Ah, this chapter.
Chapter 25 left the team with very little time to process what happened, and Chapter 26 gives them even less.
Survival does not mean everyone walks away unharmed, and there are wounds here that will demand more than anyone expected.
They have decisions to make, people to protect, and somewhere they still need to go.
Unfortunately, this team has never been particularly good at resting when they should.
Welcome to Chapter 26.
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The rift opened above the warehouse floor.
Seth stepped through first, suspended several meters above the chaos while I emerged beside him. Gunfire tore beneath our feet. Men moved between crates and broken machinery, muzzle flashes cutting through the dust while shadows twisted through the spaces between them.
Seth's gaze swept the warehouse.
Then we found Samuel.
He was on his knees behind a failing blue shield, one hand braced against the concrete while the other pressed desperately against Campbell's throat. Blood covered both of them. Each impact against Samuel's shield sent another fracture through the blue light, and his arm shook violently beneath the strain.
Campbell's golden light barely held.
His body jerked beneath Samuel's hands as he fought for air through the blood filling his throat.
"CAMPBELL, STAY WITH ME!"
Samuel's voice broke across the warehouse.
Seth dropped first. A hard breath left his lungs as he fell, silver pouring with the exhale and wrapping close around his body. He struck the concrete below with one knee bent, the Breath bursting outward from the impact and hurling dust, spent casings, and broken glass across the floor.
I came down beside him. My boots hit hard enough to crack the concrete.
Gold ripped across my arms.
Scripture surged beneath my skin before I could call it, racing over my throat and down my legs as the Living Flame erupted with the impact. Gold tore through the cracks beneath my feet, burning across the concrete in branching lines before stopping meters away.
Every weapon in the warehouse turned towards us.
Seth rose beside me. His ocean-blue eyes flashed silver.
I stared past fifteen armed men at the blood pouring between Samuel's fingers.
"We need to reach them."
Seth drew another breath. "Then we reach them."
One of the men reacted first. His weapon swung towards Seth, hesitation flashing across his face when Seth continued walking.
"Drop them! Now!"
Seth kept moving.
Another rifle snapped towards me, and silver flooded Seth's ocean-blue eyes.
His next exhale hit the room.
The Breath drove outward with the movement of his arms, ripping dust from the floor and wrenching the hanging chains sideways. Several men staggered beneath the force. One lost his footing completely, while another caught himself against a crate and pulled the trigger.
The warehouse erupted.
Bullets came at us from three directions, and Seth moved before the first could reach me. He turned into the attack and swept one arm across his body, silver following the motion in a dense curve. The first rounds struck the Breath and changed direction so violently that sparks burst from the concrete beside us.
Seth walked straight into the next volley.
Another breath left him as his palm drove forward. Silver struck three gunmen at once, lifting them from their feet and throwing them through a stack of crates.
I was already moving.
A man swung his rifle towards Samuel, and rage took me before thought could catch it. I drove my fist forward, and gold exploded from the strike.
Living Scripture crossed the distance in a blazing line and hit the rifle first. Metal twisted inside the man's hands before the force continued through him and hurled him backwards across the concrete. Golden glyphs burned through the air behind him and vanished almost as quickly as they appeared.
Another shot cracked beside my head.
I turned sharply, and the Flame came with me.
Gold whipped from my shoulder and struck the gunman's arm before he could fire again. His weapon flew from his grip. He screamed as he dropped to one knee, clutching skin already blistering beneath the heat.
Then Campbell choked behind him.
Everything inside me turned towards that sound.
Samuel was bent over Campbell again, his shield collapsing piece by piece while blood pushed between his fingers.
"Seth, he's dying."
His gaze locked on Campbell, and the change in him was immediate.
Another breath left his lungs as he stepped forward. Silver gathered along his arms, tightening with the movement while the Living Flame surged beneath my skin in answer to my first stride.
The men between us and Samuel opened fire again.
Seth never broke pace.
Gunfire tore towards him.
He raised both hands before him, his expression hardening as the gunfire closed on him. A deep frown cut between his brows, and the ocean blue of his eyes disappeared beneath blazing silver.
He pushed both hands forward.
Air streamed through his nose as the Breath surged ahead of him, meeting the incoming rounds before his hands separated and swept smoothly towards either side.
Silver opened with the movement.
The stream of bullets split apart.
Rounds screamed away from him in both directions, punching into wooden crates, sparking from metal posts and burying themselves in the warehouse walls. His arms continued opening until the entire burst had been driven away from the space directly ahead.
