Chapter Fourteen: Blood That Remembers
"Stop talking," the man growled, but the stranger kept their gaze locked on me.
"You've had the dreams, haven't you?" they asked. "Sand under your nails. Sun that burns black. Towers of earth taller than cities, filled with voices you don't understand."
My stomach twisted. I had never told anyone about those dreams.
The man cursed again, stepping in front of me. "You're not taking her."
The stranger's expression didn't change. "You think this is about possession? I'm here because when the Queen feels that second signal, she'll rip her apart trying to root it out."
"Second signal?" I asked.
The stranger nodded once. "The First Queen's pheromone code — the oldest pattern in the Hive's history. It was supposed to be extinct. Buried in the deep colonies after the Purge War."
"The Purge was a myth," the man said flatly.
The stranger's faint smile sharpened. "That's what they tell the obedient."
I swallowed hard. "So… how did I—"
They stepped closer, their eyes dark and still. "Someone hid it in you. In your bloodline. Probably generations ago. The Queen you just ran from has been trying to find it for decades, because the one who carries it…"
They let the silence stretch until my skin crawled.
"…is the only one who can unbind the Colony."
The man's face went pale. "And kill every Hiveborn alive."