The air within the abandoned district grew thick with a static charge that made the hair on Kota arms stand up.

  A sudden deep chill settled into the marrow of his bones and his eyes took on a glassy distant quality. He was not looking at the ruins anymore he was looking through them perceiving the world with a clinical predatory sharpness.

  He stopped abruptly his posture rigid as he tilted his head as if listening to a frequency no one else could hear.

  "Girl move faster." Kota said his voice dropping into a flat toneless register. "Someone is getting close."

  Leiya stopped glancing back over her shoulder. She scanned the jagged silhouettes of the decaying buildings and the swirling gray fog that clung to the cracked pavement.

  She saw nothing but the hollow shells of the settlement they were leaving behind.

  "No one is near us Kota." Leiya said her voice shaking slightly. "I have been watching the rear since we left the center. What do you feel? What do you see?"

  Kota did not answer immediately. He turned his head slowly his gaze fixed on the distance with an intensity that made Leiya flinch.

  "I just know." Kota replied his eyes narrowing. "The air is changing. They are coming and they are not coming to talk. Keep moving."

  Leiya felt a knot of worry tighten in her chest. She watched the way he moved too smoothly and too purposefully. She had seen him like this before but it felt different this time more absolute.

  It is the sickness she told herself trying to steady her breathing. It is flaring up again and the pressure of the borderlands is making him lose his grip. She wanted to reach out and touch his arm to pull him back to her but the Yen radiating from him was so hot she pulled her hand away.

  She merely nodded and picked up her pace following the stranger who wore her friend face.

  At the Haven the silence of the grand hall was shattered by the sharp click of boots on stone. The base was carved directly into the mountain range its massive stone halls hanging precariously over the jagged cliff side.

  Kaola stood in the center of the room her chest heaving with indignation as she glared at Kova. The sudden warp through the void had left her nauseous but her anger was a more potent fire.

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  "I cannot believe you." Kaola snapped her voice echoing off the high mountain arches. "Making me travel like that was unnecessary. And making me retreat? We would have caught Kota in literal hours. I had the trail. I had the lead. You pulled me out for nothing."

  Kova stood by a large window looking out at the peaks that pierced the skyline. He remained motionless a silhouette of cold authority against the backdrop of the vertical drop.

  "The fact that you are standing here arguing instead of realizing why you were removed further proves you are not strong enough." Kova said without turning.

  "You were leading a pursuit that was beginning to fracture under your own lack of authority."

  Kaola stepped forward her eyes flashing as she threw her hands up in frustration.

  "How was I supposed to lead a madman? I have never been able to lead him on any mission you and Koma sent us on.

  He is uncontrollable especially since getting that thing!"

  She pointed toward the heavy doors her voice lowering to a sharp hiss.

  "You know what it does to him. You know what it makes him. Leading him is not a task of authority Kova it is an exercise in surviving his presence."

  "Koa already thinks you are not strong enough to handle the weight of this family name." Kova continued his voice steady and cold. "And Hykee? He disregarded everything you had to offer out there. He did not respect your lead because he did not fear your power. A leader without the ability to command respect is just a target."

  "But you are correct he is uncontrollable." Kova said turning slowly. His eyes were like ice devoid of any sibling affection. "But he is a tool and right now he may be a lil too much for you and the others to handle.

  I have a feeling he will do something out there that will make them fail the mission."

  Kaola let out a sharp scoff.

  "So you sent Kana and your loyal servant into that?"

  "I sent them to observe and support." Kova replied his expression unmoving.

  "And another thing for you to process.

  Koma and I have talked. While catching Kota is the goal Koma does not care if he is not brought back either. Dead or alive the error must be corrected. If Hykee burns the world down to find him it makes no difference to the final result."

  Kaola met his gaze with a hard glassy look of her own. She did not flinch at the prospect of the carnage Hykee might cause or the finality of Koma decision.

  "Fine. But i wanted to kill him myself but If that is how the pieces are being moved then so be it.

  But do not expect me to sit quietly while my efforts are discarded."

  Kova began to walk past her toward the door that led deeper into the mountain base. He did not look back as he spoke his voice trailing behind him like a freezing draft.

  "Koma initially wanted to kill you and the twins when he woke up. But I changed his mind."

  Kaola suddenly felt fear as the words kill you echoed in her mind. The air in the grand hall seemed to vanish leaving her gasping in a sudden vacuum of terror.

  Her hard facade crumbled instantly as the reality of her proximity to death took hold. She stood frozen her hands trembling as the cold weight of Kova revelation settled in her gut.

  She watched the door close behind him her breath coming in ragged hitches as she realized just how thin the ice was beneath her feet.