risks along with it.

She reached the broken lab doors just as another tremor shook the...