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CHAPTER FIFTEEN: AFFIRMATIVE
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
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: COLLATERAL
"You passed my fucking test!"Karina's shriek of excitement bounced off the trees around them, sharp and sudden, and Alex felt something in his chest harden into stone. There was nothing funny about any of this, nothing worth celebrating, and watching her clap her hands together like a child who'd just unwrapped a Christmas present made his blood run hot beneath his bruised skin.His face twisted, anger and disgust pulling at the swollen tissue around his jaw. But the anger wasn't just for her. He'd walked straight into her setup like a blindfolded man and the signs had been there all along. The way she'd pushed him. The way she'd tested him in the clinic. The way she'd smiled when he chose his code name like he'd just solved a puzzle she'd laid out days ago.He should have known."What the fuck do you think I am to set me up?" The words tore out of him, his voice scraping against his throat.Karina's laughter cut off mid-note. She looked at him properly now, really looked, and whatev
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BASIC
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,
CHAPTER TWELVE: RAGE
Alex’s breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving with the aftermath of adrenaline that still surged through his veins like wildfire. The room spun slightly at the edges of his vision, and it took him a long moment to come down from the peak of his panic, to register what he had actually done. His legs still trembled from the force of the kick, and somewhere in the back of his mind a voice whispered that he might have just made the worst mistake of his life.He leaned forward on the bed, craning his neck toward the direction where Karina had fallen, toward the scattered crates and the shadows that clung to the far wall. His heart hammered against his bruised ribs, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the cold dread spreading through his stomach.What if she wasn’t moving?What if he had killed someone?“Hey!” The word burst out of him, sharp and cracking with panic. “Hey, you answer me!”Silence answered him, thick and suffocating, and Alex’s throat tightened until
CHAPTER ELEVEN: ADRELANIN
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
CHAPTER TEN: THE JUNGLE
The hallway smelled like rot and old rain. Alex walked behind the strange tall woman, his boots dragging over wood that creak with every step. The walls were stained, peeling, and stank like something had died behind them a hundred years ago and no one bothered to clean it. It was dark. Too dark. The only light came from a weak bulb flickering far down the corridor, casting shadows that stretched and snapped like fingers.He could hear his own breathing. He could hear hers too. Calm and measured. Like she did this every day."Where are we going?" Alex finally asked, stopping. His voice echoed and died.The woman stopped too. She turned slowly, like she had all the time in the world. She was tall, taller than most men Alex had met, with sharp shoulders under a sharp black coat. Her face was half in shadow, but he caught the curve of her lips. "Are you scared?" she asked.The question hit different. Definitely not mocking, but testing.Alex swallowed. He wasn’t about to look weak in
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