Chapter 8

The moment the pod seal broke, the cabin erupted into chaos.

Every medical monitor mounted on the walls flashed blinding red. The EKG machine let out a continuous, ear-piercing scream. The jagged green line on the screen instantly dropped into a dead, flat line.

Barton Montoya's pale skin immediately turned a horrifying, bruised shade of blue-black.

A blast of freezing air rushed out of the pod. It wasn't just the climate control; it was a physical manifestation of death-a heavy, bone-chilling miasma that swept across the floor.

Camden, sitting closest to the pod, took the full force of the metaphysical shockwave.

He gasped, his hands flying to his chest. A violent, tearing cough ripped through his throat. It sounded as if his lungs were collapsing.

He hunched forward, pressing his white handkerchief to his mouth. When he pulled it away, a massive splatter of dark crimson blood soaked the fabric.

The blood hit the air, and instantly, the cabin smelled different. It wasn't the metallic scent of iron. It smelled like burning ozone, radiating a terrifying, scorching heat.

Eloise's head snapped around. Her eyes widened as she stared at the bloody cloth in Camden's hand.

She could feel it. The blood was practically vibrating with an immense, scorching power-a dominant, sovereign life-force she had only read about in the most ancient, forbidden texts.

Eloise didn't think. She moved.

She lunged across the narrow space and snatched the bloody handkerchief right out of Camden's hand.

Outside the window, Cole saw the sudden movement. He roared in fury, drawing his pistol and aiming it at Eloise's back.

Camden fought through the agonizing pain in his chest. He raised two bloody fingers, giving Cole a sharp, commanding signal to stand down. Cole froze, his gun trembling.

Eloise pressed her index and middle fingers hard into the thickest pool of blood on the handkerchief.

The hot, viscous liquid coated her fingertips. The scorching energy of Camden's blood shot straight through her skin, burning down her meridians.

She spun around and slammed her hands onto Barton's chest.

With one brutal pull, she ripped the sterile hospital gown down the middle, exposing the old man's sunken, gray ribcage.

Eloise held her breath. Her bloody fingers flew across Barton's skin. She drew a complex, ancient rune of "Awakening," her movements precise and aggressive.

As she dragged the final stroke across his sternum, the fresh blood flashed with a faint, dark red luminescence.

"Return!" Eloise shouted.

She slammed her open palm directly onto the center of the blood rune.

A massive, invisible shockwave blasted outward. The kinetic force threw Eloise backward. She slammed hard against the metal wall of the cabin, a sharp grunt escaping her lips as the air was knocked from her lungs.

The cabin fell into a dead, suffocating silence. Only the shrill scream of the flatlining EKG monitor continued to wail.