FAZER LOGINThe woman who'd wept during injection was now lying on a cot, her body wracked with visible chills. Her temperature, according to the monitor above her bed, was 101.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Her heart rate was elevated. Her respiratory rate was climbing.Psychological stress had evolved into physiological reality.The virus was already replicating."Observe the speed of symptom onset," Elizabeth said, making notes. "Most subjects begin showing measurable physical symptoms within 8-12 hours. The psychological stress accelerates viral replication....the immune system's response to fear hormones actually creates a more permissive environment for the virus."Fear kills faster.That was the implication.The woman's eyes were closed, but her facial muscles were tight with discomfort. Her hands gripped the edges of the cot like she was trying to hold onto something solid while her body betrayed her."Will she experience pain?" Dimitri asked."Significant pain, yes," Elizabeth replied. "Headaches
The facility staff had chosen their test subjects perfectly. People no one would look for. People whose deaths would go unnoticed.One of the six was a woman who looked to be in her fifties. She had gray hair and eyes that were still sharp despite her obvious circumstances. She was looking around the basement with increasing alarm."What is this?" she asked. "What's happening? I was told I'd get a medical exam and a meal....""Please remain calm," a technician said, gesturing her toward one of the injection stations. "You'll be fine. We're conducting a medical study, and you've been selected to participate."A medical study.As if that was all this was.The woman tried to back away. "I don't want to participate. I want to leave."A security guard, the same Torres who'd checked Dimitri in at the gate....stepped forward and took her arm gently but firmly."You're under contract with the facility," Torres said. "As per the documentation you signed, you cannot leave until the study is com
He made it back to his quarters without encountering anyone. His heart was racing, but his hands were steady.One down.He had two more days to place the rest before his cover was likely to blow.Two more days to position enough explosives to burn The Covenant to ash.Dimitri lay in the narrow bed and stared at the ceiling, knowing he wouldn't sleep.Tomorrow, the real work would begin.Tomorrow, he would start documenting the viral progression in detail, which meant he would start understanding exactly how many people were going to die in the next forty-eight hours.And he would have to watch them die without being able to stop it.Because The Covenant had to look like it was operating normally until the moment it exploded.***Monday morning came gray and cold.Dimitri had slept approximately ninety minutes, fragmented and restless, his mind cycling through bomb placements and viral progression timelines and the image of those specimens in the basement cells, their bodies already ra
The virus samples were stored in a reinforced refrigeration unit that looked like it cost more than most people's homes. Dr. Elizabeth entered her access code, and the unit hummed open, revealing dozens of sealed containers organized in a precise grid.Each container was labeled with the viral strain designation and the date of collection.Dimitri studied the setup carefully, committing every detail to memory. The location of the unit. The position relative to the structural support he'd identified in the schematic. The ventilation system that would carry the force of an explosion throughout the facility.This was one of his primary targets."The samples must never leave this room," Elizabeth said firmly. "You'll come in here to conduct your analysis, but everything you observe will be documented and removed from the secure lab. The samples themselves remain secured at all times.""Understood," Dimitri said."Good." Elizabeth locked the unit and led him back out. "Come. Let me show yo
The main entrance was all glass and steel and clinical efficiency. Inside, the walls were painted a soft gray that was supposed to feel calming but actually just felt sterile. The kind of color you'd use if you didn't want people to remember the building afterward.An attractive woman in her early forties sat behind a desk. Her name tag read "MELISSA - SECURITY COORDINATOR.""Dr. Volkov," she said, standing. "Welcome to Covenant. I'm Melissa. I'll be walking you through our security protocols.""Thank you," Dimitri said, and smiled.Melissa handed him a tablet."This is your security orientation," she explained. "It covers facility rules, confidentiality agreements, emergency protocols, and behavioral expectations. You'll need to read it all and sign at the end. Takes approximately twenty minutes."Dimitri took the tablet and began reading.The document was thorough. Facility confidentiality was paramount, discussing any aspect of the research with unauthorized personnel would result
"Hi," Eve said softly from the doorway.Dimitri turned immediately, and when he saw her, something in his expression shifted. The operational hardness softened into something that looked almost vulnerable."Hi," he said, and crossed to her in three strides.He pulled her into his arms, and Eve went willingly, burying her face against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat....steady, but faster than usual. Could feel the tension still running through his entire body from the briefing."Talk to me," she whispered."About what?""About what happens tomorrow. About what you're feeling. About... anything. Everything."Dimitri held her tighter, his chin resting on top of her head."I'm scared," he said, and the admission seemed to cost him something. "Not of pain. Not of death. I'm scared that I won't come back to you. I'm scared that I'll walk into that facility and something will go wrong and you'll be left wondering forever what happened to me."Eve pulled back just enough to look at hi
She had. She really had."When?" she asked. "When do you think... when would you want...?""To marry you?" He smiled. "When the six months are up. When you've had time to truly know what you're choosing. When there's no doubt in either of our minds that this is forever."Four and a half months.Fou
The arousal was shameful and involuntary and made absolutely no logical sense, and it was there regardless, coiled low in her stomach alongside the shock, the two things existing in completely contradictory parallel the way they had since the warehouse.She heard the shower run.She heard it stop.
POV: EVEThree days after Mike left, Eve had started to believe things might actually be okay.Not perfect. Not simple. But okay.Mike had stayed for dinner that first night....had eaten Dimitri's pasta in near silence, had answered Eve's careful questions about London in short sentences, had looke
POV: EVEShe'd moved to the living room by the time the afternoon light started going golden, tucking herself into the corner of the large grey sofa with a different contract....one she was actually managing to read this time and a second coffee that had gone cold twenty minutes ago.Dimitri was in







