Whatever that meant... his life would never be normal again.
Kade stared down at the weird artifact clinging to his wrist like it belonged there, still pulsing slow and faint like a heartbeat. He flexed his hand. It didn't budge. Just sat there like a damn parasite. Or a brand. Or both.
Behind him, Ren and Lila were still going at it.
"I'm trusting the artifact," Ren said, firm.
Lila scoffed. "You're trusting your gut again? Last time you did that, Ava almost lost her damn arm."
"Still here, aren't I?" Ava said dryly, arms folded.
Nico just looked overwhelmed. He hadn't said a word since they pulled him out of that mess. Kid still had blood on his cheek. Kade figured he wasn't much of a talker.
Well. Good. Because neither was he.
Kade kept walking.
The city around him felt too quiet. Like it knew what had happened back in that alley. Like it was holding its breath.
He turned a corner, reached the main street. Lights buzzed overhead. Cars drove by like nothing was wrong. Like monsters weren't crawling out of the dark five blocks behind him.
He needed air. Time. Something to make sense of this.
Then Ren's voice came up behind him again.
"You can walk away if you want," Ren said, calm as ever. "But that thing's not gonna let you live a normal life anymore."
Kade didn't turn around. "What even is it?"
"We don't know everything," Ren admitted. "Just that it's ancient. Dangerous. And it never picked anyone. Until now."
"That supposed to make me feel special?"
"No," Ren said. "It's supposed to make you careful."
Kade turned around this time, slowly. "Look, man—I didn't ask for this. I'm not like you guys. I don't fight monsters. I don't swing knives or throw lightning or whatever the hell Lila does."
Lila muttered, "Would've rather it picked a street lamp."
Kade ignored her.
Ren stepped forward. "You didn't hesitate. When Nico was about to get torn apart, you moved. No training. No backup. Just instinct."
"So what?" Kade shot back. "That makes me one of you now?"
Ren didn't flinch. "It might."
Kade looked past him—at the group, standing in a loose, wary formation like they expected him to run or explode. Maybe both.
Nico looked down when their eyes met.
Ava? Completely unreadable.
And Lila... well, Lila looked like she wanted to break something. Preferably him.
"I'm not going with you," Kade said finally.
"We're not asking you to join a club," Ren replied. "We're asking you to stay alive."
Kade's laugh came out sharp. "Right. 'Cause monsters are real, and magic wristbands pick nobodies off the street like it's Harry Potter night."
He rubbed his face with both hands. God, he was losing it. Maybe he was still knocked out cold in that alley. Maybe he was bleeding out and hallucinating.
But the pain in his shoulder said otherwise. The faint warmth from the relic confirmed it.
He sighed.
"Fine. I'll bite," he muttered. "Say I believe you. Say this thing really did choose me. What then?"
Ren looked over at the others.
It was Ava who spoke up. "Then you've got two choices. Run, and hope whatever's tracking that relic doesn't find you first..."
"Or?" Kade asked.
"Or stick with us," Ava finished. "And learn how to survive."
There it was. No sugarcoating. No fancy pitch. Just survival.
Kade stared down at the artifact again. The thing hummed. Barely noticeable—but it was alive. Or something close to it.
"Do I get a manual with this thing?" he asked.
"Trial by fire," Lila said. "Emphasis on fire."
Kade smirked, despite everything. "You really don't like me, huh?"
She stepped closer. "I don't like people who stumble into our world and act like they belong."
"I didn't ask to be dragged into your monster circus."
"Then maybe you should've stayed behind the dumpster."
Ren raised a hand between them. "Enough."
Lila stepped back, jaw clenched. Ava rolled her eyes and leaned against a nearby lamppost, clearly over the drama.
Kade looked at Ren again. "So what, you're the leader?"
Ren shrugged. "Closest thing to one. We don't really do ranks. We fight. We survive. We try not to lose anyone."
The way he said that—not to lose anyone—made Kade pause.
They'd lost people. Maybe more than a few.
He took a breath. "I'm not saying I'm in. I just want answers. Real ones."
Ren nodded. "We'll give you what we can."
"And I want to know what this thing is." Kade lifted his wrist.
"That," Ava said, "is older than most languages. If it really bonded to you… you're not just some guy anymore."
Kade snorted. "Didn't feel very powerful when I got thrown across the alley."
"You're not unlocked yet," Nico said quietly.
It was the first thing he'd said since the alley.
Kade turned toward him. "Unlocked?"
Nico glanced at Ren for permission, then kept going. "Every relic has a cost. A trigger. You don't just use it. It… uses you. It tests you. Until you either break—or become something else."
Lila scoffed. "Wow. That was almost poetic, Nico."
Nico shrugged.
Ren nodded. "He's not wrong."
Kade looked at them all again. They weren't superheroes. They weren't trained soldiers. They were just... people. People who got dragged into something dark and messy and didn't run away.
He wasn't ready to trust them.
But deep down, a part of him already knew—he couldn't go back.
Not now.
Not with this thing wrapped around his wrist like a ticking time bomb.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. I'll hear you out. One night. Then I decide."
Lila muttered something under her breath.
Ren nodded once. "That's all we're asking."
They started walking.
Kade took one last look over his shoulder—back toward the alley where everything changed.
Then he followed.
To be continued...