Page 40 of Enslak

"What happens when you wake him?" I asked.

Serna's silence was answer enough.

"Lady Prime." I pressed. "What happens?"

"He rages." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Violent. Uncontrolled. He doesn't recognize us. Doesn't respond to his name. He attacks anyone who comes near."

My hand tightened on Enslak's arm.

Serna moved to the opposite side of the bed, looking down at her son with such profound sadness it made my chest ache. "Each time is the same. He wakes, and within minutes he's trying to kill everyone in the room."

"There has to be something—"

"George has tried everything." Serna's voice was firm but not unkind. "Every technique, every treatment, every therapy the Garoot possess. Nothing reaches him. Whatever the Ulkommenian did to him, whatever walls Enslak built to survive... they're too strong. Too deep."

I looked down at Enslak's peaceful face, remembering how he'd looked at me in the cell. How he'd held my hand. How he'd carried me through the sewers and fought a dozen guards to keep me safe.

"He's in there," I said. "I know he is."

"Perhaps." Serna reached out, her hand hovering over Enslak's face but not quite touching. "But even if he is, we may never reach him."

"Mother," Charick said, his voice deep and resonant. "It's time."

Serna nodded, her expression hardening into something that looked like resolve. "Thank you, Charick."

"Time for what?" I asked, my gaze darting between the three of them.

"Detective Nguyen." Serna's voice was soft. Final. "We're going to try one last time. If he's still—" Her voice broke. "If he's still lost, then tomorrow at dawn, we grant him the koa ukufa."

My stomach dropped. "Lady Prime—"

"This is his last chance," Charick said, moving to stand beside the bed. "And ours."

George appeared from the corner where he'd been monitoring equipment, his large eyes somber as he approached the medical console. "I'll reduce the sedation gradually. But if he becomes violent—"

"We know," Kavak said quietly.

George's fingers moved across the controls. The soft hum of the medical equipment shifted pitch.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then Enslak's body convulsed.

His eyes snapped open—wild, unfocused, burning with primal rage. A sound tore from his throat, something between a roar and a scream, and his massive frame lurched upward against the restraints.

The medical bay erupted into chaos.

Enslak thrashed, claws raking the air, teeth bared in a feral snarl. The restraints groaned under the strain. One snapped with a metallic crack.

"Enslak!" Serna's voice cracked with desperation. "Son, please—"

He didn't hear her. Didn't recognize her. His free arm swung out, claws extended, and Charick barely dodged backward in time.

"George!" Kavak shouted. "Sedate him!"

But I was already moving, pushing past Charick, stepping into Enslak's line of sight.

"Enslak," I said. Not shouting. Just his name.