Isaac

When I met Josh’s eyes, a rush of heat flooded through me. His eyes changed slowly, like the tide pulling back from the shore. The blackness that had swirled through his eyes only moments ago began to fade, replaced by that familiar midnight blue.

The dark veins under his skin cleared, retreating as if they’d never been there at all, leaving behind the Josh I thought I knew. His skin smoothed out like nothing had ever happened.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sound at the window grew more insistent, slicing through the thick tension in the car. Josh jerked his head toward the sound, then flicked his eyes back to mine for a brief moment before shutting them.

His lips pressed into a thin line. The cracks in his calm façade were beginning to show. He always looked calm, like nothing could rattle him. But now, I could see the tension in his body. A vein pulsed at his temple, as if the control he held over himself was fraying, and at any moment, he would snap.

“It’s gone?” he asked, his voice strained, as though he didn’t want to hear the answer.

My hands acted on their own, seeking to soothe the panic swelling inside both of us. A desperate attempt to silence everything, if only for a second. I should have been angry. Furious. I should’ve thrown open the door and left. Fear should’ve overtaken me—fear of what I’d heard, fear of the black veins and the darkness in his eyes that had spread across him like a sickness.

I was scared, yes. Scared of what was inside him, scared of what he couldn’t explain. But more than that, I was scared of how I felt, because once again, the darkness hadn’t won.

Instead, I could feel the desolation in his heart. It was as clear as if I could reach out and touch it. The fear coursing through him, the chaos he kept buried deep. The beast in him was no longer roaming freely. It was hunted, cornered by something more vicious.

Despite everything, when my hands touched his face, Josh leaned into them. He was like a wounded animal, desperate for any kind of comfort in the middle of a storm.

I nodded, my throat constricting as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I forced a weak smile, trying to reassure him, even though it felt hollow.

My heart lurched when, moments ago, I noticed the soldier approaching, and I acted on instinct.

I kissed Josh.

Nothing else mattered at that moment. The danger loomed outside. All I cared about was shielding him from what I’d seen.

The betrayal still simmered inside me, festering like a wound that wouldn’t heal. He’d kept it all from me. Josh knew what I was. He knew about the gods and Chronos but hadn’t told me. It felt like my world had come crashing down.

But we were in real danger. I felt it in his words, his fear, and his panic. It pulsed like electricity, feeding my own anxiety in a chain reaction of terror.

The knock came again, louder this time.

Josh gently pulled my hands away from his face. “Follow my lead and only speak if necessary, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Josh released my hands and focused on the situation. He shifted in his seat and leaned over, rolling down the window and forcing a polite smile that hardly touched his lips. The soldier leaned down, barely acknowledging us, before gesturing toward the front.

“You need to keep moving. You’re holding up the line.”

The cars that had been in front of us were already gone. We’d fallen behind, unnoticed until now.

Josh gave a curt nod, and the soldier responded with two firm taps on the roof, signaling us to move forward. As we neared the checkpoint, orange-and-white barricades came into view, their reflective stripes glaring in the bright noon sun. Soldiers stood on either side, watching our car closely. Ahead, an open tent blocked the road, with a mechanical pole lowered across it. A large, heavy-looking truck sat nearby, its doors closed. Something about it, surrounded by soldiers, sent a chill through me.

Josh slowed the car as we reached the tent. A young soldier approached, his uniform crisp, but his movements slow, methodical, as if he’d been standing in the heat for too long. His expression was firm but not hostile as he stepped up to Josh’s window.

“License, registration, and insurance,” he said flatly.

Josh didn’t miss a beat. “Sure thing,” he said, reaching for his backpack. It had slipped between the seats, and he yanked it free with a quick tug. He rummaged through it, pulling out his wallet. Then, his arm stretched past me, fingers fumbling briefly before pulling out the papers from the cluttered glove compartment.

He handed everything to the soldier, who held Josh’s license up to the light, then glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to Josh.

“Thank you for your service,” the soldier said.“What branch were you with?”

