Chapter 7: The Forbidden Wing

He was the spitting image of the man Reid was turning into. His hair, however, was unkempt, and the smart sportswear had been traded for a plain grey patient’s gown.

His laser-focused eyes remained but were shrouded in a feral, desperate, and uninhibited rage.

He slammed the door again; the noise resonated through the glass with a resounding THUD. He turned toward the observation window, his wild eyes sweeping the darkness behind the glass as if he sensed someone there.

Reid kept watching him.

His lips curled, forming silent, angry words. His face was so like the one Reid knew, and yet entirely different. The face Reid saw through the glass now held the pain and fury of a contained wild beast.

Without warning, a cool, nearby voice spoke from behind him: “He has good days and bad days, Reid. Today is especially bad.”

Reid spun around, his heart leaping into his throat.

Alessandra stood holding two glasses of rich red wine. She hadn’t changed—still perfectly put together—but her face was expressionless. Her dark eyes darted from Reid’s face to the window, where the confined Max resumed his silent, angry pounding. There was no shock, just an icy calm.

"Curiosity is dangerous here," Alessandra whispered, moving in closer. The perfume she wore, dark orchids and something indefinably sharp, filled the air between them. "Especially regarding things that don't concern you." She extended one glass to him. Her fingers touched his as he took it numbly.

The touch jolted through him like electricity. "But since you've seen." she inclined her head, her eyes fastening on his, intense and probing, ".perhaps we should discuss? What you truly desire? Revenge for CipherCore?" She hesitated, her voice falling to a low, intimate whisper. "Or something more?"

"Curiosity is dangerous here," Alessandra whispered, moving in closer. The perfume she wore—dark orchids and something indefinably soft—filled the air between them. "Especially regarding things that don't concern you."

She extended one glass to him, her fingers brushing his as he took it numbly. The touch jolted through him like electricity.

"But since you've seen," she inclined her head, her eyes fastening on his, intense and probing, "perhaps we should discuss what you truly desire—revenge for CipherCore?"

She hesitated, her voice falling to a low, intimate whisper. "Or something more?"

The confined Max pounded his fist on the door once more, a soundless scream against the reinforced metal.

Alessandra’s gaze didn’t waver from Reid’s. “You feel sorry for him, don’t you? Don’t be. He indirectly orchestrated your downfall by facilitating the system that allowed Chloe and Marcus to flourish,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper yet slicing through the muffled thuds.

“Just so you know, Celia and West will throw you away when you’ve served your purpose, just like they threw him away.”

She leaned in a little. The closeness was dizzying. The wine in Reid’s glass shook.

“We could help each other.”

Her lips were alarmingly near his ear. Her breath was warm and inviting. "I know where Max hid the evidence that can ruin Chloe and Marcus. I know the truth about CipherCore's 'flaw'. And I know how to topple Celia and West." She paused, allowing the promises to dangle like a ripe forbidden fruit. "But I need something from you first, Reid. Something only you, as 'Max', can provide."

Before Reid could react to the offer, the betrayal, the heady closeness, or inquire what she required, the world around him exploded into chaos.

Ear-shattering alarms shrieked across the estate, a klaxon wail that rattled the floor. Red emergency lights strobed, painting the hallway and Alessandra’s face in flickering bursts of blood and darkness.

Bricks’s voice, warped and frighteningly amplified, boomed over the PA system in a clipped announcement: “PERIMETER BREACH. EAST WING. ALL SECURITY TO STATIONS. LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED.”

Alessandra’s poise shattered. Genuine fear widened her eyes.

“West’s testing us—or worse! Go!” she spat, snatching the wine glass from Reid’s hand. “Act like Max would—explode, dominate!” She pushed him violently into the main hallway.

Reid staggered, nearly tripping, then caught himself against the wall as pounding footsteps and bellowed orders closed in on the East Wing. He glanced at the steel-reinforced door. Max had gone silent. Was he waiting? Hoping?

Suddenly, Bricks thundered around the corner at a run, more agile than expected. He clutched a heavy pistol low at his side. His icy eyes scanned the corridor and locked onto Reid, who stood frozen by the observation window. Bricks’s gaze flicked to the glass, then back to Reid, his expression hardening into something deadly.

“You!” Bricks bellowed, voice slicing through the alarms. He raised the pistol—just enough to imply intent—and advanced.

“Sterling! Status report. Now!”