Day one of preparation was chaos.
Kyla and Josh spent the morning visiting each of the seven weak points with Dr. Walsh's team, watching as scientists set up monitoring equipment and measured dimensional energy levels. Each location was different—one was in the middle of Riverside Park near a fountain, another in the basement of an old apartment building, a third in the subway tunnel on the Blue Line.
"Why these specific spots?" Kyla asked as they stood in the park, watching technicians work around the fountain.
"Water, mostly," Dr. Walsh explained, consulting her tablet. "All seven locations have significant water sources nearby. Fountains, underground pipes, the bay. Water conducts dimensional energy better than most materials. It's like lightning—it follows the path of least resistance."
Josh knelt by the fountain, studying the water. "So if we drain all the water in the city, problem solved?"
"If only it were that simple. The weak points would still exist, they'd just be slightly less accessible. And we can't exactly drain the entire bay." Dr. Walsh pointed to the various weak points marked on her map. "What we can do is make it too hot for them. Ice creatures need cold to maintain their forms. If we superheat the areas around each weak point, they'll melt the moment they try to come through."
"How do we superheat seven different locations across the city?" Kyla asked.
"With a lot of help and creative engineering." Dr. Walsh gestured to a truck pulling up nearby. "The fire department is lending us industrial heaters, the kind they use for controlled burns. We're setting up a perimeter of heat around each weak point. It won't stop them completely, but it'll weaken them significantly."
By noon, the park was transformed. Industrial heaters were positioned in a circle around the fountain, creating a blast zone of heat. The temperature in the immediate area had to be at least ninety degrees, and it was uncomfortable to stand there for more than a few minutes.
"This is insane," Stevens said, wiping sweat from his forehead. He'd been assigned to help with the park location. "We're turning parts of the city into saunas."
"Better than turning them into frozen wastelands," Josh pointed out. "Although I'm definitely going to need more deodorant."
They moved to the next location—the apartment building. The weak point was in the basement, near the water heater. The landlord, a grumpy man named Mr. Peterson, was not happy about having his building turned into a fortress.
"You're telling me monsters might come through my basement?" he complained as they set up equipment. "My insurance doesn't cover interdimensional invasions!"
"Sir, we're doing everything we can to prevent any damage," Kyla tried to reassure him. "But we need you to evacuate your tenants for the next few days. It's for their safety."
"Evacuate? Where are they supposed to go? It's not like I can just tell people 'hey, move out for a week because ice monsters might attack!'"
"Actually, that's exactly what you tell them," Chen said, appearing behind them. He'd been coordinating with building managers across the city all day. "The city is providing emergency housing at three hotels downtown. We've also set up a shelter at the community center. Everyone displaced will be taken care of."
Mr. Peterson grumbled but eventually agreed. As tenants filed out with hastily packed bags, Kyla felt guilty. These people's lives were being disrupted because she and Josh had closed the portal. If they hadn't interfered, would the King have just left Tides alone?
"Stop it," Josh said quietly, reading her expression. "I know what you're thinking. This isn't our fault."
"Isn't it? We're the ones who made the King angry."
"We're the ones who stopped an invasion. There's a difference." Josh guided her away from the crowd. "If we hadn't closed that portal, these people wouldn't have homes to evacuate from. The King's army would have destroyed everything. We did the right thing."
Kyla knew he was right, but it didn't make her feel less guilty. "I just hope we can protect them this time too."
"We will. Look at all this." Josh gestured to the organized chaos around them—police officers, firefighters, scientists, all working together. "We've got the whole city backing us up. We're not facing this alone."
The subway location was the trickiest. The weak point was in a maintenance tunnel deep underground, and the MTA wasn't thrilled about shutting down a major line during rush hour. But Chen had pulled strings, and by three PM, the Blue Line was closed "for emergency maintenance."
"This tunnel gives me the creeps," Kyla said as they descended into the darkness, flashlights cutting through the gloom. The air was damp and smelled like old metal and mildew.
"Yeah, if I were an ice monster, this is definitely where I'd hang out," Josh agreed. "Dark, damp, plenty of places to hide."
The maintenance tunnel was narrow and claustrophobic. Water dripped from pipes overhead, and Kyla could hear rats scurrying in the shadows. The weak point was near a junction where several pipes converged, creating a natural pool of standing water.
"Temperature down here is fifty-five degrees," one of Dr. Walsh's technicians reported. "Perfect conditions for ice creature manifestation."
"Not for long," Dr. Walsh said. She'd brought portable heaters and heat lamps, the kind used in construction. Within an hour, the tunnel felt like a sauna. The standing water started to evaporate, creating a misty fog that made visibility even worse.
