Chapter Twenty-Four: The Command
The sparks crawling over my fingers weren't fire.
They were threads — fine, glowing strands weaving between my knuckles, dancing up my wrists like living light.
The Legion froze. Every single soldier stopped mid-step, their antennae snapping toward me.
"Jess—" the stranger began, but his voice was drowned out by the next pulse.
It wasn't theirs this time.
It was mine.
The threads shot outward, connecting me to the nearest soldier. My vision went white — and then I was inside it, seeing through its faceted eyes, feeling the weight of its armored limbs, sensing the hundreds of others around it like a web of nerves.
—Queen—
The word wasn't just in my head. It was in theirs.
I didn't think. I just willed them to stop.
And they did. Every soldier in the chamber straightened, claws lowering in perfect unison.
Vire's resin blades dripped amber onto the floor. "What did you just do?"
The man stared like I'd grown a second head. "She… took the link. That's not supposed to be possible."
The stranger stepped closer, his expression unreadable. "You didn't just stop them. You overrode the Queen's command."
The soldiers didn't move, didn't even twitch. They stood waiting — for me.
I swallowed hard. "If I can control them, maybe we can—"
The chamber trembled before I could finish. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Vire's eyes widened. "She's coming."
"Who?" I asked, but I already knew.
The real Queen.