THE IMPLANT THREAT

Anya sat beside her sister's bed and tried to explain.

"Your name is Katya Volkov. You're twenty-six. Our parents were Aleksandr and Elena Volkov. They died when you were sixteen. You're my sister. My little sister."

Katya stared at her. Blank. No recognition. No memory. Nothing.

"I don't remember any of that," she said quietly. "I don't remember parents. Or you. Or..." Her hands twisted in the sheets. "I don't remember anything. Just waking up here. Nothing before that."

Dr. Chen had confirmed it. Complete retrograde amnesia. The memory centers were intact, physically, but the memories themselves were gone. Erased. The price the magic had demanded.

"Maybe they'll come back," Anya said. Hoping. Desperate. "Sometimes memory loss is temporary. Sometimes..."

"Sometimes it's permanent," Dr. Chen finished gently. "I'm sorry, Anya. But based on what I'm seeing...the way the implants were connected, the trauma from their removal...there's a strong possibility her memories are gone for good."

Gone. Ten years of captivity. But also twenty-six years of life. Childhood memories. Their parents' voices. Everything that made Katya who she was.

Gone.

And it was Anya's fault. She'd agreed to the ritual. She'd told Baba Konstantine to take whatever price was needed.

The magic had taken her sister's past.

"I need air," Anya said. Standing. Moving before she broke. Before she let Katya see her cry.

Outside, the Canadian wilderness stretched forever. Trees and mountains and sky. Beautiful. Indifferent.

Dimitri found her there. Leaning against the cabin wall. Trying to breathe through the guilt.

"It's not your fault," he said.

"Isn't it? I agreed to the ritual. I told the witch to take whatever she needed."

"To save Katya's life. Which you did. She's alive because of you."

"But she doesn't remember me. Doesn't remember our parents. Doesn't remember anything. I saved a body. But the person...my sister...she's gone."

"No." Dimitri turned her. Made her look at him. "The person is still there. Memories don't define us. They shape us, yes. But who we are...that's deeper. That's soul. And your sister's soul is still there."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're still you. Even when you were pretending to be a breeder. Even when you were an operative. Even when you were anything except yourself...you were still you. Still the woman who'd sacrifice everything for family." He touched her face. "Katya will find herself again. Maybe not the same self. But herself."

Anya wanted to believe him. Wanted to think it was possible.

"She's scared of me," she whispered. "She looks at me like I'm a stranger. Because I am. To her, I'm just some woman claiming to be her sister."

"Give her time."

"We don't have time. Project Seventh is hunting us. Eleanor has a bounty on our heads. Every moment we stay here..."

"We're as safe as we can be. Marcus has perimeter security. We have three dozen PMC contractors guarding us. And..." He smiled. Small. Sad. "We have you. The Luna who declared war on a shadow organization. I think we're reasonably protected."

She almost smiled. Almost.

Alexei appeared from the tree line. Moving fast. His face grim.

"We have a problem," he said. "Katya. She's...you need to come. Now."

They ran. Into the cabin. Into Katya's room.

Katya was standing. Facing the window. Her body rigid. Wrong. Moving like a puppet.

"Katya?" Anya approached slowly. "What's wrong?"

Her sister turned. Her eyes, blank. Empty. Not her own.

Then she attacked.

Fast. Professional. The movement of someone trained to kill. Her hands went for Anya's throat.

Anya blocked. Training overriding shock. She caught Katya's wrists. Redirected. Put her sister on the ground. Gentle as possible. Not wanting to hurt her.

"Katya! Stop! It's me!"

But Katya wasn't there. Something else was controlling her. Something...

The implants.

"They're still active," Dr. Chen realized. Horror in her voice. "The physical implants are gone but the neural pathways they created...they're still there. Still accessible. Project Seventh can still send signals. Still control her."

"Turn it off!" Anya was holding her sister down. Katya thrashing. Fighting. Trying to kill her with mechanical efficiency. "Stop the signal!"

"I don't know how! This is beyond anything I've..."

Katya broke free. Grabbed a scalpel from Dr. Chen's medical kit. Came at Anya with murder in her blank eyes.

Dimitri intercepted. Caught Katya's wrist. Twisted. The scalpel clattered away.

Then Katya's body went rigid. Convulsed. Screamed. The signal intensifying. Overloading.

Anya grabbed her sister. Held her. "Katya! Fight it! I know you're in there! Fight it!"

The screaming stopped. Katya collapsed. Unconscious.

Dr. Chen was already checking vitals. "She's stable. But..." She looked at Anya. "This will keep happening. As long as those neural pathways exist, Project Seventh can use them. Can control her. Turn her into a weapon. Or..." Her voice dropped. "Or overload her brain. Kill her remotely."

"Then we remove the pathways," Anya said.

"That's not possible. The pathways are neural connections. Removing them would require surgery so precise..." Dr. Chen stopped. "Actually, it might be possible. But not surgically. You'd need to burn out the pathways. Interrupt the connections. Essentially give her a controlled seizure strong enough to destroy the paths the implants created."

"That could kill her," Alexei pointed out.

"Yes. Or it could free her. Fifty-fifty chance."

"Not good odds," Nikolai muttered.

"Better than certainty she'll be used as a weapon," Anya countered. She looked at Dimitri. "We have to try."