“Army, International Affairs,” Josh replied with a calm, steady tone.

The soldier’s demeanor softened slightly. “What brings you to Ohio? Authorities are about to enforce martial law in under an hour.”

“Picking up my nephew,” Josh answered.

I stared straight ahead, trying to ignore the soldier’s gaze as it lingered on me. Sweat pooled at the base of my neck, my shirt sticking to my skin.

“And your relationship?” the soldier asked, but I caught the faint note of suspicion in his voice.

“My husband,” Josh said casually.

For a second, I didn’t register what he’d said. Then it hit me, and I snapped my head toward Josh. My what? The words nearly exploded out of me, but I caught myself at the last second, clamping my lips shut. Josh didn’t meet my gaze. Instead, he reached over and intertwined his fingers with mine.

The soldier shifted uncomfortably, a flash of surprise crossing his face, followed by a tired grunt as he cleared his throat and moved on.

“I need to ask a few questions about your health.” The soldier’s gaze zeroed in on me, his expression sharp and calculating. “Any recent symptoms like nausea, dizziness, or headaches?”

Josh answered immediately. “No.”

I shook my head, too tense to speak.

The soldier’s eyes narrowed as he looked me over. “Any recent fever?”

“No,” Josh cut in again, quickly.

I forced myself to shake my head, my stomach doing somersaults as the soldier’s gaze drifted down to my arm. The edge of my bandage was visible beneath my sleeve. His brow furrowed.

“What happened to your arm?”

My mind spun with a flood of explanations, none of them believable. The marks under the bandage—the burns from the chains—there was no way to explain them.

Josh must have sensed the way my breath hitched because he jumped in, deadpanning, “He works at the school cafeteria. There was an accident with the industrial fryer. The oil splashed when the quake hit, caught him right on the arm.”

The soldier glanced at my bandage again. I forced a smile, but it was a poor attempt. My lips barely moved, and I could feel the sweat trickling down my back.

“I’ll need to check your temperature,” the soldier said.

Before I could react, he stepped closer with a device in hand. Josh’s arm shot out, stopping him.

“Can I speak with your officer in charge?” Josh asked.

The soldier hesitated, his eyes narrowing again as he looked from Josh to me. “Sir, I don’t think—”

Josh interrupted, releasing my hand before pulling a small black card from his backpack pocket. He held it up, revealing a gold symbol of a hand with wings encased in a circle.

The soldier’s eyes widened, his posture straightening instantly. “Y-Yes, sir. I’ll get the captain right away.” He backed away from the car, saluting quickly before disappearing toward the tent, heading toward the heavy-looking trucks parked nearby.

Josh rolled the window up, the mechanism whirring softly before sealing with a thud. He turned toward me. His breath came out in short, angry bursts. “Could you be any more obvious?” he hissed through his teeth.

I threw my hands up in disbelief. “Since when are we married? Have you completely lost it? And what was that card?”

I paused, realizing my voice had gotten too loud. I glanced around, half-expecting someone to overhear, like in those movie scenes where someone’s always listening. I leaned in toward Josh, lowering my voice. “I’ve never seen it before. It definitely wasn’t some get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Josh shot me a frustrated look, one brow twitching in irritation. “We don’t have time for twenty questions.”

I started to argue, but he cut me off again. “That wasn’t a thermometer,” he said, his voice low but intense. “It’s a device to detect powers.”

I wanted to ask how he knew that. But I held back, biting down on the question. Then again, there was an ocean of things I didn’t know about him, and that distance between us seemed like a chasm.

“So that family they took earlier…?”

Josh exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “Most likely.”

I saw a man approaching in a black-and-gray camo uniform, different from the green the other soldiers wore. He looked tough—older, with a scar running down his left cheek and a permanent scowl etched into his face. His cold, mean eyes locked onto mine.

“Shit,” I muttered. “I think that’s the captain coming.”

Josh’s head moved toward the side mirror. “Fuck,” he whispered.