Chapter 245: The Waiting Veyron.
The morning was unusually calm. Birds darted through the air outside the window, their chirping weaving through the growing sounds of the capital waking up, another reminder that this place had somehow kept breathing while everything beyond the walls had turned into ashes.
Sunlight poured through the glass in thick, golden beams, settling warm and heavy across my bare back. I had gotten used to it, this simple luxury of safety and light.
I sat on the edge of Sherry’s bed, shirtless, letting the warmth sink deep into my skin.
Last night had been more than I’d expected. Deeper. Better than the first time, which I hadn’t thought was possible.
My comms buzzed with a missed call from Daphne. I stared at the notification for a long moment before deciding I’d deal with it once I left.
[Twenty-eight days to the Awakening.]
The system arrived right on schedule, cold and precise, yanking me back to reality.
Sherry stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a soft pink towel, a smile already blooming on her face the second she saw me.
"Hope I didn’t keep you waiting."
"Take your time," I said, watching her cross to the wardrobe. "I’ve got nowhere to be."
"Liar." She let the towel drop without hesitation. It pooled at her feet in a soft heap, revealing the smooth lines of her body in the morning light. "You’ve been checking that watch since I got in the shower."
"I was checking the time."
"Mhm." She started sorting through her clothes, completely at ease in her own skin. "That’s what they all say."
I pulled my shirt on slowly. "You’re in a suspiciously good mood this morning."
"Am I?" She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes sparkling with mischief.
"You were humming."
"I don’t hum."
"You were humming."
She pulled out a short maroon dress and turned around, holding it against her body. "The secret," she said, voice playful, "is good sex."
"Is that right."
She crossed the room and slid onto my lap, still completely naked, and kissed me—slow, deep, and deliberate, making her point with every brush of her lips and tongue. Then she stood up like nothing had happened and started dressing. "You should try it sometime."
"Okay," I said, the word coming out rougher than intended.
That small, easy exchange settled like a stone in my chest. Eleanor’s warnings in the white sand camp. The Awakening racing toward every ability user inside these walls. Sherry standing right in front of me, glowing from last night, blissfully unaware she was standing at the dead center of the target.
"I never dreamed about any of this back in Goth," she said, pulling on her underwear. "You know that? You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me."
I didn’t answer. My mind was already somewhere else—racing through every possible route to stopping the Awakening, the system calculating angles and probabilities in the background like a second, relentless brain that never shut off.
"Bram." She turned her back to me. "Little help."
She needed the bra tied. Not because she couldn’t do it herself. Because she’d started getting used to me being here.
"Alright." I tied it with careful fingers, letting my knuckles brush her skin.
"Thanks." She stood up fully. "So am I on this Sinn team or not?"
"No."
"No?"
"I’m only taking people with powerful abilities."
She turned her head slowly, one eyebrow raised. "Powerful?"
"Extremely powerful."
"Last time I checked I was on top of you for two hours straight."
"You’re calling that a combat demonstration?"
"Mhm." She pulled the maroon dress down over her hips with a deliberate sway.
"I was thinking about Code, actually," I said, turning serious.
"Code." She reached for her boots. "He’s good. He’s also completely insane."
"Yeah." Couldn’t argue with either part.
She pulled her boots on with sharp, efficient movements.
***
The streets were alive with energy. Billboards dominated every corner, the new government’s message looping endlessly across massive screens: Abilities for everyone.
Sherry and I walked slowly toward headquarters, her body drifting into mine and away again in that familiar, affectionate way she had—never quite walking in a straight line.
"Just be careful," she said as the CGI building came into view ahead. "You’re building something against the government from inside the government. You see the problem there, right?"
"I don’t think it’s against the government," I said, keeping my tone deliberately light. "I’m working with the top."
"The top." Sherry turned to look at me properly, one eyebrow arched. "We both know Sinn’s a puppet. He’s not Bala."
"Yeah," I said quietly. "I know."
We reached the checkpoint. Two stone-faced guards, a full-body scanner, and the whole new bureaucratic ritual. The revolutionary government had moved fast—everyone now checked coming in and out of a building most of us had been walking into freely just three days ago. The air hummed with low-level tension, the faint buzz of the scanner cutting through the morning chatter.
Sherry came through after me and fell easily back into step beside me, her arm brushing mine.
"They’re insane," she muttered as we crossed the polished lobby toward the main entrance. "We’re ability users. The abilities are the only thing worth being worried about, and they’re patting us down for weapons like we’re common thugs."
"You’re right," I said, the words tasting hollow.
We stepped inside the building proper. The familiar corridors felt different now—sharper, more watchful.
Pauline was back at the reception desk, anchored in the same chair she’d occupied before the building changed hands. She smiled the moment she saw us, warm but professional.
"Morning," we said almost in unison.
"Morning." Her eyes flicked to me and stayed there, something unreadable behind them. "Melissa needs you in her office."
"Me?"
"She’s been waiting."
"Okay."
We kept walking down the long hallway, footsteps echoing off the walls.
"You’re becoming a name around here," Sherry said, nudging me with her elbow, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "The director already knows you personally."
"That’s not something to be proud of," I replied.
Melissa Veyron wanted me for a reason no one had bothered to explain yet, and she was already waiting. The thought settled like cold stone in my gut as we moved deeper into the building.