The first bullet whizzed past Lena's cheek before Jace even saw the shooter.
She moved like smoke, dropping behind the altar as the second round slammed into stone. Sparks flared. Marble exploded. Dust rose.
Reya ducked low, muttering a spell under her breath. Her fingers blurred through a sigil in the air, symbols flaring red before vanishing into her skin.
Jace stood tall.
He didn't flinch.
Didn't duck.
His eyes glowed faintly as he turned toward the stairs.
One by one, they came.
Suits. All black. Tailored to hide armor plates and weapons. Each one carried something different—rifles, blades, talismans dripping with cursed ink. Their eyes glowed violet under the fluorescents, and not a single one smiled.
The Thorn Order didn't do warnings.
They did cleansings.
A woman stepped forward. Mid-thirties. Elegant. White hair slicked back, one eye covered by a black sapphire lens. The aura around her made the walls curl.
"Jace Harrow," she said, voice flat and sharp. "By order of the Thorns, you are to be detained, dissected, and disposed of."
Jace cracked his neck.
"Dissected, huh?" He twirled his blade once. "You came all this way just to flirt?"
Reya groaned. "Really?"
Lena was already firing. Two headshots, center mass. One agent dropped. Another flinched but didn't fall.
"Armor," she snapped. "Go for the sigils."
Reya didn't wait. She flung her hand forward, and a wave of flame shot from her palm—bright white, spiraling with runes.
The Order parted.
Three agents melted in seconds, screaming as the holy fire clung to their bones. Others advanced behind them, unfazed, casting glyphs that crackled like shattered glass.
The woman with the sapphire lens didn't move.
She just raised her hand and spoke a single word.
"Collapse."
The roof groaned.
Jace's eyes widened as chunks of concrete cracked above them.
He moved.
Grabbed Reya. Pulled her into a dive.
The ceiling came down.
Dust. Chaos. Screams.
They hit the ground hard behind the altar, shielded by a sliver of magic Reya managed to cast at the last second. Jace rolled onto his knees, coughing, ears ringing.
He couldn't see Lena.
He couldn't see Lena.
Then—bang.
A gunshot. Point blank.
An agent's body dropped beside him, half his skull gone. Lena stood behind the corpse, blood-spattered and wild-eyed.
"You good?" she barked.
He nodded. "You?"
"Never better."
Another blast rocked the church.
The stained glass above shattered, raining colors like dying stars. One of the agents stepped through the smoke, swinging a blade etched with ancient runes.
Jace met him halfway.
Steel clashed.
Sparks. Blood. Jace ducked low, slid past the first swing, and drove his own blade into the man's side—right through the runic sigil pulsing under his ribs.
The body convulsed. Then turned to ash.
He didn't stop.
Two more agents came at him. One wielded twin hooks laced with venom. The other shot curses from a gun made of bone.
Jace moved like a storm. No hesitation. His blade caught the hooks mid-air, redirected one into the throat of the caster, then buried his fist into the second man's sternum.
His hand glowed.
The Hollow responded.
And the man exploded—a blast of shadow and blood, painting the pews red.
Jace staggered, vision blurring.
Too much. Too fast.
The Hollow was getting stronger.
Inside his head, something laughed.
"Keep going. Bleed more. Break them. That's what you're for."
He bit down hard, focused, ignored the voice.
Across the room, Reya floated above the altar now, her arms outstretched. Her spellwork burned white-gold, wrapping around her like a halo made of blades.
She was chanting in a tongue Jace didn't recognize.
The Thorn agents hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then the white-haired woman moved.
She blurred forward in a blink—appearing right in front of Reya mid-cast. A flash of violet light exploded from her palm.
Reya screamed—cut off. The magic shattered.
She fell.
Jace snapped.
He didn't think.
He launched himself across the room, cutting through two agents on pure momentum. He caught Reya before she hit the ground, blood trailing from her mouth.
"She clipped my channeling," Reya rasped. "I can't cast."
Jace turned to Lena.
"Cover us."
Lena didn't answer. She just reloaded and dove into the fray, leaving trails of fire with every shot.
Jace faced the woman with the sapphire lens.
Her smile was slight. Cold.
"You're unstable," she said. "You don't even know what you're becoming."
Jace's pupils dilated.
His mark pulsed.
"I don't have to know," he said. "I just have to kill you."
Then—he ran.
Their blades met in a flash of light and fury.
She was fast—every movement calculated, surgical. Her blade sang with power, striking in perfect arcs.
But Jace was wild.
He didn't follow forms. He didn't follow rules.
He fought like someone who'd seen his own death and refused to accept it.
Their blades clashed.
Metal sparked.
Blood flew.
And for a heartbeat—he saw an opening.
He stabbed forward, blade aimed at her eye.
She grinned—and vanished.
Behind him.
He turned too late.
Her blade caught him across the back.
Pain. Fire.
He hit the ground hard.
Blood poured from the gash.
She stood over him.
Raised her blade.
And paused.
Because behind her—Reya stood, weak but smiling.
Holding the obsidian shard.
"Say hello to your god."
She slammed it into the altar.
The room screamed.
A pulse of black light exploded outward, throwing everyone to the ground. Agents howled as shadows ripped through their glyphs.
The woman staggered back, her eye lens cracking.
Jace rose slowly.
Covered in blood.
Grinning.
The Hollow inside him whispered, louder now.
"This is only the beginning."