Jacob Carter:

I escaped Admiral Ash’s experiment. He wants me back.

Now Sage and I are running through a country wired for surveillance, where drones sweep the sky, cameras watch every street, and Ash’s power reaches farther every day.

He wants what the experiment made me—my altered blood, connection to the spirit, and whatever he thinks he can turn into a weapon. Staying ahead of Ash would be easier if the danger were only here.

It isn’t. The same force that dragged me into that brutal realm is pulling at Sage now, and I know what waits on the other side. I can fight soldiers. I can run from Ash.

But the thought of losing Sage to a world I barely survived haunts me. If I can’t keep us moving through both worlds, Ash won’t need to catch us. He’ll just wait for the lions to finish the job.

Sage Emerson:

I used to save lives for the Navy. Now I’m running from the people I once served. The worst part isn’t the soldiers, the drones, or even Admiral Ash. It’s the spirit.

I’ve watched Jacob get torn out of this world and survive what should have killed him.

Now that same force is reaching for me, dragging me toward a place of green haze, impossible power, and things I do not understand. Jacob sees meaning in it. Purpose.

But all I can see is a world that almost destroyed him—and the terrifying likelihood that next time, it will take me instead. Whatever opened on the Engage is far from finished with us.

Jacob thinks we can stay ahead of it. But its iron grip tells me there’s no escaping.