"I really hate this place," Kyla muttered, swatting at a bug that flew past her face.
"At least it's warm now?" Josh offered.
"Warm and creepy. My two favorite things."
By the time they surfaced from the subway, it was getting dark. They'd set up defenses at four of the seven locations, with teams working through the night to finish the others. Kyla was exhausted, hungry, and desperately needed a shower.
"Food break," Josh declared, checking his phone. "There's a pizza place two blocks from here. My treat."
"You had me at pizza."
They found a small pizzeria that was still open despite the chaos in the city. Most people were aware something was happening—the evacuations were hard to hide—but the official story about "emergency drills" seemed to be holding. For now.
"What do you think will happen when the attack comes?" Kyla asked, biting into a slice of pepperoni pizza. "People will see the creatures. They'll know it wasn't a drill."
"Yeah, but by then hopefully we'll have stopped them." Josh picked the mushrooms off his slice and put them on Kyla's plate. She'd discovered he hated mushrooms but was too polite to order pizza without them. "Dr. Walsh said her agency has a whole department for managing information. They'll figure out a cover story."
"Like what? Mass hallucination?"
"Maybe. Or they'll blame it on some kind of gas leak that caused hallucinations. People believe what they want to believe. Most of them would rather think they imagined ice monsters than accept that other dimensions exist."
Kyla thought about that. He was probably right. She'd seen enough weird things on patrol to know that people had a remarkable ability to rationalize the impossible.
Her phone rang. It was her mom.
"Hey, Mom," Kyla answered, trying to sound normal.
"Kyla! I've been seeing news about evacuations in Tides. Are you okay? What's happening?"
"It's just emergency drills, Mom. Nothing to worry about."
"Emergency drills that require evacuating entire buildings? That doesn't sound like nothing." Her mom's voice was tight with worry. "Maybe you should come visit me in Arizona for a few days. Get out of the city."
"I can't, Mom. I have to work. But I promise I'm safe." The lie tasted bitter. She wasn't safe. In two days, an army of ice monsters was going to attack, and she'd be right in the middle of it.
"Kyla Marie Martinez, you're my only daughter. If something happens to you..." Her mom's voice cracked slightly.
"Nothing's going to happen, Mom. I've got a great partner watching my back, and I'm being careful. I'll call you when this is all over, okay?"
After some more reassurance, her mom finally let her go. Kyla set down her phone and found Josh watching her with sympathy.
"That was hard," he said.
"Yeah. I hate lying to her."
"You're protecting her. Sometimes that means lying." Josh finished his pizza and wiped his hands. "My mom called earlier too. Same conversation. She wanted me to come home, said I could always be a cop somewhere else. Somewhere safer."
"What did you tell her?"
"That Tides needs me. That I can't run when people are in danger." Josh smiled slightly. "She wasn't happy, but she understood. That's kind of the deal when your kid becomes a cop. You accept that they're going to put themselves in danger to help others."
Kyla reached across the table and took his hand. "We're going to survive this. Both of us."
"Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise."
They finished dinner and headed back to the station to check in with Chen. The command center had been transformed into something from a disaster movie—maps everywhere, people on phones, computers showing live feeds from all seven weak points.
"Martinez, Reeves, good timing." Chen waved them over. "Dr. Walsh has an update on the creature analysis."
Dr. Walsh was standing by a large monitor showing microscopic images. She looked even more tired than before, with coffee stains on her lab coat and her hair falling out of its ponytail.
"We've learned more about the ice creatures' physiology," she began without preamble. "The good news is that heat does significant damage to their cellular structure. The bad news is that they adapt. Fast."
"What do you mean, adapt?" Josh asked.
"I mean each time we expose them to heat, they develop a slight resistance. The second creature we fought took longer to melt than the first. By the third or fourth wave, they might be able to withstand temperatures that would have destroyed them initially."
Kyla felt her stomach drop. "So our heat defenses will stop working?"
"Eventually, yes. Which means we need a backup plan." Dr. Walsh pulled up new schematics. "I've been working with the fire department on a compound that's even more effective than plain heat. It's a mixture of chemical accelerants that burns hotter and longer. Think napalm, but more controlled."
"Are we seriously considering using napalm in residential areas?" Stevens asked from across the room.
"Desperate times," Chen said grimly. "Dr. Walsh, what do you need to make this work?"
"Time, resources, and about fifty portable flame units that don't exist yet." Dr. Walsh showed them her designs. "I can have prototypes ready by tomorrow night if I get the materials and manpower."
