The fist came hurtling toward Alex’s face like a wind. Time bent sideways. The world around him twisted. He watched his own dismissal barrel toward him, knuckles-first, and for one stretched-out heartbeat he was certain this was it.His body moved before his mind could catch up.Alex twisted his head, neck craning hard to the right, and the blow that should have shattered bone only grazed his cheek instead. Pain bloomed hot and immediate across his skin, a sharp stinging burst that sent his thoughts scattering. He stumbled backward two steps, heart slamming against his ribs like it wanted out.His ears filled with ringing. His jaw throbbed from a hit that hadn’t even landed square.JJ was already grinning, rolling his shoulders loose. “Got some reflexes,” he said, and the words came out lazy, almost bored, like Alex was a minor amusement between more important things.Alex pressed the back of his hand to his lip. It came away slick with blood. Fear shot through with effect and benea

NEXT MORNING*The cold hit Alex before his eyes even opened. He stretched his arms out and heard his bones crack, one after the other. A tired groan slipped out. His whole body felt like it had been beaten with sticks. Because it had.It was morning. Finally.And Karina did exactly what she promised last night. First thing, in the morning, he had woken him up, even though she knew he is week as hell. "Basic training," she had said. "Outside. In the woods."He pushed himself up from the clinic bed, every muscle screaming. But he couldn’t slack off. Slacking meant you were dead in this place. He wore a simple neck top and a gray joggers. He stepped through the gates and saw her waiting.Karina was in a black body-hugging training suit this time. No nurse scrubs. Her hair was tied back, and she looked different. Sharper. Less soft, but more dangerous."You seem fine," she said, watching him.Alex sucked his teeth. "My whole body aches badly."She chuckled and stopped inches from him,

The words hit Alex like a physical blow, and for a long moment he couldn't find his voice. He could only stare at the space in front of him, his mind struggling to process the revelations that had crashed down on him in the last ten minutes. His body was here, standing in this warehouse full of weapons, but his thoughts kept circling back to the same cold truth: he was collateral.His body and life. Reduced to a line item in the circuit's accounting books.His face hardened. The muscles along his jaw tightened until they ached, and something behind his eyes went very still.Karina watched the transformation happen in real time. She set the dagger she'd been holding back on its shelf with deliberate care, her movements slow and non-threatening. "I know you said not to test you again." Her voice had dropped its usual mocking edge, trading it for something almost conciliatory. "But I promise, this is the last one. And it's very important. I can't let it fail."Alex loosened his shoulders

The words came out steadier than he felt. He released her hips and took a step backward, putting distance between them that his body immediately resented. Karina stared at him for a long moment. Her chest rose and fell faster than normal, her lips slightly parted, her hair mussed from where his hands had been. Then she laughed. This time it wasn't the strange stuttering sound from the clinic, it was softer, more genuine, a real laugh that caught Alex off guard."Interesting." She smoothed down her top with deliberate, unhurried movements. "Most men wouldn't have stopped.""I'm not most men.""No." Her smile returned, sharp and knowing, but something different flickered behind it now. Something that looked almost like respect. "No, I'm starting to see that."She turned away from him and walked back to the table, picking up the duffel bag and beginning to repack the weapons with her usual brisk efficiency. Her hands moved quickly, sliding the Glock into its case, wrapping the dagger in

The silence in the clinic pressed against Alex’s ears, for more than enough. He found the couch without meaning to, his legs folding beneath him as if the strings holding him upright had been cut. The cushions yielded under his weight, but it seems a thong had grown in them overnight. The couch had become a bed of thorns, and no matter how he positioned himself, the discomfort burrowed deeper into his bones. Sweat beaded along his hairline despite the evening chill seeping through the clinic walls. His shirt clung to his back, damp and cold, and when he raised a hand to wipe his forehead, his fingers came away trembling. He didn’t know what to do. The thought circled his skull like a trapped bird, battering itself against the inside of his temples. Where was he supposed to go? Who was he supposed to talk to? The automated voice on Karina’s phone had given him nothing—no location, no instructions, no hint of where to find this “circuit rule” or what passing it would require. H