Chapter 11: The Miles’ Trial
Mark is called forward to face the next stage of his descent.
In the cold shadows of the warehouse, he’s promoted to Miles—Soldier—but advancement comes with a price. To prove his loyalty, Mark is ordered to punish a frightened teenage recruit, forcing him to relive the same brutal cycle that already haunts his conscience.
As the blows fall and another boy collapses at his feet, Mark earns the cult’s approval… and loses another piece of himself.
Afterward, Victor confronts him with a truth Mark isn’t ready to accept: the cult isn’t just testing him anymore—it’s reshaping him. What began as a mission to save Lily is becoming something darker, something irreversible.
This chapter is a breaking point—where promotion feels like imprisonment, loyalty tastes like blood, and Mark must face the terrifying possibility that he’s no longer pretending to be one of them.
Because the deeper he goes, the harder it becomes to remember who he was.