dark woods. Bryce Hogan opened his eyes to the scream

an leaning over him, sent him sprawling. Syringe and all. The crash of t

someone

d down, the kind with leather restraints they'd used when he was twelve an

at his l

ot that looked like it had been pulled from a garbage bag. It smelled. It smelled lik

ingers, pinching hard, and threw it on the ground. He wante

lready healing. A clean line, surg

the invasion of his body. And then-heat. Unbearable heat, like being subm

meone had cut him open. Someone

as

l. His throat was d

e a linebacker, wearing the expression he always wore when Bryce

e stable. T

gurney. He was naked under the hospital gown, goose

tely. The medical

stood. The room spun. He waited for it to st

sure, heat, the smell of vanilla underneath the chemical stink. And a shape

A skull on her jacket

r argued. He pulled out hi

apped. He tore open six of them and scrubbed his wrist until the skin turned red, then pink,

to the hospital. Full

a chair, his coat ruined, his shirt stained. He dressed anyway, his fingers shaking slightly as he worked the bu

Cash looked back, e

"Variables get eliminated or c

s,

bove, three drones hummed, thermal cameras sweeping the tree line. Beyo

ion. SUVs lined the dirt road, engines run

he tent, at the strip of fabric still lying in the mud. He wo

ack seat. Leath

h stood at

hin a hundred miles. I want all surveillance footage from the last three hours pulled. Get the drone team airbor

we fin

as in there somewhere, or she'd already run. The woman

d. "Alive. I want to know

the road, and the convoy followed, a