After a few days of silence from Elara and Eric, they took him outside. It was the first time he had gone outside in days. Even the sun felt different on his skin
The yard was big, walled off with steel fences, old punching posts, weight racks, and shattered crates shoved into a corner. The earth was dry and dented like it had seen a few too many bad landings.
Eric stepped into the circle, shirt off, still barefoot. The air smelled like dust, sweat, and blood that had soaked deep into the soil.
He wasn't cold. Not anymore.
Rafe grinned from across the makeshift arena. "You stretch, vampire boy?"
Eric didn't answer. He just rolled his neck until it popped.
Fenn leaned against the fence with arms folded and his jaw tight. Rin perched like a shadow on the scaffolding overhead, silent but watching. Zaya stood off to the side, arms loose at her sides, eyes on Eric, cool, calm and reading every move.
Boss wasn't there. Not visibly. But Eric could feel it. They were being watched.
"Here's the rule," Rafe said. "Don't die. Don't kill."
And before Eric could even understand what he meant, he charged.
Eric didn't even flinch.
Rafe came in low, fast, his foot sweeping out. Eric sidestepped, caught the motion mid-air, and shoved Rafe back with one hand. Not hard. Just… firm.
Rafe skidded across the dirt and rolled to his feet, blinking.
"You're holding back," he said.
Eric didn't answer.
Fenn snorted. "Maybe he's just soft."
Rafe went again. Faster this time, twisting mid-air. Eric stepped in this time, hand shooting up. Caught him mid-leap by the chest. Slammed him flat into the ground with a force that kicked up dust.
The whole courtyard fell silent.
Eric stepped back.
Rafe groaned, rolled over, grinning. "Okay. Not soft."
Fenn dropped from the fence. Walked in without a word. No grin. No talk. His boots kicked up dirt as he circled.
"You think being the newest makes you the strongest?" he said. "You think you're special?"
Eric's jaw twitched. "I never said that."
"You don't have to."
And then Fenn was there, faster than Rafe, sharper, brutal.
Eric blocked the first strike, ducked the second, caught the third on his shoulder. Fenn didn't stop. A flurry of elbows, knees, speed and precision Eric hadn't seen before.
He backed up a step, just one, and felt it.
That heat.
That hunger.
His fingers twitched. Nails lengthened.
"Don't do it," he muttered to himself.
Fenn slammed a fist into his ribs. Eric didn't budge. Fenn's eyes widened as pain shot through his own knuckles.
Eric's head snapped toward him, pupils slit like a predator's.
"Stop" he said to the monster within him.
"Stop it. Please. Please stop. I don't want to hurt anyone" but he could still feel himself transforming. The weight of his change got easier and easier.
"I said stop."
Fenn stepped back, but not fast enough.
Eric moved. One blink and he was in front of Fenn.
Not walking. Not running. Just there. Like he had teleported himself.
He grabbed Fenn by the collar, lifted him clean off the ground, and slammed him into the wall hard enough to crack the concrete.
The others flinched.
Eric's teeth were sharp now. Jaw clenched. Breath short.
Blood. His nose filled with it, Fenn's blood. He could smell the fear, the bruised veins under skin, the pulse slamming against muscle. He could feel everything.
"TAKE IT. OWN IT. BECOME IT... ERIC. BECOME ME!"
The voice was back.
His own, but twisted. Darker. Inside him.
"HE HURT YOU. SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE. WHAT YOU CAN DO"
Fenn choked out a curse.
Eric's grip tightened.
"Eric," Zaya called. No fear in her voice. Just force.
He didn't move.
Zaya stepped in. "Let him down."
Eric blinked.
The heat snapped back.
He dropped Fenn.
The other boy fell to the ground, coughing. Rin jumped down from the scaffold, landing beside him without a sound.
Eric took two steps back, shaking. The claws retracted. His face returned. Breath… uneven.
Zaya stood in front of him now. "You done?"
He nodded, slowly.
She turned to the others. "Now you've seen it."
Rafe let out a low whistle. "Damn."
"Stronger than us," Rin said. First time he spoke all day.
Fenn wiped the blood from his mouth. "Stronger doesn't mean better."
"Sure," Rafe said, "but I'm not rushing him again."
Zaya turned back to Eric. "Boss wanted to know if you were stable."
Eric looked at his hands. "I'm not."
She smirked. "Didn't think so."
They left him standing in the dirt, alone again.
But not forgotten.
On the other side of things, was Elara. She hadn't meant to linger. In fact, She'd only come out for some air.
But as soon as she stepped into the corridor and saw the dented wall, the cracks in the stone, and the trail of blood, not much, but just enough to tell her exactly what had happened, her stomach knotted.
She moved faster, boots hitting the ground harder than she wanted.
Outside, the air was heavy with dust. The circle in the yard looked like it had been hit by a grenade. And standing dead center in it, shirtless and still, was Eric.
Zaya stood beside him, saying something low.
Fenn leaned against a crate, bruised and bleeding from the mouth. Rafe was wiping dirt from his palms. Rin crouched on a rail nearby, silent as always, head cocked like he was still trying to figure out what Eric was.
Elara didn't speak.
Didn't move.
She just watched.
Eric's chest rose and fell. His hands were stained. Clawed. His eyes were darker than she remembered—like the color had been drained out and replaced with something bottomless.
And the worst part?
He didn't look angry. Or panicked.
He looked calm. Like this was always in him, like he'd finally accepted it. She felt her throat tighten. He glanced up then. Met her eyes.
She flinched before she could stop herself.
Eric's expression shifted slightly. A flicker of something like guilt, or shame, or worse: regret that she'd seen him like this. But it was gone just as fast, swallowed by the calm.
Zaya turned and noticed her too. Elara stepped back. She didn't speak to either of them. She did not even wait for him to come to her.
She just turned and walked inside, faster than she meant to, heat and tears building behind her eyes.
Boss was waiting in the hallway when Elara stumbled back inside the den.
"Elara," he said, voice even. Like he'd been there the whole time.
She stopped.
"How much did you see?" he asked.
"Enough," she said.
He gave a quiet hum. "Good."
She blinked. "Good?"
Boss looked at her, really looked. His eyes were sharp and unshaken. He didn't look like someone trying to make Eric feel safe. He looked like someone trying to understand how much of a threat he'd just invited under his roof.
"Eric is the only one who doesn't break before he blooms," Boss said. "The rest of them, Rafe, Rin, Zaya...they cracked. Something had to be put back together. But Eric? He didn't crack. He mutated like it was inevitable."
Elara's voice came out low. "He almost lost control."
"No. He found it."
She frowned.
"Don't mistake violence for weakness," Boss said. "He has more discipline than most grown men with a gun to their heads."
She stepped closer. "You're going to use him."
Boss's mouth barely twitched. "Of course I am. So will you."
"I'm not using him."
"You will. Because you want this place gone as much as I do. Because you want Arthur stopped. And because there's no one else who can walk through that fire and make it to the other side without burning."
Elara shook her head. "He's not ready."
"No," Boss said, turning away. "But he will be."
Back in the yard, Eric stood alone now. The others had gone inside. Even Zaya had drifted off without a word.
He stared at his hands again.
They were still shaking, still stained with blood
Still not sure if the fear in Elara's eyes had been for him, or of him.
And worse… he wasn't sure which one he wanted it to be.