7 Seconds Criminal Minds Novels & Stories

Seven renewal certificates. Every single one had my signature and Corbin's. A note from Maya was clipped to the top: "He thought collecting all seven would summon you back like some kind of twisted fairy tale." I stared at the documents, and a slow smile spread across my face. Fated mates? If seven rejections could still be called fate, then nothing in this world was an accident. I gently pressed the call button on the phone. "How may I help you?" the bellhop asked, returning quickly.

"Blind spot opens in ninety seconds." Ethan's heart hammered against his ribs. He gripped the PSS pistol at his hip, forcing his breathing to stay even despite the adrenaline flooding his system. "Looping the feed now," Kim murmured, fingers moving across her screen. "You've got your window in fifteen seconds." They moved.

After returning home, I went straight to the basement without uttering a single word. When the last bit of light above my head disappeared, all I could see was darkness. According to what I'd read, a person could only be driven to the brink of death after going seven days without food or water. Thus, I hoped they would lock me up for seven days. That way, I should be able to bypass the system and finally die. Every day, I relied on the voices outside to determine the time. By the sixth day, I was already so weak from hunger that I could barely move.

The guard studied me for a long moment. Then he reached for his radio. I stood at those gates and I did not fidget and I did not look away and my wolf stood straight inside me for the first time in seven years. The radio crackled. The guard looked up. Alpha Rhys says to bring her in, he said. He did not sound surprised. And that was the part that should have reassured me. It did not.

Time. A mole. I kept the thought behind my teeth. Announcing a traitor inside a pack that was already fracturing from Caleb's mate drama and the Alpha's absence would cause panic. Panic made people stupid. Stupid got people killed. Theo arrived thirty seconds after I called. He looked at the chair. The cut restraints. The empty basement. His face didn't change but I could see his mind working behind those dark eyes. Cataloging. Calculating. Building a list of suspects with the cold efficiency of a man who trusted numbers more than people.

Scarlett clicked open the full file. The terminal whirred softly. A new document appeared. Transfer Notes Confidential Her eyes scanned the text. Subject Seven demonstrates exceptional early cognitive response and adaptive emotional resilience. The maternal guardian insists transfer is necessary for long-term protection. Protection. Her breath caught. Protection from what? Dominic leaned closer. "There's another page." Scarlett opened it. A recorded voice file blinked on the screen. Her heart slammed against her ribs. The date was fifteen years old. Her trembling finger pressed play.

“Private how?” “Just hit play.” They played it. The video started and yeah it was exactly what they thought was. Me and Aiden in that hotel room. His voice came through the speakers all shaky and scared saying stop and please and I felt my face burn hot. Ethan made this choking sound behind me like he just swallowed something bad. Chris went completely quiet which was worse. “Turn the volume up,” the bald detective said. I wanted to crawl under the table. But then it happened. The hotel clock showed clearly on the wall and that chime sound went off. Loud and everything. The time was right there. Then it chimed again a bit later. The detectives paused it and looked at each other.

The seventy-two hours were already counting and there was a silver-haired woman somewhere in the city who had pressed a signal device in a stone arena like she was placing an order, calm and certain, because she had never had to hurry before and didn't plan to start now. Voluntary assessment. I set the glass down harder than I meant to. Fen didn't flinch. He just glanced up briefly and then back down at the vegetable There was something in the steadiness of that — a seventeen-year-old kid cutting carrots while the person standing at his counter had a seventy-two hour execution window — that made something in my chest go very quiet. "Do you know who I am," I asked him. He looked up. "Yes." "A

I muttered as I open the pack of cortexes and pull out the mini bomb Caleb gave me to use. I open the door and peek outside, the rude security isn't standing there, so I walk further out calmly and turn left, walking into the middle of the room, I push on the button on the boom and watch as the timer comes on and reads”12:56”. I have 12 minutes and 56 seconds to get to the next warehouse. I also stick the camera right next to the bomb and turn to walk off immediately. Further down the hall, the rude security comes into view, “What were you doing back there?”

Hearing their support, Lucius became completely lost in his own power trip. He walked to the front of the stage and, facing everyone, declared in a booming voice: "By the authority of the Alliance Chairman, and invoking the ancient laws, I find the criminal Clara Winters guilty of promiscuity, deceit, and treason!" He paused, a cruel glint in his eye. "I sentence her and the bastard in her womb to—" Just as he was about to say the words "death by fire," a calm voice cut him off. "Wait." I slowly rose from my seat. My gaze swept across the hall, finally landing on his stunned face. "Chairman. Have you... forgotten something?"