The gunfire faltered as the men scrambled to reload, magazines dropping to the floor while fresh ones were driven into place.
Seth lowered his hands and advanced into the path he had cleared, silver still blazing through his eyes while his frown deepened.
The gunmen finished reloading and fired again.
His gaze locked onto them.
Fury had stripped every trace of softness from his face.
He was coming for them.
Seth moved without warning or hesitation, slipping into the space between the first muzzle flash and the recoil that followed. By the time the gunman corrected his aim, Seth was already inside his reach.
His hand closed around the man's wrist and guided the rifle past his shoulder as Seth turned with the attack instead of fighting against it. A sharp twist forced the man's arm behind him, and Seth pivoted beneath it before sweeping one leg behind his knees. Silver followed the turn of Seth's body and tightened at the same instant, taking the man's balance completely.
He hit the concrete before Seth released him.
Seth was already flowing into the next movement.
I moved at the same time, throwing both hands towards three gunmen.
The Living Flame surged with me.
Gold raced across the warehouse and reached them before they could fire again. Scripture wrapped around their arms, chests and weapons, binding rifles against bodies as the Flame tightened around all three.
I closed my hands and pulled.
The Flame answered with enough force to tear all three men from their feet and drag them towards me.
Seth intercepted the first.
His hand swept towards the man's throat as he came through the air, but his palm passed across the front without closing. Seth inhaled deeply and held the breath as his wrist turned with the movement, carrying his hand around the side of the man's neck until his palm caught the back.
He began a slow, controlled exhale as silver flowed down his arm. He stepped past the gunman and turned with him, using the man's forward momentum to carry them both through the circular movement. His palm remained firm against the back of the man's neck as Seth continued the turn, gradually drawing him lower.
As the last of the exhale passed his lips, he dropped sharply with the movement and drove the gunman towards the concrete.
The man's face slammed into the concrete with a sickening crack, his body going limp the instant he hit.
Seth released him and let the momentum carry him back to his feet, already turning towards the next threat.
The second man reached me.
I planted my foot in his chest.
The kick launched him upwards while the Flame remained wrapped around his body. I yanked both hands down, and gold followed, reversing his momentum and driving him straight back towards the concrete.
He hit hard enough to bounce.
I stepped into him before he could recover and drove my fist into his chest. The Living Flame surged through the strike, gold bursting beneath my knuckles as the force slammed him flat against the floor.
His body went limp beneath my fist.
The third man was still caught in the Flame and coming straight towards me.
Seth reached him first.
He crossed behind me with frightening speed and caught the gunman as the Flame brought him within reach. Seth's hands closed against his upper body, and another breath slipped from his lungs as silver flowed into the movement.
Seth turned, converting the gunman's forward momentum into sideways force in the space of a heartbeat. The man crashed into the wall, his back striking concrete hard enough to send the impact cracking through the warehouse.
Seth stayed with him. His palm slid into the center of the gunman's torso as silver gathered beneath it, holding him against the wall while a short, controlled exhale passed between Seth's lips.
His palm drove forward.
Silver drove through his palm with the blow, pinning the man against the wall for a fraction of a second before his entire body went slack.
Seth withdrew his hand, and the gunman slid unconscious to the floor.
The last of my gold released him as he fell.
More men rushed into the space ahead.
Seth met them at speed.
His hand closed around one gunman's throat as they crossed paths, but he never stopped to hold him there. Instead, he turned with the man's charge, carrying that momentum into a wide circle as silver curled around his forearm and his breathing sharpened.
Another attacker rushed in from the opposite side.
Seth changed the direction of the turn and pulled the gunman around with him. The man's body swung across his path, one leg lifting with the momentum before his boot smashed across the approaching attacker's face.
The impact snapped the second man's head sideways and sent him staggering across the floor. Seth released the gunman in his grip with the same turn, allowing the momentum to carry the man away while his attention shifted to the one still on his feet.
He was already moving before the gunman recovered. Silver streamed close to his body as he crossed the distance, planted his foot and turned sharply through the final step. His other leg swept up with the rotation and drove into the man's side, launching him backwards into the wall hard enough to knock him unconscious.
I had already found two more.
They came at me together, and I dropped both hands towards the floor. The Living Flame shot beneath them and wrapped around their ankles before either man could change direction.
I ripped my arms upwards.
Both men left the floor.
Their bodies swung backwards as the Flame tore their legs out from beneath them, and I brought my hands down with everything I had.
Gold followed.
Both men slammed onto their backs hard enough to punch dust and loose debris into the air around them. One curled around himself while the other rolled onto his side, and I was already moving towards the next threat before either could decide whether getting up was worth trying.
