lhouette against the hallway light. He had two other Shadow Hawks with him, moving w

rapped a thermal blanket around my shoulders. I was shaking, not just fr

cations room his team had secured. On a monitor, a live feed of John's off

s link. "John, it's Preache

s the hidden camera. "Preacher? What

iron. "You've let the enemy inside the gates. Thorne is a liar. She sabotage

ng with rage. "Vivian is strengthening

e have her, John. She's weak. Malnourished. Yo

guilt, his gaze falling to a picture on his desk-a photo of me and him, smiling, from before the injury

e in her hand. "More good news, darling," she said, her voice bright and ch

d again, the moment of humanity

ance fluctuations. Strange weather patterns, satellite glitches... it's all centered on this facility. Since they put her in that cell, the whole system has been getting unstable. It's

to the cascading error codes on his screen. "He's right, sir," the soldier s

ng with desperation. "Let her go, John. We can get her somew

t of him, a digital storm brewing that mirrore

y, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's a trick. Evelyn is manipulating the network. She's causing

e, and I watched in horror

voice flat and dead. He turned to

it one last time, and then slowly, deliberately, smashed

elf-serving logic. "She used me. She never loved me. She loved t

edside, reading to him, talking to him, willing his mind back from the darkness. I r

ter of a rival company's CEO! Her father's firm lost the defense contract

aid, his voice chillingly calm. "Her unique neural signature is the only thing that can initialize the ne

ian wanted to create. He was going to use my own

-