LOGIN"You think I'm the mole?" Cove's voice was barely a whisper. His face was pale. His hands were shaking. Eli stood across from him in the living room of the penthouse. The city lights flickered outside the windows. The room was cold. Silent. Heavy. "I don't know what to think," Eli said. "You think I've been triggering your attacks? You think I've been hurting you?" "The evidence says otherwise." "The evidence is wrong." "Then explain it to me. Explain why your login was used. Explain why the signal is coming from your terminal. Explain why you've been lying to me from the beginning." Cove stepped closer. His eyes were desperate. "I've never lied to you. Not about this. Not about anything that matters." "You lied about my mother. You lied about the fire. You lied about the second file." "That was different." "How?" "I was trying to protect you." "You keep saying that. But protection isn't the same as honesty." Cove grabbed his arm. "Eli, listen to me. I would never hurt yo
"You're lying."The words hung in the air like a blade. Eli stood in the middle of Adrian's apartment, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes blazing. Adrian stood across from him, his face pale, his hands raised in surrender."I'm not lying," Adrian said."You're lying. You have to be.""I'm not. I swear to you. I'm not.""Then who?" Eli stepped closer. "Who's controlling the network? Who's been triggering my attacks? Who's been using your access?""I don't know.""You don't know?""I swear. I disabled the device. I thought it was over. But someone else must have access.""Who else could have access? The network was yours. The codes were yours. The trigger was yours.""I shared it. With one person. Someone I trusted.""Who?"Adrian hesitated."Adrian. Who?""Lena."Eli froze. "What?""Lena. I gave her access. Months ago. Before everything went wrong. Before I knew what the trigger was really for.""You gave Lena access to the trigger?""I gave her access to the network. She was he
The device was hidden behind the wall.Eli found it three days after they returned from Switzerland. He wasn't looking for it. He was looking for answers. He was tearing apart the penthouse, room by room, searching for anything Victor Voss might have left behind. Anything that could explain the frequency. The trigger. The thing that turned him into a weapon.And then he found it.A small black box. No bigger than a deck of cards. Wires running into the walls. A faint red light blinking in the darkness."What the hell," Eli whispered.He pulled it out carefully. The wires resisted. He followed them. They ran through the walls. Through the floors. Through the entire penthouse."Eli? What are you doing?"Cove's voice came from the hallway. Eli didn't answer. He just stared at the box."Eli.""I found something."Cove appeared in the doorway. He saw the box. His face went pale."What is that?""I don't know. But it's connected to the whole building.""Put it down.""No.""Eli, put it down
Marcus Thorne was not what Eli expected. He lived in a small apartment above a laundromat in the worst part of the city. The building was old. The stairs creaked. The hallway smelled like bleach and mold. Eli knocked on the door three times. No answer. He knocked again. "Go away." "I'm not going anywhere." "I said go away." "I'm not leaving until you talk to me." Silence. Then the sound of locks turning. Three of them. The door opened a crack. A face appeared. Old. Tired. Scarred. Eyes that had seen too much. "Who are you?" "My name is Eli. Eli Reyes." The man's eyes widened. "Reyes?" "Yes." "Sarah's boy?" Eli froze. "You knew my mother?" Marcus was quiet for a long moment. Then he opened the door wider. "Come in. Quickly." Eli stepped inside. The apartment was small. Cluttered. Books everywhere. Papers stacked on every surface. A single lamp burned in the corner. Marcus sat down in an old armchair. He gestured for Eli to sit. Eli didn't. "You knew my mother," Eli said.
The list was twelve pages long. Eli sat in the hospital room, the papers spread across his lap, his hands trembling. Sophia sat across from him, her legs crossed, her face pale but steady. Cove stood by the window, arms crossed, watching. "Twelve pages," Eli whispered. "Twelve pages of names." "Twelve pages of children," Sophia corrected. "Children Victor Voss experimented on. Children he destroyed." Eli looked at the first page. Names. Dates of birth. Dates of death. Some were as young as three. Some as old as twelve. "They were just kids," Eli said. "They were weapons," Sophia said. "Or they were supposed to be. Victor wanted an army. An army of sleeper agents. People he could control. People who would kill without question." "And you were one of them." "I was one of them. You were one of them. Everyone on this list was one of them." Eli flipped through the pages. So many names. So many lives. So many deaths. "How many survived?" "Eleven. Including us." "Where are they no
The woman in the bed was not Adrian. Eli blinked. His vision was blurry. His head was pounding. But he could see her clearly enough. Dark hair. Pale skin. Eyes that were wide with fear. She looked young. Maybe twenty. Maybe younger. She was hooked up to machines. The same machines Eli was hooked up to. "Who are you?" Eli asked. The woman flinched. She looked at Cove. Then at Dr. Schmidt. Then back at Eli. "I'm Sophia," she whispered. "I'm the donor." Eli stared at her. "You're not Adrian." "Who's Adrian?" "My brother. Or... someone I thought was my brother." Sophia shook her head. "I don't know any Adrian. I've been here for three years. I haven't seen anyone." Cove stepped forward. "You've been here for three years?" "Yes." "Why?" "Because I'm sick. Like him." She pointed at Eli. "The same disorder. The same curse." Eli's heart stopped. "You have it too?" "Yes." "How?" "Victor Voss. He did this to me. To my family. To everyone." Cove's jaw tightened. "You're one of hi
Eli woke to sunlight.For one disorienting moment, he thought the entire nightmare had been just that a nightmare. But the ache in his wrists, the soreness in his shoulders, and the faint bruises blooming across his skin told a different story. He bolted upright in the massive bed, heart hammering,
Eli’s world had vanished.The darkness was absolute no faint glow from the city skyline through the windows, no sliver of light beneath a door, nothing. It pressed against his eyes like a living thing, thick and suffocating. His chest heaved as panic clawed its way up his throat, raw and primal. Th
Eli couldn’t look away.Cove Voss stood barely three feet in front of him, larger than life and twice as terrifying in person. The penthouse lights cast sharp shadows across his face, highlighting the ruthless cut of his jaw and the storm-gray eyes that seemed to strip Eli bare without mercy. Up cl
The first thing Eli noticed was the taste of blood in his mouth.His head throbbed like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull. He tried to move, but thick zip ties bit into his wrists behind his back, and his ankles were bound so tightly his feet had gone numb. A rough cloth blindfold press