"Anya..."

"What choice do we have? Leave her like this? Let Project Seventh control her? Use her to hurt people? To hurt us?" She gestured to Katya's unconscious form. "She already tried to kill me. Next time she might succeed. Or go after you. Or Alexei. Or Nikolai. Or anyone we're trying to protect."

Silence. Because she was right. They all knew it.

"There might be another option," Dr. Chen said slowly. "The witch. She removed the physical implants. Maybe she can remove the neural pathways too."

"Magic." Dimitri looked skeptical. "You want to use magic again. After what it did the first time?"

"What it did was save Katya's life," Anya said. "Yes, the price was high. But she's alive. And if magic can burn out these pathways...remove Project Seventh's control...then it's worth trying."

"And if the price is worse this time?" Alexei asked. "What if the magic takes more? What if it takes..."

"Then it takes." Anya's voice was final. "I'm not letting my sister be used as a weapon. I'm not letting Project Seventh control her. Whatever the price, I'll pay it."

The bond pulsed. Dimitri felt her determination. Her absolute certainty. Her willingness to sacrifice anything, everything, for family.

"Okay," he said. "We call the witch back. We try the magic. But..." He grabbed Anya's hand. "No more sacrifices without consulting the pack. We're in this together. Your pain is our pain. Your choices affect all of us. Understand?"

She wanted to argue. Wanted to say this was her burden. Her sister. Her responsibility.

But the bond wouldn't let her. Because he was right. They were pack. They were mated. Her choices did affect them all.

"Okay," she agreed. "Together."

Marcus made the call. Baba Konstantine arrived within an hour. As if she'd been waiting. Expecting this.

"The pathways," the witch said, examining Katya. "Yes. I can remove them. Burn them out. Leave her free of technological control."

"What's the price?" Dimitri asked. Blunt. Suspicious.

"Steep. Magic always demands payment. Blood payment. Soul payment." Baba Konstantine looked at Anya. "Last time, the magic took memories. This time..." She smiled. Unpleasant. "This time it will take something else. Something precious."

"What?" Anya demanded.

"I do not know. Magic chooses. But I can tell you this...it will hurt. It will change you. And you may not like what you become after."

"I don't care."

"You should. But..." The witch shrugged. "You will do what you will do. Love makes fools of us all." She started preparing. Candles. Herbs. Symbols drawn in blood. "We perform the ritual at dusk. When the light fades. When the barriers between worlds are thin."

They waited. Hours. Anya stayed with Katya. Watching her sister breathe. Watching for signs that Project Seventh was trying to activate the control again.

"You don't have to do this," Katya said. She'd woken an hour ago. Aware of what was happening. What was planned. "You don't know me. I don't know you. Why risk yourself for a stranger?"

"Because you're not a stranger. You're my sister. And even if you don't remember...even if you never remember....I remember. I remember holding you when you were born. I remember teaching you to read. I remember..." Anya's voice broke. "I remember everything. And that's enough."

Katya was quiet. Then: "Tell me. Tell me about us. About before."

So Anya did. She told stories. Memories. Their childhood in New York. Their parents. The way their father would sing Russian lullabies. The way their mother laughed.

Katya listened. No recognition. But something else. Interest. Hunger. The desire to know who she'd been.

"I wish I remembered," she said finally.

"Maybe you will. Maybe the memories are still there. Buried. Waiting."

"Maybe."

Dusk came. Baba Konstantine called them to the ritual space. Katya laid on the floor. Symbols drawn around her. Candles at cardinal points.

"Everyone out," the witch said. "Except the Luna. She stays. Her blood calls to her sister's blood. Magic requires that connection."

The brothers left. Reluctantly. The bond pulling tight. Dimitri's fear bleeding through. His hatred of being helpless.

Anya stayed. Kneeling beside her sister. Holding her hand.

"Whatever happens," she told Katya, "you're not alone. I'm here. I'll always be here."

The ritual began.

Chanting. In that old language. The language of blood and bone and things that shouldn't exist.

The candles flared. The temperature dropped. Anya felt it, something pulling at her again. Demanding payment.

Take it, she thought. Take whatever you need. Just free her.

The pulling intensified. Pain. Like something was being torn from her core. From her very essence.

She gasped. Held on. Didn't let go of Katya's hand.

The chanting reached crescendo. Katya screamed. Her body arching. Seizing. The neural pathways burning. Dying. Destroyed by magic.

Then silence.

Katya collapsed. Breathing hard. Alive. Free.

Anya tried to stand. Couldn't. Everything hurt. Everything felt wrong. Empty.

"What did you take?" she whispered.

Baba Konstantine was already leaving. "The price is paid. Your sister is free. But you..." She looked back. Her eyes ancient. Knowing. "You will discover what you lost. Soon. Sooner than you'd like."

Then she was gone.

Dimitri burst in. Dropped beside Anya. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"I don't know. I feel..." Wrong. Different. Changed. "Something's missing. But I don't know what."

Dr. Chen checked Katya. "She's stable. The neural pathways are gone. Completely. No way for Project Seventh to send signals. She's free of their control."

"Thank god," Anya breathed.

But the relief was hollow. Because something was wrong. Something inside her had changed. Been taken. And she had no idea what it was.

Only that she'd paid the price.

And hoped it was worth it.