Chapter 47
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Ronan stood motionless, staring at the blood on his hands. His breaths ca in ragged bursts, like his lungs were trying to rember how to work again. Karla lay crumpled at his feet, healing energy faintly glowing around her wound, but her body limp. Unconscious.
The others didn’t move.
Couldn’t.
Siena, despite her broken arm, forced herself up with a grunt, dragging herself across the floor until she reached Karla. "Stay with ," she muttered, shaking her. "Karla, you stupid, brave idiot—stay awake."
Mila blinked up at the ceiling from where she was sprawled, her vision blurry. "Did... did that actually work?
Barely," Dez coughed, struggling to sit up with blood running down his temple. "She guilt-tripped a monster back into being human. What kind of bullshit power is that?"
Myles was conscious, barely. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as he clutched his side. When he looked at Ronan, there was no anger.
Just... fear.
Ronan took a shaky step back.
No alarms blared anymore. The room’s ergency systems had shut down, leaving only the soft flicker of overhead lights and the buzz of failing tech. He could feel the dried sweat on his skin, the way his body still trembled with residual power—power he hadn’t called on. Power that didn’t feel like his.
He didn’t say anything. The system had gone silent, like it had finally gotten what it wanted.
He clenched his jaw, the muscles in his face twitching as he stared at his reflection in the mirrored panel to his right. The faint glow in his eyes had vanished now. Only bloodshot whites remained. Haunted. Empty.
He had been so damn glad to get it back.
His system. His strength.
His second chance.
But what the hell was this?
What kind of "gift" made you hurt the people who bled to protect you?
Ronan dragged himself across the room, each step heavy and unsure. He dropped to his knees beside Karla. Carefully—like she might shatter—he lifted her into his arms. She was still breathing. Her healing ability had stopped the worst of it, but she was weak. Her head lolled against his chest, her blood soaking into his shirt.
He swallowed hard.
I... I didn’t an to," he finally muttered. "I wasn’t... I didn’t..."
Siena looked at him with fury and sorrow in her eyes. "Tell that to our bones, Ronan."
He flinched at her words.
Myles finally reached them, injecting a stabilizer into Karla’s side. "Her vitals are dropping fast. She used her healing ability, but it only bought us ti. Not much."
"We have to get her to d Wing. Now," Mila said, blinking through tears and pain.
"I can carry her there," Dez offered, trying to stand but imdiately swaying. "Damn it—no, I can’t. I’m too weak."
Quietly, so quietly that only him could hear, Ronan whispered, "System, why?"
The system didn’t answer.
Good.o
Because if it had said anything, even a single word, he would’ve ripped it out of himself with his bare hands.
Behind him, Myles slowly pulled out his comm.
"Ergency evac," he rasped. "We need a trauma unit. Now."
No one objected.
No one looked at Ronan.
Even Dez, for all his reckless boldness, didn’t speak. They all seed scared and disappointed in him.
Ronan didn’t bla them.
He was scared of himself, too.
He stayed where he was until the d team arrived, never speaking, never moving unless it was to make sure Karla kept breathing.
Once the ds had been moved out with Karla, Ronan got up to follow them.
The lab was left in ruin.
Siena slumped back against the wall. "This is getting worse."
Myles nodded grimly. "The system’s evolving. And not in a good way."
"What the hell are we dealing with?" Mila asked.
"Not just Ronan," Dez said quietly, finally sitting upright. "Whatever deranged system he awakened definitely loves spilling blood. The look in his eyes, that look I saw was the one of soone finding pleasure in doing sothing. He found pleasure in beating up to a pulp."
Siena’s jaw clenched. "Myles, you’re the system specialist here, why are you leaving us in the dark?"
Myles didn’t answer imdiately.
His hands trembled as he slipped the comm device back into his jacket, and he forced himself to breathe through the pain in his ribs. The silence stretched uncomfortably long, until Siena pushed off the wall and shoved him, one-handed, her broken arm hanging limp.
"You knew," she said, voice trembling. "You knew this wasn’t a normal awakening. You saw the signs and said nothing."
Myles didn’t et her eyes. "I didn’t know enough to say anything."
"Bullshit," Dez snapped, dragging himself to his feet with a groan. "You’ve always been paranoid about corrupted systems. You monitor everyone’s sync levels like a hawk, but with Ronan, what? You just hoped it’d fix itself?So, we’re not the first people he has done this to huh?"
"I thought it was stabilizing." Myles finally looked up. There was guilt all over his face. "The last scan befor he suddenly escaped showed lower aggression spikes. Fewer hostile impulses. The system’s influence seed to be decreasing. Besides, all I was trying to do was let him test out his ability after he got his system back."
"And it nearly killed us all," Mila whispered.
Siena’s breathing hitched.
Dez leaned against a shattered console, rubbing dried blood from his brow. "You were covering for him. You knew he was dangerous but still...."
"I wasn’t trying to protect him," Myles cut in. "I was trying to buy ti. Ti to figure out what the hell is wrong with his system before soone higher up decides he’s too dangerous to keep alive."
That silenced them for a mont.
Because they all knew what that ant. If HQ got wind of how unstable Ronan really was, they’d do more than strip him of his rank. They’d terminate him. Quietly. Efficiently.
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