LOGINANDREA “We need a real plan,” Logan said, his finger tapping restlessly against the table. “No more playing it safe.” He was right. Because of me, they had been holding back, afraid of putting me in danger. And now my face was on every news channel, labeled a domestic terrorist. I had passed out from exhaustion after the long trip and the shocking news. The guys waited until I was asleep before having this conversation. “We have an advantage,” Reid said. “He doesn’t know what we got from the drive. We can assume he didn’t access the data before we did. We use it.” “But we never had anything solid on him before,” Drew asked, clearly frustrated. “How does this help now?” Reid pressed a button, and a list of names appeared on the screen. “We have enough now. These are his known associates from before his arrest. Most of them have resurfaced in the past year.” He looked at Logan. “He’s rebuilding his empire, pulling in old contacts.” Logan scanned the list and inhaled sharp
ANDREA Getting inside was almost too easy. The guard barely glanced at me as he scanned me over, his expression bored before he waved me through. I let out a slow breath and stepped past the second set of double doors. Wow. My parents had built something impressive here. If only they could see me now, stepping into their world as an adult. A familiar ache pressed against my ribs, but I shoved it down. Focus. Now isn’t the time. A sign pointed toward the West Wing with an arrow leading to the staircase. I squared my shoulders and walked with purpose, pretending I belonged here. “Still clear?” Reid’s voice crackled softly in my ear. I nearly jumped at the sudden sound but quickly steadied myself. “Yeah. No one’s stopped me yet,” I murmured, scanning the area. The stairs were sleek steel and glass. My footsteps were nearly silent as I climbed. “We’re watching. Keep us updated,” Reid said before the line went quiet again. At the top, I turned left like Logan had instructed
KILLIAN I couldn’t sleep. Knowing Andrea was only inches away from me kept my mind wide awake. I checked the clock on the wall.. three in the morning. We had to be up in three hours. I resisted the urge to sigh. Heavy breathing came from Drew and Reid’s bed. They had passed out hours ago. Andrea had fallen asleep shortly after them. Austin lay with an arm over his eyes, breathing steady. Logan sat in the corner, one finger tapping lightly on the armrest while he scrolled through his phone. “That’s why I had you sleep next to her,” his quiet voice cut through the darkness, low enough not to wake anyone. “What?” I raised an eyebrow in his direction. I wasn’t surprised he’d noticed I was still awake. “You have self-control,” he said, setting his phone down and looking straight at me. Moonlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, giving just enough light to see each other. “I don’t know what you mean,” I replied, pretending ignorance. But I knew exactly what he was talk
ANDREA “It’s pretty simple,” Reid explains, holding up a black flash drive. “You plug this into the main server in the office. I designed it so that once it’s inserted, it bypasses all encryption and firewalls and starts pulling classified files.” I listen carefully to every word. I need this to go right for all of us. “So I just plug it in and it does everything?” I confirm. He nods. “More or less. The transfer won’t be instant though. Depending on their security layers, it could take anywhere from one to five minutes. A recent firewall update could slow it down even more.” Killian leans in from my other side. “The drive handles the hacking. Your job is to stay calm, keep watch, and make sure no one catches you. Once it’s plugged in, a progress bar will appear. Just wait until it finishes.” “What if someone walks in?” I ask, looking up into his mismatched eyes. “You pull the drive and get out immediately,” he says seriously. “We lose the data, but your safety comes
ANDREA The silence after reading the message was suffocating. My fingers tightened in my lap as my heartbeat thundered in my ears. I glanced at Logan. His face was unreadable, but the tension in his jaw and the way his fingers twitched against the table gave him away. Across from him, Reid leaned back with his lips pressed together, his usual smirk completely gone. Killian spoke first. “It’s a taunt,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “He’s just trying to get in our heads.” Austin exhaled through his nose. “And it’s working.” My eyes flicked between them, suspicion growing. “What does he mean by ‘what he taught you’?” I asked. “Why does he sound like he knows exactly how you’ll respond?” No one answered right away. Reid ran a hand over his jaw and exhaled. “Because he does.” My stomach tightened. I looked at Logan, who was still staring at the screen like it was carved from stone. The question slipped out before I could stop it. “How well do you
ANDREAThe air was thick and stifling with heat and exertion. Sweat slicked my skin as I slammed into the mat again. My breath came out sharp and ragged, pain radiating through my back from the impact. Above me, Logan moved slowly, deliberately, like he had all the time in the world. He’d been training me relentlessly. I blinked up at him, chest heaving. The way he looked at me made my stomach tighten. He stood over me, head tilted slightly, dark eyes burning with something intense I didn’t want to name. “You hesitated,” he murmured, voice low and lethal. I swallowed hard, the motion making me hyper-aware of my pulse hammering in my throat. He was still too close, watching me like he was waiting for me to make another mistake. “You do that in the real world,” he breathed, leaning down so his breath ghosted across my cheek, “and you die.” His lips twitched into the faintest, cruelest smirk. “Or,” he added, voice a dark promise, “something worse happens.” God.A shiver ran down
ANDREA AGE 16I close the front door behind me and slip off my tennis shoes, setting them neatly against the wall. Practice ran late, so I'm getting home later than usual. Nobody texted to ask where I was, which is a relief. I hope no one noticed.The house is quiet as I make my way to the kitchen.
ANDREA AGE 15The plane touches down smoothly, the descent gentler than I expected. The flight itself was mostly uneventful.. everyone else slept through nearly all of it. Not me. It was my first time on a plane, and I was terrified the entire way.When the captain gives the all-clear, I let out a
ANDREA AGE 13"Your progress is phenomenal," Hailey, my therapist, says.I want to believe her. I want to feel like I've actually been moving forward. But I don't. I still can't think about a basement without my chest seizing up. How is that progress?I hold her gaze, searching for the right words.
ANDREA AGE 12 POVIt's dark and cold. I can't feel my wrists or my arms. I'm not sure I remember what feeling anything is like anymore. My parents locked me down here because they believe I'm evil, that keeping me hidden is how they protect the world from whatever they think I am.The sound of the