The fight widened around us.
Seth flowed through it while I forced my way through whatever stood ahead. He redirected bodies into each other, twisted weapons away from firing lines and turned attacks back through the spaces they had come from. The Breath moved with his shoulders, hands and feet, silver following the constant rhythm of his breathing.
I approached the problem differently.
The Living Flame ripped rifles from hands, shattered weapons against concrete and dragged men away from Samuel whenever they tried to close on him. We broke limbs, damaged joints and left enough bodies behind us that a few days to recover was starting to sound generous.
One of the men we'd already put down began crawling towards a fallen rifle.
I saw his fingers stretch towards it and slammed my foot into the concrete.
Gold exploded through the floor beneath him. Broken concrete burst upwards as the Flame caught the man and his weapon from below, throwing both into the air.
Seth came through the debris before either could fall. He caught the gunman, turned with his momentum and released him through a stack of wooden crates. Timber burst apart before the man's body struck the wall behind them and dropped into the wreckage.
Seth looked at the fractured floor, then at me.
"What are you looking at?"
His mouth twitched. "Just admiring your restraint."
"I showed restraint."
His eyes dropped pointedly to the crater.
"Remarkable restraint, love."
Gunfire cracked ahead of us, cutting off whatever answer he might have given. Seth turned towards it while gold tore through the nearest firing position, shattering two rifles and driving the men holding them away from Samuel.
Campbell's broken breathing reached me again, stripping away every trace of humor. I drove forward, the Living Flame clearing the remaining space between us and Samuel while Seth dealt with anyone who tried to close behind me.
Samuel was on the floor beside him, one hand pressed desperately against the wound while the other shook badly enough that he could barely keep it there. His face was covered in blood, and the moment he saw me, whatever he had been holding together began to crack.
"Please, Max."
I dropped beside them.
Seth was already moving. He knelt opposite me and brought his hands over Campbell's wound as he drew in a deep breath. Silver gathered around his fingers while he held it, threading carefully into torn tissue before his exhale carried the Breath deeper.
Campbell convulsed beneath our hands.
Samuel grabbed his arm. "Campbell, stay with me."
Seth tried again, his breathing controlled even as the strain tightened his face. Silver worked deeper, holding damaged tissue together and reinforcing what remained, but Campbell's next attempt to breathe came out wet and broken.
Seth looked at me.
"I can keep him here for a little longer." His voice dropped. "I can't give him back what he's losing."
Fear hit me harder than anything in the fight had.
"Then don't let him go."
"I won't."
I pressed my palm against Campbell and called the Scripture.
Gold raced beneath my skin.
The response came fast and violent, carrying everything I had thrown into the fight only moments before. Glyphs climbed my arm and sharpened around my wrist, turning outward towards men who could barely move anymore.
"Please don't."
My voice barely carried over Campbell's struggling breaths.
The gold continued twisting.
I swallowed and pressed my hand more firmly against him. "He's dying. I need you here."
For a moment, the Scripture gave me nothing except heat.
Campbell choked beneath my hand.
"Max." Samuel's voice broke around my name.
"I know."
I bent closer, fighting the tremor running through my arms as the glyphs continued shifting beneath my skin.
"You protected us." My throat tightened. "You fought when I needed you to fight, and now I need something else from you. Please."
Gold flared across my hand.
I had no idea whether it understood me. I had no idea whether begging something written beneath my skin made any sense at all.
Campbell stopped breathing.
Samuel froze.
"Campbell?"
Seth's head snapped up. "Max."
Panic tore through me, followed so quickly by fury that I stopped trying to contain either one. The Flame had felt me beg. It had felt Campbell dying beneath my hand while I asked it for something other than violence, and still it resisted.
Fine, then I would stop asking.
If asking wasn't enough, I would give it the full weight of what I felt.
I let my fury pour through the same connection that carried the Flame beneath my skin, giving it every ounce of fear, desperation and anger tearing through me. Gold erupted along my arm as I pressed my palm harder against Campbell.
"Heal him!"
This time, it was an order.
The Scripture changed.
Gold poured from my palm into Campbell while Seth immediately moved with it, silver following through the pathways he had been struggling to hold together. Campbell's body jerked beneath our hands as torn tissue began drawing closed and the damage through his throat slowly reversed.
"Come on," I whispered. "Come back."
Samuel still held Campbell's arm, his bloody fingers tightening around it.
Then Campbell arched beneath us and dragged air into his lungs.
Samuel's head dropped.