"You'll have both." Chen turned to his officers. "I want volunteers for a special weapons team. You'll be trained on using these flame units and deployed to the weak points during the attack. This is dangerous—more dangerous than regular patrol. No one will think less of you if you decline."
The room was silent for a moment. Then Stevens raised his hand. "I'm in."
One by one, other officers volunteered. By the end, they had fifteen people willing to face down ice monsters with experimental weapons.
"Thank you," Chen said, and Kyla could hear the emotion in his voice. "All of you. Tides is lucky to have officers like you."
After the briefing, Josh pulled Kyla aside into an empty conference room. "We should talk about battle assignments."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean when the attack comes, we'll probably be separated. Different weak points to defend. And I need to know that you're going to be careful, even if I'm not there to watch your back."
Kyla sat down on the edge of the table. "You're worried."
"Of course I'm worried. These things already tried to kill us twice. And now we're going to be outnumbered, possibly outgunned, facing enemies that get stronger every time we fight them." Josh ran his hand through his hair, a nervous gesture she'd come to recognize. "I just... I can't lose you, Kyla. Not now. Not after everything."
"You won't lose me. We made a promise, remember? Both of us walk away." Kyla stood and put her arms around him. He hugged her back tightly, like he was afraid to let go.
"I know I'm being stupid," he muttered into her shoulder. "We're cops. Danger is part of the job."
"It's not stupid. I'm scared too." Kyla pulled back to look at him. "But that's why we're going to be smart about this. We'll follow the plan, we'll use the weapons Dr. Walsh creates, and we'll have each other's backs even if we're at different locations. Okay?"
"Okay." Josh kissed her forehead. "When this is over, we're taking a vacation. Somewhere warm. With zero ice monsters."
"Deal. Maybe Hawaii?"
"Perfect. Beaches, sunshine, umbrella drinks with ridiculous names. No interdimensional threats allowed."
They stayed there for a while, just holding each other, finding comfort in the presence of another person who understood what they were facing. Eventually, they had to get back to work—there were still three weak points to set up, equipment to test, strategies to finalize.
But for those few minutes, it was just the two of them against the world.
And somehow, that made the world feel a little less scary.
Day two of preparation was even more intense.
Kyla woke up early in her own bed for the first time in days, showered quickly, and headed to the station. Josh met her in the parking lot with breakfast sandwiches and the news that Dr. Walsh had finished the first prototype flame unit.
"Want to see it in action?" he asked.
"Obviously."
They drove to an empty lot on the outskirts of the city where the fire department had set up a testing range. Dr. Walsh was there with her team, along with Chen and several firefighters in full protective gear.
The flame unit looked like a cross between a fire extinguisher and a flamethrower—portable, with a tank on the back and a nozzle that the user aimed. Dr. Walsh demonstrated on a block of ice they'd brought for testing.
"Safety on," she explained, showing them the controls. "Aim, flip the safety off, squeeze the trigger. The compound ignites on contact with air and burns at approximately 2000 degrees Fahrenheit."
She fired. A stream of bright orange flame shot out, hitting the ice block. The ice didn't just melt—it exploded into steam, completely gone in seconds.
"Whoa," Josh breathed.
"That's our secret weapon," Dr. Walsh said with satisfaction. "I'm producing fifty units by tonight. Each weak point will have at least five, with trained operators."
The rest of the day was spent training officers on the flame units and running drills. Kyla practiced until her arms ached from the weight of the tank, but she could hit targets consistently. Josh was a natural, his aim steady and precise.
By evening, all seven weak points were fully defended. Heat barriers were in place, flame units distributed, evacuation zones established. The city looked like it was preparing for war, because it was.
"Tomorrow's the day," Chen said at the final briefing that night. "According to the Herald's warning, the attack comes in twenty-four hours. Everyone needs to be rested and ready. Go home, sleep, be back here at 0700 for final assignments."
As people filed out, Kyla and Josh lingered in the parking lot, neither wanting to go home alone.
"Stay at my place tonight?" Josh offered. "I don't want to be alone, and my couch is available if you want it."
"Yeah. I'd like that."
At Josh's apartment, they ordered Chinese food and tried to watch a movie, but neither of them could focus. They ended up just talking, sharing stories about their lives before becoming cops, before Tides, before ice monsters and dimensional portals.
Around midnight, Kyla fell asleep on the couch mid-sentence. Josh covered her with a blanket and sat in the chair nearby, keeping watch.
Tomorrow they'd face an army.
But tonight, they had each other.
And somehow, that was enough.
End of Chapter 15