Seraphina's Revenge: A Rebirth In The Apocalypse Novel

Chapter 530: A Little Less Boring

Zubair meant it more as an observation and not a boast.

The words hung between them anyway.

Sera glanced up at him, the smile still there, and something about it made his creature lean forward inside his chest, alert and restless. Not alarmed. Not threatened.

Attentive.

"That’s because you’re very good at removing obstacles," she said lightly.

Zubair exhaled through his nose and shifted his weight, eyes sweeping the land again before he let himself answer her. "It’s because they weren’t prepared."

They never are, his creature added. Humans assume systems protect them. They forget systems are made of bodies.

Psycho laughed quietly behind them, wiping his hands on his pants like he’d just finished a chore. "Prepared or not, that was generous of Bishop. Fifteen. That’s barely a warm-up."

"Which is why I’m bored now," Hattie announced. She sounded genuinely disappointed.

Zubair turned just in time to see her stretching her arms over her head, spine arching as if she’d been sitting too long. Her gaze slid over the field of bodies without slowing, already disengaging.

"That was quick," Lachlan said.

Hattie shrugged. "It always is when people panic. Kneejerk reactions aren’t every pretty to watch. But they can be entertaining..."

She looked at Sera again, head tilting, eyes sharp with curiosity that hadn’t dulled. "You though," she added. "You’re interesting now. You weren’t before."

Sera’s smile turned sly. "I was busy."

"Yes," Hattie agreed. "That tracks."

Zubair felt his creature bristle—not at Hattie, exactly, but at the attention she was giving Sera. It didn’t like eyes lingering too long. Didn’t like unpredictable variables near her.

Hattie must have felt it, because she laughed. "Oh, don’t worry," she said cheerfully. "I’m done with her for now."

"For now," Psycho echoed.

Hattie grinned at him. "Exactly. I’m known to pop into places every so often. Just don’t make any wishes and it might be even longer."

She stepped back, glancing once toward the distant structures behind them, then sighed theatrically. "I don’t think my story is meant to end like this. Something tells me someone is about to do something very stupid, make a wish they will regret, or find out the consequences of words... and I hate missing those moments."

Sera’s brows lifted. "Going back?"

Hattie nodded. "Just to watch."

She waved one hand lazily. "Try not to change too much without me."

Then the air folded in on itself.

No sound. No flash. And then she was suddenly gone.

Zubair let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

Good, the creature muttered. She was distracting. We don’t need to owe a demon anything... let alone her.

"You didn’t like her," Lachlan murmured, still looking at the spot she last stood.

"I liked her just fine," Zubair replied. "I just didn’t like her near Sera."

That earned him a small, knowing look from Lachlan and an exaggerated groan from Psycho.

"Oh gods," Psycho muttered. "Here we go."

Sera didn’t comment. She turned instead, gaze lifting to the open land ahead of them, expression thoughtful in a way that had nothing to do with danger.

"We’re not staying here," she said.

"No," Zubair agreed immediately.

He moved closer to her without thinking, adjusting position the way he always did when they were about to relocate. The creature surged, approving. Good. Movement. Space. She thrives with movement and space to be herself.

"Which way?" Lachlan asked.

Sera didn’t answer right away. She scanned the land, not for roads, not for structures, but for something less visible. Patterns. Pull.

Zubair watched her face and not the world around them.

She’s still riding it, the creature noted. The soul. It hasn’t settled yet. It is giving her indigestion. Shouldn’t have let her eat it if it is going to give her an upset tummy.

"She’ll crash," Zubair murmured, narrowing his eyes.

Not collapse, the creature corrected. Rebalance. Unfortunately, there are no antacids for souls. She is just going to suffer for a little while until it is absorbed.

Sera finally gestured, a loose, unbothered motion that still carried certainty. "That way."

Zubair followed the line of her hand.

Northwest.

He nodded once. " Back to Region O?" he clarified. "Where the nights were a crapshoot?"

Sera smiled at that. "Where the rules blur and I actually made a friend."

Psycho perked up. "That sounds promising."

They moved back toward the car.

Zubair didn’t let Sera open the door herself. He was already there, hand on the handle, checking the frame for heat distortion, blood spray, anything that might have compromised it.

It’s still intact, the creature confirmed. Good.

She slipped into the driver’s seat anyway, boots thumping against the floorboard as she settled in, posture loose and almost playful.

Zubair paused.

She shouldn’t drive, the creature said flatly. She is our passenger princess. Get her snacks, a big drink, blankets, pillows... that ugly toy she likes. But she shouldn’t be driving... let alone driving you.

"She can do what she wants. Even if it does bother your delicate sensibilities." Zubair glanced at her profile. The faint hum under her skin hadn’t faded yet. If anything, it was brighter, contained but very much alive.

Suddenly, he thought that his creature might have a point. "Sera," he called out.

She looked at him, eyes sharp. "Yes?"

"Let me drive. You take out Oogie Boogie and a blanket and get comfortable."

She considered him for half a second, then shrugged and slid over without argument. "Fine."

Zubair took the driver’s seat.

The creature relaxed marginally. Good. Control is care.

They pulled away from the site, leaving the churned earth and broken bodies behind without ceremony. No one looked back.

The land rose and fell in shallow waves as they drove, vegetation thinning, then changing texture. Old markers dotted the landscape—collapsed fences, rusted pylons, the remains of signs whose words had long since peeled away.

Lachlan watched the terrain like he was memorizing it. "People won’t follow easily out here."

"No," Zubair agreed. "It doesn’t funnel."

"Which means that we are either going to have a really quiet drive... or shit is going to hit the fan in a completely new way," Psycho added.

"I vote for option two," Sera called out, a slight smile on her face.

Zubair’s grip tightened on the wheel.

She’s buoyant, the creature warned. That can turn reckless.

"She’s happy," Zubair said quietly.

Happy is not safe.

"No," he agreed. "But it’s allowed."

The creature fell silent for a moment.

Then: She still needs food. Not hunger, not yet. But soon. Find her some chocolate or something.

Zubair nodded once to himself, already adjusting the route in his head.

They crested a rise and dropped into a shallow basin where the land felt... thinner. Not dangerous. Just different. Sound didn’t carry the same way. Distance played tricks on perspective.

Sera leaned forward slightly, interest sharpening. "This feels closer."

"Yes," Zubair said.

Closer to what?

He didn’t answer the creature.

The car slowed naturally as the terrain grew less predictable, the ground uneven in ways that didn’t match erosion patterns. Zubair adjusted course again, instinct more than logic guiding him now.

Lachlan shifted, uneasy. "Something’s off."

Sera smiled. "Good. At least life won’t be boring."