Chloe felt her skin crawl as she approached the angry god.

  After much barking and waving his gun threateningly at the faces of those glued to the sight of the dead monster—held there by a mix of awe and shock—Hardy managed to establish a proper perimeter around the corpse. His guards got to work, thrusting small metal rods into the ground, each designed to generate an electromagnetic field strong enough to contain the angry god—just in case it wasn’t as dead as they thought.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Jin had said.

  “Don’t think for a second that being alive means you’re in charge now,” Hardy had snarled in response. “Do whatever you need to with the body—prove to us that what you’ve said is true.”

  To Jon, Hardy ordered, “Find Cole and Glenn. See how long it'll take to get the fences around the district back up. Try to speed things up. Lucas, go with him.”

  “No.” Lucas shook his head. “I stay here. I want to see this.”

  Hardy glanced from Lucas to Jon, as if hoping Jon would drag Lucas along. Jon just shrugged. With a sigh, Hardy gave Jon a nod. Jon nodded back, then turned to leave—but before he did, he paused beside Chloe, speaking in a low voice.

  “Do you trust her?”

  “No.” Chloe shook her head. “But she saved my life, and I know she wasn’t lying back there. She might be leaving things out, but she told the truth about her father and mother. I want to see where this goes.”

  “Okay,” Jon said, not sounding particularly convinced. “But if she tries anything, even—”

  “I’ll kill her myself,” Chloe interrupted, her gaze fixed on Jin, who was now crouched beside one of the angry god’s limp, rope-like limbs.

  “You’ll have to hope Lucas doesn’t beat you to it,” Jon muttered before leaving. As he walked away, Chloe noticed the slight limp in his stride. He still wasn’t fully recovered from everything that had happened, yet there he was—moving, commanding, protecting.

  Her lips pressed together. She turned to Jin, speaking loudly enough for the girl to hear. “I know you think I’m the one keeping them from killing you,” she said. “But if you’re playing some kind of game, if my brother gets hurt—”

  “No game,” Jin interrupted. “Just the truth. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  Lucas scoffed. The swelling around his eyes had gone down, but the burning rage remained.

  Chloe had seen him angry before—once, when they’d witnessed a group of desperate humans offer children as bait to Servants in a bid to save themselves. Two of the six children had been slaughtered, turned into monsters that Lucas himself had to put down. Afterward, he’d flown into a rage, tracking the despicable humans by scent. Despite Jon’s attempts to calm him, Lucas had handled things gruesomely. When he was done—standing in a room littered with human remains—he had simply laughed.

  For all his recklessness and playful bravado, Chloe and Jon both knew about the darker edge inside him. Pandora had changed them all in different ways, stripping away pieces of their humanity. For most, emotions had dulled. With Lucas, it had been the opposite. Some of his emotions had been heightened—guilt, remorse, rage. Pandora had made him unforgiving. Brutal.

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  That was why Chloe knew he was waiting. As soon as Jin outlived her usefulness, he would be the first to move, and he wouldn’t hesitate to rip her heart out. If he couldn’t, he’d still find some satisfaction in knowing he had tried—to avenge Spike.

  Without a word, she walked up beside him and took his hand, squeezing firmly. Lucas turned, his face softening slightly. She met his eyes and smiled.

  He squeezed her hand back—and didn’t let go.

  Together, with Hardy, they watched as Jin nimbly climbed to the top of the angry god’s corpse. Up close, Chloe could make out more details—the creature’s scaly, slightly hairy head.

  Jin raised a hand, pressing her fingers together. Then, with a concentrated expression, she brought it down in a sharp strike.

  Her fingers pierced through the monster’s skull as if they were razor-sharp.

  Chloe’s eyes darkened.

  She was strong. Incredibly strong. Stronger than the Pandorans. Chloe had fought the creature, and all she had managed was to impale its eye. But Jin had torn through its flesh with ease…

  Lucas seemed to have reached the same conclusion. His expression shifted as Jin punched through the monster’s head, and his grip on Chloe’s hand tightened.

  Hardy merely whistled, but concern was etched in his eyes. He knew now—Jin wasn’t just a threat. She might be an even bigger one than the angry gods themselves.

  Jin shoved her second hand into the wound, tearing it wider. The others watched as she pried open a gaping hole in the corpse’s head, then stepped inside, vanishing from view.

  Lucas let out a low growl and took a step forward. Chloe held him back.

  “Wait,” she said, her eyes flickering with curiosity.

  “How do we know—”

  “Just wait.”

  Lucas looked displeased but obeyed, glaring at the corpse. A moment later, something moved inside it. A slow, sickening squirming beneath the monster’s skin.

  Chloe’s stomach churned.

  For nearly ten minutes, the grotesque movement continued—until finally, a fist punched through the creature’s dimmed eye.

  Jin’s head emerged. A moment later, she pulled herself fully out of the corpse, sliding down one of its limbs to the ground. She was drenched in wet slime, which still rolled down her skin.

  Jin wiped some from her face and walked toward them. Hardy stepped back, looking disgusted.

  Jin extended her hands, revealing metallic bits and strings—things that had no place inside an organic creature. In her palm, she held a blinking orb, flashing red every three seconds.

  Chloe frowned and stepped forward, taking it. It was warm to the touch, smooth yet lined with intricate carvings. As she turned it over, her breath caught.

  Etched onto it was a crow—identical to the tattoo on Jin’s hand.

  “Transmitter,” Jin explained, noting Hardy’s confusion.

  “And the mark?”

  “My father’s.” Jin took the orb back, gazing at the crow. “It marks all those under his command. And those of his bloodline. It’s like how your kind take the names of your fathers, your mothers… back in your earlier history, of course. We studied all of that upon arriving in this world. Your people love symbols—flags, names. My father chose the crow.”

  “Fuck.” Hardy paled, staggering back like a man whose entire reality had just shattered. “Fuck,” he repeated, looking more distraught by the second. “It’s been an invasion all along?”

  Jin nodded.

  Lucas stepped forward. “Your father—do you know where he is right now?”

  Jin’s gaze was steady. “Marching toward him would be suicide. You wouldn’t get within a mile before being obliterated. There will be a battle—but your people must be prepared. Your weapons, your experiments… they aren’t enough.”

  “Then how the hell are we supposed to fight?” Hardy demanded.

  “When you first fought back, you killed many of the specimens—what you call angry gods—with your missiles. You found something in their blood and created the Pandorans. There is more in them—materials for weapons. And if you need blood for more experiments, take mine. It’s more valuable than whatever flows through these puppets. Ask her.” Jin nodded toward Chloe.

  Lucas and Hardy turned to her, frowning. Chloe frowned too. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Jin smiled. “Power,” she said. “After a taste of my blood—have you ever felt stronger?”

  Chloe opened her mouth, then hesitated.

  Jin’s smile widened. “My blood will make the Pandorans strong enough to fight. In the corpses of the specimens, you will find what you need to forge new weapons. They won’t guarantee victory—but they might stop your complete annihilation.”

  Hardy’s voice wavered. “What do you mean—when they arrive?”

  “There are more coming.”

  “And you’re just telling us this now?!” Lucas snapped.

  Chloe’s jaw tightened. “How long do we have?”

  “Enough time to prepare,” Jin answered softly. “But if I were you—I’d start now.”