Ezra summoned his chains.
Light flared at his fingertips—sharp, sudden, blinding—and with a crack like thunder, the chains lashed out. They coiled around Kyle's ankle, the metal locking tight like iron.
With a flick of his wrist, Ezra yanked hard.
Kyle was ripped off his feet, launched through the air like a ragdoll—only to crash headlong into Ann.
The two collided mid-motion with a sickening crack, slamming into a nearby tree. Branches shattered on impact. They hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, mud and leaves exploding in all directions.
Ann recovered first.
Her steel-coated fists lashed out on reflex, punching into Kyle's chest with brutal force
—but the blow didn't land clean.
A shockwave detonated between them.
Kyle's resonance.
A reactive barrier. Not just defensive—amplified.
The force of her punch rebounded. The concussive blast knocked them both apart, bodies flung like dolls into the undergrowth.
Ezra's eyes narrowed.
'So that's your trick.'
Two left.
Mark was already reloading—bullets glowing with that same faint, cursed light.
And Liz—
She reappeared in front of him.
Ezra's body moved on instinct. He threw up his arms just as her blade came down. Steel kissed flesh, jarring through bone. The impact numbed him.
'She's fast.'
'No. Not fast—impossible.'
She vanished again. Reappeared at his flank.
Her foot slammed toward his ribs.
Ezra twisted, blocking the kick. The impact rattled up his arm.
Phantom Step.
A short-range burst resonance. She blinked through space, cutting down time and distance like thread.
She vanished again.
Ezra breathed evenly now, scanning.
There.
He turned—just in time.
Caught her wrist.
Chain wrapped tight.
But before he could pull—
A gunshot cracked through the mist.
Ezra spun, another of Mark's tracking rounds curving toward him like a guided blade. He ducked. It clipped his side—ripped through fabric, just missed skin.
'Fuck.They're coordinated.'
'He pins. She strikes.'
"Annoying," Ezra muttered.
Then he moved.
Light pulsed beneath his boots. His body surged forward like lightning compressed into human form.
Dawnstride.
One heartbeat, he was ten feet away.
The next—
He was in front of Mark.
The gun was only half-raised.
Mark's eyes widened.
Too late.