Lexi
No one warned me.
There was no dramatic countdown. No alarm.
Just a subtle shift in the air like pressure building before a storm.
Adriana's eyes snapped past me first.
Julian turned sharply toward the cavern entrance.
Ethan swore under his breath.
And then the mountain shook.
A deafening explosion ripped through the far wall of the chamber. Stone shattered. Metal screamed. The lights flickered violently before plunging half the cavern into darkness.
I flinched hard, instinctively dropping toward the ground.
Too loud.
Too much like
No.
Not that house. Not Catherine. Not anymore.
"Lexi!" Julian's voice cut through the chaos.
Before I could react, a shockwave slammed through the cavern.
But it never reached me.
A transparent shield of energy ignited in front of my body emerald and gold, interwoven solidifying inches from my face.
Julian stood between me and the blast, one hand extended forward, jaw clenched.
The air around him shimmered like heated glass.
Adriana moved at the same time.
She didn't scream. Didn't panic.
She crossed the space in seconds, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me behind her with a force that was protective not controlling.
"Stay behind us," she said calmly.
Not a command.
A promise.
Gunfire echoed sharp bursts of concentrated energy slamming against Julian's barrier.
Across the cavern, black-armored figures poured through the breach in coordinated formation.
They weren't scrambling.
They were precise.
They had known exactly where to hit.
"Internal betrayal," Ethan muttered, stepping forward.
His posture shifted entirely not hesitant, not assessing anymore. Ready.
A pulse rifle formed from the sleek band on his wrist, expanding into a weapon of clean silver lines.
He positioned himself slightly to my left.
Without looking at me, he said quietly:
"We don't let them touch you."
We.
The word landed heavily in my chest.
Another blast hit Julian's shield, cracking its surface with spiderweb fractures of light.
Julian didn't move.
His voice remained steady.
"Adriana."
She nodded once.
And then I saw her.
Not the philanthropist.
Not the public figure.
Power rippled outward from her like a silent wave.
The ground beneath the attackers split in precise fractures. Sections of the cavern floor shifted, redirecting their advance. Targeting systems in their armor flickered erratically.
She wasn't attacking wildly.
She was dismantling them.
"Lexi," Adriana said, still shielding me with her body, "breathe."
I hadn't realized I'd stopped.
My chest was tight. My hands were shaking again.
This was exactly what I feared.
That I would arrive and they would immediately regret bringing me back.
One of the attackers broke through the floor shift, launching forward with terrifying speed.
He aimed directly at me.
Julian dropped the shield and moved.
Faster than I thought possible.
He intercepted the soldier mid-strike, catching the energy blade inches from my face. The impact sent a violent shockwave through the chamber.
Julian didn't flinch.
He drove the attacker backward and disarmed him in one seamless motion.
No hesitation.
No calculation.
Just instinct.
Protect her.
Ethan eliminated two more threats to my right, moving with fluid precision.
And Adriana
She stood in front of me like the center of a storm.
Untouchable.
I stared at them, stunned.
They weren't fighting strategically around me.
They were fighting around me.
Shielding.
Positioning.
Absorbing impact.
A soldier slipped past the chaos and fired directly toward my chest.
I didn't think.
I raised my hand.
The air warped.
The energy blast dissolved mid-flight not deflected.
Disintegrated.
The cavern went silent for half a second.
Even the attackers hesitated.
I stared at my hand.
I hadn't meant to
"Good," Julian said sharply, not even looking at me.
"Again."
The command wasn't cold.
It was trust.
Another attacker lunged.
This time, I didn't panic.
I focused.
The buzzing under my skin steadied.
The soldier's weapon sparked violently and short-circuited before he could fire.
Adriana glanced back at me briefly.
Pride flickered in her eyes.
Not calculation.
Not satisfaction.
Pride.
The remaining attackers retreated abruptly, smoke canisters detonating as they withdrew through the breach.
Silence settled slowly over the cavern.
Julian lowered his hands. The fractured shield dissolved into the air.
Ethan scanned the perimeter.
"Perimeter secure," he said.
Adriana turned to me fully now.
Her hands moved to my face gentle, checking for injuries.
"Are you hurt?"
The question stunned me more than the attack.
"No," I whispered.
Julian stepped closer.
"You reacted," he said. "You controlled it."
I shook my head slightly. "I almost froze."
"But you didn't," Ethan said.
The four of us stood there in the wreckage breathing hard, dust settling around us.
For the first time, I saw something clearly:
They hadn't treated me like a weapon.
They hadn't stepped aside to see what I would do.
They had stepped in front of me.
Without hesitation.
Without doubt.
Adriana brushed a loose strand of hair from my face.
"They came sooner than we anticipated," she said quietly. "Which means they're afraid."
"Of you?" I asked.
Julian's gaze locked with mine.
"Yes."
Not because I was their daughter.
Because I had just stood against an assault and survived it.
Adriana rested her forehead lightly against mine just for a second.
A small, grounding touch.
"You are not alone in this," she said.
And for the first time in my life
I believed it.