Semua Bab Fool Me Once: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Cassie’s POVMiranda's hand tightened painfully around my arm, her gun savagely pressing into my ribs. My heartbeats echoed out in fear, my brain wildly thinking as she dragged me hastily into the cold, dark depths of the abandoned warehouse.Hayes and his men shouted after us, their voices fading and becoming distant and then far off, as Miranda closed the door and locked it. We were now surrounded by a silence that was thick and stifling."You've complicated the situation more than you had to, Cassie," Miranda growled, shoving me roughly into a rusted chair. I stumbled, landing hard, agony flashing through me. The air inside the warehouse was stale and heavy, with the smells of mold and rot."Why are you doing this?" I shouted, my anger and fear causing my voice to shake. "Edward's dead, Ethan's on the ground—you have nothing left!"Miranda laughed a harsh, bitter thing, her eyes flashing perilously in the dim moonlight that filtered through shattered windows. "Edward was weak. Etha

Cassie’s POVThe beep of the monitor was the first I recognized, soft and rhythmic, as consistent as a heartbeat. I floated in a spaceless void, suspended between awareness and nothing, warmth enveloping me like a soft promise of silk. Then the burn—sudden and hot—bit into the flesh of my shoulder. Pain pulled me back to the surface, and I gasped."Cassie."Jeffery's voice was husky with feeling. His hand was across mine at once, holding me to his comforting familiarity. I blinked, sight blurring before sharpening into a clear focus on his face—closer, so wrecked."Hey, hey. You're okay," he whispered, sweeping a wet curl off my forehead. "You're here. You're safe."His green eyes were red-rimmed, and his jaw tightened against tight teeth. He was rough, rumpled-looking—hospital scrubs slung over his muscular physique, arms smeared with blood, likely mine. His face, put together as always with that infuriating smirk, was etched with raw desperation."You got shot," he told her, swallow

Cassie’s POVThe sound of popping fire greeted me as soon as we entered the safe house. The acrid smell of smoke hit me next, floating in the cold night air and smacking into my lungs."No," I whispered, taking off in a sprint.Our bunker—our backup, our plan B—was alight. Orange flames streamed from shattered windows, lapping against the sky like an animal gone mad. All of our servers, backups, decoy drives, fail-safes… everything that we had left was on fire.Jeffery cursed with me. His broad shoulders held a taut rigidity, fists clenched, muscles strung tighter than a bow. His shirt clung to him from the chase, the firefight illuminating him in harsh angles that accentuated his chiseled features, making him seem a man cut from combat."She discovered," I worded between gritted teeth. "Langston knew.""Which means there's a leak," Jeffery bit out. "Someone we trust… isn't who they say they are."Hayes arrived a minute later with two tactical agents. His usually expressionless face w

Cassie’s POVIn our temporary headquarters—a low, dark safehouse many miles from the destroyed bunker—I stared at the recovered drive as though it held the world's weight. Maybe it did. This was no longer an issue of proof. This was an issue of taking down a specter—Langston's legacy—and living long enough to share the tale.Jeffery stood behind me, a silent wall of muscle and warmth. His scent was still thick with the smell of ash and sweat from our flight, and the tension in his broad shoulders was palpable. I felt the storm building beneath his skin, and I knew adrenaline had not yet worn off for him. Not yet.I have opened the mirrored files.Encrypted. Of course.Code lines glared at me, smug and impenetrable. But there was something in the signature pattern that. Felt familiar, like a familiar puzzle."I think I've seen this one before," I grumbled.Jeffery edged in closer, his jaw brushing against the side of my cheek. "Where?""Project Marrow," I said to him. "From the moment

Cassie’s POVThe silence was broken by gunfire.It was sharp, deliberate, like punctuation on a sentence written by fate. I huddled low against the overturned table, Jeffery's massive bulk tracking alongside me, gun held ready. The air smelled of smoke and adrenaline. My hands shook—a little—but my aim was true.From where he was standing across the room, Andrew fired back with accuracy that would've made any special forces unit proud. "You two lovebirds mind focusing up?" he yelled, ducking as a bullet tore down the picture frame over his head."Targeted!" I yelled.Jeffery looked at me. His jaw was tight, muscles along his broad shoulders tensed in effort, but his dark, turbulent eyes held onto mine with a stability that pulled me back from the edge. "We prepared for this.""No," I snarled, grinding my teeth. "We've made it this far."A second burst of shots splintered the front windows. Glass exploded like shrapnel, dropping in a deadly hail. I ducked, shielding my eyes with my arm