The coms watch vibrated against my wrist, persistent and sharp. Bala’s name flashed across its small screen. I silenced it without answering. The best response was showing up at CGI in person.

"I’ll be there in a minute," Mercury said, her voice clipped as she ended her own call.

Outside the thick walls of the room, a few voices had risen in urgent conversation. Three of us had been reached. May hadn’t.

"Guys." Mercury pushed up from the low cushions, fingers sweeping a damp strand of hair from her flushed cheek. "I think I have to go."

"Wait," I said, sitting forward. "Who called?"

"Sinn," she answered, already moving toward the stairs where we’d left our clothes. Her bare feet made quick, soft thuds on the wooden steps.

"What’s happening?" May asked, brow creasing in confusion as she watched Mercury disappear upward.

Whatever this was, it sat well outside anything her probability models could account for.

"My father called," Harmione said, eyes locked on her watch as her thumb traced the edge of the band. "Told me to come home right now."

"Why?"

"He didn’t say." Her voice dropped, tight. "But he sounded worried."

"Girls," I said, rising to my feet. "We should all get to somewhere safe."

"Okay." May stood with us, hands smoothing the silky wrap over her hips, the fabric whispering under her palms.

The music outside surged back to life, bass throbbing through the walls like a second heartbeat. I climbed the stairs, mind turning over the pieces. Harmione came from one of the powerful families, and that warning had come straight from the top. Mercury and I both worked security.

The system had been warning me all day. If this was the revolution, then some families had known it was coming long before everyone else.

My watch buzzed again as I reached the second floor. Bala. I tapped the answer icon and kept walking fast.

"Where are you, Abram?" His voice cut through, edged and hard. Background noise from his end bled into the line.

"Outside the capital," I said, shoving the bedroom door open.

Mercury stood completely undressed in the middle of the room, rifling through her bag with frantic hands. Clothes lay scattered across the rumpled bed and floor, dark fabric tangled with straps and sleeves. Her shoulders were tight, breath coming quick.

"I need you now," Bala said, and the line cut.

I crossed to her.

"Relax," I said, stepping inside. "Just relax."

She straightened, chest rising and falling as she drew two slow, deliberate breaths. Then she reached into the bag and pulled out her clothes.

"What did Sinn actually say?" I asked, stripping off my boxers and reaching for the rest of my gear.

"Classified." She stepped into her lingerie, fingers steadying only after that second breath. "He said he couldn’t tell me over the phone." She glanced up. "He’s in the capital."

"I thought he was supposed to be at the walls."

"Yeah." She paused, one hand hovering over a buckle. "Something’s off about all of this."

I crossed to the window and looked down. A few figures were slipping away from the edges of the crowd. But most of the crowd remained oblivious—bodies still grinding under the golden sunlight, drinks raised, laughter and shouts rising above the relentless bass.

"Let’s go," Mercury said, already heading for the door.

***

We stepped back into the roaring chaos of the party. The music hit harder now, pulsing through the warm air like thunder. Bodies moved in a swirling mass under strings of lights, skin glistening with sweat and pool water, colorful outfits flashing as people danced and shouted. Laughter cut through the heavy beat while red plastic cups swayed in the air.

I scanned the crowd, cutting through the shifting wall of bodies, May’s hand in mine as I pushed a path. Mercury and Harmione came right behind, Harmione’s hand in May’s, Mercury’s hand in Harmione’s, the four of us moving as one chain through the packed yard.

The whole compound was packed with students. Bodies pressed close, bare shoulders bumping, the sharp scent of sweat and spilled drinks hanging thick in the warm air. Laughter and shouts tangled with the heavy beat of the music. I still didn’t know how May had pulled this many people.

What the hell are CGI agents doing here? I clocked familiar faces in the crowd. Max was one of them, jaw set, eyes scanning. They weren’t here for the party.

We hit a fight before we reached the cars. Students had formed a tight, jostling ring around it, shoving each other for better views, and pushing through wasn’t going to be quick. Toddy was in the middle, fists flying, knuckles cracking against someone’s cheek with a wet smack.

The crowd roared encouragement, bodies surging and elbowing as punches landed. I forced us through anyway, shoulders and elbows jabbing into us, the chain threatening to break with every surge. We broke out the other side, the cars finally in sight under the long shadows of the late-afternoon sun.

The music cut out abruptly as we reached them. The sudden silence rang in my ears, leaving only the raw sound of hundreds of voices and shuffling feet.

"Attention." A voice came through the speakers, flat and official. "This is a Level One Security Alert. All registered ability users are ordered to report to CGI headquarters immediately—"

"FUCK YOU," the crowd roared back as one, voices crashing together into a solid wall of sound.

"Let’s go." Mercury tapped my shoulder. I still had May’s hand, our eyes locked.

"Stay with me," May said, squeezing my fingers hard, her voice cutting through the noise. "Please."

I held her hand tighter. My mind was still chewing on what CGI wanted with every ability user in the walls. I had no idea what was actually happening.

"Bram." Mercury, from the car now, calling me back.

The crowd had gone fully wild, shouting, nobody moving to comply with anything coming through those speakers.

"May." I held her hands, thumbs brushing her knuckles. "I have to go."

"Okay." She let go, fingers slipping from mine, and climbed into her own car, Harmione already sliding behind the wheel.

I dropped into the passenger seat. Mercury had us ready to move, engine humming. I watched the chaos through the window as I reached to pull the door shut, and in the middle of all that violent, screaming crowd, my eyes landed on a face that froze everything else.

Eleanor.

Standing perfectly still amid the surging bodies, looking straight at me through the shifting mass.

No way.