As I made my way toward the dismembered and armless demon, amidst the significant amount of blood covering the terrain, I observed that the wounds had been expertly cauterized.

“Looks like the swarm has finally come.”

Mara showed up forty-six minutes after the psychic spike in the ops room, her arrival flagged by three separate security sensors and the sudden hush that rippled through the hallway as she passed. She wore the field uniform this time—utility jacket, tactical pants, no badge—but she didn’t look like she’d come from a fight. She looked like the fight was still in her, waiting for someone to make a mistake.