Chapter 13 - Adrian VossThe vault was beneath the facility.
The door was enormous.
Six locks.
Three biometric scans.
A keypad.
Vincent looked at me.
"You don't have to go inside."
"My sister is there."
"I'll get her."
"No."
He stared.
"I know what he wants."
"Do you?"
"Me."
Vincent sighed.
"You shouldn't have to be brave."
"I don't feel brave."
"Good."
He looked at the door.
"Fear keeps you alive."
The vault opened.
Inside was a circular room filled with shelves.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
Names.
Dates.
Lives.
My life.
A man stood at the center.
He turned.
For one second I thought I was looking into a mirror.
He had my mother's eyes.
My forehead.
The same small crease between the eyebrows.
He looked at me with something I had never seen from an adult.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
"Lena."
I didn't move.
"Where is Maya?"
He smiled.
"Safe."
"Luca?"
"Also safe."
"Give them to me."
"Not yet."
Vincent raised his gun.
Adrian didn't move.
"You still point weapons at family."
Vincent's face hardened.
"She isn't your family."
Adrian looked at me.
"Tell him."
I said nothing.
He smiled.
"Smart."
I looked around.
"Why did you leave us?"
"I didn't."
"Then why wasn't I raised by you?"
"Because I was supposed to be dead."
"By the Ravens?"
"By Vincent."
I looked at Vincent.
He didn't deny it.
Adrian continued.
"Your mother thought she could trust him."
"I saved her."
"You hunted her."
"I hunted you."
Adrian laughed.
"Exactly."
I felt trapped between them.
"Which one of you is lying?"
"Both."
Vincent said it quietly.
Adrian looked at him.
"At least you're honest now."
He walked to a shelf.
He pulled down a small box.
Inside was a hospital photograph.
Me.
As a newborn.
Three adults stood around my bed.
My mother.
Vincent.
Adrian.
All three.
I stared.
"You knew each other."
"Very well."
"What happened?"
Adrian looked at the photograph.
"I betrayed the Ravens."
Vincent said:
"And I helped them find you."
Adrian nodded.
"Then Elena took our daughter and disappeared."
I looked at my mother in the photograph.
"She didn't tell me."
"She wanted you to have a childhood."
"Did I?"
Adrian looked at me.
"You had one more childhood than most of the children from that program."
The words were cold.
But true.
I turned toward the shelves.
"There are hundreds of names."
Adrian nodded.
"Everyone who helped."
"Why keep them?"
"Because one day someone has to know."
I noticed a small red notebook.
The same one from my case.
Except this one was much thicker.
I picked it up.
Adrian immediately moved.
"Don't."
I froze.
"Why?"
"Because that isn't the ledger."
"Then what?"
"The names aren't written."
I opened it.
Blank pages.
Every page empty.
I looked at my wrist.
The scar.
Three lines.
I pressed my thumb to the center.
A hidden light inside the notebook turned on.
Adrian stared.
Vincent whispered:
"She can read it."
The blank pages filled.
Not with ink.
With projected images.
Names.
Dates.
Bank accounts.
Photos.
Every secret the Ravens had ever buried.
I stared.
Then one file opened automatically.
PROJECT LENA.
Inside was a photograph of me at six.
Below it:
OBJECTIVE: COMPLETE MEMORY RESTORATION AT AGE TEN.
My heart stopped.
"Age ten."
Adrian looked at me.
"That was always the plan."
"But why now?"
"Because the trigger was installed on the plane."
The black disc.
It wasn't tracking me.
It was waking me.
I felt sick.
"Who activated it?"
Adrian's expression changed.
"The person who has been protecting you."
I looked at Vincent.
He lowered his gun.
"I didn't."
Adrian said softly:
"Then we have a problem."
An alarm sounded.
The vault door began closing.
Someone outside shouted.
Maya's voice.
"Lena!"
I ran toward the door.
"Maya!"
Then Luca's cry.
And another sound.
My mother's voice.
"Vincent."
She was on the other side.
"Don't let him take her."
Vincent stared at Adrian.
Adrian smiled.
May you like
"You have ten seconds to decide which family you belong to."
The vault began to close.