Another breath followed, rough and painful, but stronger than the first. Campbell's fingers twitched beneath Samuel's hand while gold and silver continued working through him until the terrible rattle in his throat began to ease.
"That's it," Samuel whispered. "Stay with us."
I kept my hand against Campbell until his breathing found a fragile rhythm. Only then did the gold begin withdrawing beneath my skin.
Relief lasted about half a second.
My arms gave way.
Seth caught me before I hit the floor, one hand closing around my shoulder while the other remained close to Campbell.
"Max, look at me."
"Give me a moment." I dragged in a breath and rested my weight against him. "Then I'll pretend that didn't nearly kill me."
His hand moved gently against my shoulder. "Take two, love."
A weak laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
Samuel was still bent over Campbell, his forehead almost touching their joined hands. He looked wrecked, but Campbell was breathing beneath him.
Right then, that was enough.
Seth remained beside me while I recovered, one hand steady against my back. Silver moved close around us with each controlled breath, thinner than before but still responding whenever my weight shifted against him.
Across from us, Samuel remained beside Campbell with blood covering his hands. His lips moved through a quiet prayer while he watched every breath Campbell managed to take.
Seth followed my gaze. He drew in slowly, then released a measured breath as silver crossed the space between them and wrapped around Samuel's battered body. The trembling in Samuel's arms eased enough for him to straighten.
"Thank you," he whispered.
Seth gave him a small nod.
I pushed myself upright and pulled out my phone. "We can't call an ambulance. Too many questions come with one."
"Agreed." Seth glanced across the warehouse. "We need somewhere private."
I already knew who could give us one.
Gabriel Wynn answered after two rings.
"Max," he said. "Judging by the fact you're calling me at this hour, I'm guessing something broke."
My gaze travelled across the shattered rifles, broken crates and men who had finally discovered the wisdom of staying down.
"That depends on how generously we're defining broken."
Keys started clicking in the background. "How bad?"
"Samuel and Campbell are injured. Campbell nearly died, and I want a medic looking at both of them. Hospitals are out. I also have a warehouse that needs to disappear before anyone comes looking."
"Location received. Are you secure?"
"For the moment."
"Then move the injured to your old house. The one you had with Eric."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Seth noticed.
"It's still in your name," Gabriel continued. "It's private, and I can control who gets near it. I'll bring a medic and deal with the warehouse."
"How exactly do you remember that house?"
His sigh carried through the phone. "I make it my business to know where my favorites bury their ghosts."
A dry cough ruined my attempt at a scoff. "Sentimental much?"
"Get your people out, Max. I'll handle the rest."
"Please tell me your definition of handling it involves less destruction than mine."
Gabriel paused.
"I've seen the warehouse."
"Fair enough."
"I'll meet you at the house."
The call ended.
I lowered the phone and stared at it for a moment.
Seth waited.
"My old house," I said quietly. "Gabriel's meeting us there with a medic."
His expression softened. "The one you shared with Eric?"
I nodded.
He could have asked whether I was all right. He could have reminded me that Campbell needed somewhere safe, or pointed out that a house was only a house.
Seth did none of those things.
His hand found mine instead.
"We don't have to stay any longer than necessary."
I tightened my fingers around his. "Thank you."
Then I looked at Campbell.
That made the decision easy.
"Let's get them out."
Seth drew in a slow breath before silver gathered around Samuel and Campbell, supporting their bodies carefully as he brought them from the floor. His attention shifted towards the half-conscious gunman near the doorway.
"We need him too," I said.
Seth crossed the warehouse and hauled the man upright by the back of his gun belt. A miserable wheeze escaped him as his feet dragged across the floor.
"I wouldn't recommend struggling," Seth said.
The man immediately became cooperative.
Under different circumstances, I might have enjoyed that more.
Gold opened the portal.
The house waited on the other side.
For five years, Eric had lived a life that continued without me. Earlier today, I had learned just how completely that life had changed.
Now I had to walk back into the place where part of ours had happened.
Seth's fingers tightened around mine.
Campbell breathed behind us.
I stepped through.
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Well... that happened.
I think everyone involved has earned a quiet afternoon.
Unfortunately, this is The Living Scripture, so that seems unlikely.
Chapter 26 took a little more out of me than I expected. There were parts of this one I knew had to hurt, but there were also quieter moments between the chaos that mattered just as much to me.
And somehow, after everything that happened in that warehouse, the chapter ends with Max walking towards a completely different kind of problem.
Some places carry memories whether you're ready for them or not.
See you in Chapter 27.