OP Absorption
Chapter 70: Loyalty

Chapter 70: Loyalty

The smell of slightly overcooked rice and fried meat filled the kitchen.

Meg slammed the lid onto a brightly colored lunchbox, harder than necessary. "Stupid Fin," she muttered under her breath, shoving it into a carry bag. "Nearly dies, comes back acting weird, gets himself broken again..."

Worry gnawed at her. The way he looked in that hospital bed... pale, bandaged, but those eyes. Blank. Like someone had scooped out the real Fin and left an empty shell.

"Maybe I should just lock him in the basement," she grumbled, grabbing her keys. "Can’t get hurt if he never leaves the house. Stupid, reckless idiot."

She sighed, the anger deflating into exhaustion. He scared her. He scared her so badly.

She opened the apartment door, ready to face the drizzle and the trip across the city.

And froze.

Standing directly outside her door, blocking the way, were two figures. They were massive, easily topping seven feet, broad-shouldered and radiating quiet menace. They wore immaculate black suits that strained slightly against inhumanly thick muscles. Faint traces of fur bristled at their collars and cuffs. Sharp claws rested lightly at their sides.

Beastmen. In suits.

Behind them, emerging from her car light like a spider from its web, was a woman. Crimson silk dress. Dark, sharp eyes that seemed to see straight through Meg. A polite, cold smile that didn’t touch those eyes.

Rowena.

Meg’s stomach plummeted. She didn’t know how this woman knew where she lived, or why she radiated danger far beyond the imposing beastmen, but instinct screamed. Primal terror seized her.

Her hand, already near her pocket, fumbled for the simple, cheap-looking watch Fin had given her. ’Press this if you’re ever in real trouble,’ he’d said, his voice strangely serious. ’Day or night. Doesn’t matter.’

She hadn’t thought anything of it then. Just another weird Fin thing.

Now, her thumb slammed down on the small, hidden button on the side of the watch face. A desperate, reflexive action born of pure fear.

Rowena glided forward, the beastmen parting silently to let her pass. She stopped directly in front of Meg, her smile widening fractionally.

"Hello, dear," her voice was soft, melodic, utterly chilling. "Mind if I come in?"

It wasn’t a request.

---

The hospital room was quiet, sterile. Fin lay still, staring at the ceiling, processing. Admins. Outer Gods. Dominance Mark.

His phone, resting on the bedside table, vibrated once. A specific pattern. Urgent.

He glanced at it. A single notification glowed on the screen.

**Distress Signal Received: MEG**

The cold logic shattered. The blank mask cracked.

Something old, and fiercely protective, surged through the layers of absorbed power and chilling knowledge.

Meg.

"Dammit," he breathed, the word a low growl. Green energy flared momentarily in his eyes before settling back to brown. He sat bolt upright, ignoring the pull of IV lines, the phantom ache of simulated injuries.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"If they harm her..."

The thought remained unfinished. The implication hung heavy, thick with lethal intent.

He didn’t bother with the door. He crossed the room in two silent strides and launched himself straight through the closed window.

Glass exploded outwards into the cool air.

He fell. Six stories tumbled past in a blur of brick and distant streetlights.

On the street below, late-night pedestrians gasped, phones whipping out instinctively. A sudden flash of light, a body plummeting—

He landed.

Not a crash. Not a bone-jarring impact.

He landed in a crouch on the wet pavement, knees bent, one hand touching the ground for balance. The impact sent a ripple through the puddles, but was otherwise impossibly silent. He rose smoothly, ignoring the gasps, the shouts, the phones capturing impossible footage.

Green energy flared around his legs, visible even in the dim light.

Then he was gone.

WHOOSH.

He became a streaking blur, a phantom tearing through the rain-slicked city streets faster than any car, faster than thought. Streetlights zipped past like tracer fire. Buildings melted into indistinct shapes. The sound barrier groaned, threatening to crack under his impossible velocity.

Home. Meg. Protect.

The thoughts hammered in time with his impossibly rapid heart beat.

He didn’t care about the Guild, the Association, the Admins, the secrets. He didn’t care about the power thrumming through his veins.

He only cared about getting there. Now.

And the poor bastards who might be waiting for him.

---

The door closed softly behind Meg, sealing her inside with Rowena and her two hulking shadows.

She glided past Meg into the small living room, surveying the space with faint disdain. "Quaint," she murmured, running a finger along a dusty bookshelf. The beastmen remained by the door, silent, immovable mountains of muscle and menace.

She turned, her polite smile firmly back in place, though it did nothing to lessen the chill in the air. "Please, sit," she invited, gesturing towards a char as if she owned the place. Meg remained standing defiantly near the doorway.

"I prefer to stand," she bit out, crossing her arms tightly. Fear still clawed at her, but anger was starting to burn through it. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Just a few questions about your friend," she said smoothly, ignoring Meg’s hostility. "Fin Carver. A remarkable young man, wouldn’t you agree?"

"Get out of my house."

Rowena chuckled softly, a sound like ice shards clinking together. "Now, now. No need for unpleasantness. Tell me, dear, when did you first notice his... abilities? When did he Awaken?"

Meg glared, silent.

"Was it recently? Years back, perhaps? When you both lived in the slums?" She tapped a thoughtful finger against her chin. "Where did it happen? What triggered it?"

"Piss off," Meg snapped.

Rowena’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes hardened slightly. "Such loyalty. Admirable, in a simple sort of way." She took a step closer, her voice dropping. "I wonder how much pain it would take to break it?"

The threat hung heavy in the air, unspoken but terrifyingly clear. Meg tensed, bracing herself.

CRASH!

The front door didn’t just open; it exploded inwards, ripped from its hinges, splinters flying across the room.

A blur of motion resolved into Fin, standing amidst the wreckage of the doorway. His eyes, no longer blank but burning with cold fury, locked onto Rowena instantly. The bandages were gone, his hospital gown replaced by his usual worn gear, somehow retrieved. Green energy flickered faintly around him.

He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t speak.

He launched himself across the room, faster than humanly possible, his hand outstretched, aiming straight for Rowena’s throat.

CLANG!

The two beastmen moved with startling speed, intercepting him simultaneously. Thick, furred arms blocked his path, absorbing the kinetic force of his charge with barely a grunt. He slammed into an immovable wall of muscle and tailored suit fabric.

He pushed back, staggering slightly, the green energy around him flaring brighter.

Rowena watched the brief, violent exchange without flinching. She smoothed a non-existent wrinkle from her silk sleeve.

She looked Fin up and down, taking in his furious expression, his obvious speed and power, the lack of any visible injury.

A slow, smug smile spread across her face.

"Memory loss, hmm?" she asked, her voice dripping with condescending amusement. "You seem to have made a remarkable recovery, Hunter Carver."