Chapter 10 - “Let him go.”
Lucia smiled.
“You're in no position to make demands.”
Alessandro's eyes met mine.
He looked exhausted.
But alive.
That was enough.
For now.
Rachel moved beside Lucia.
“You knew I'd bring her here.”
“Yes.”
“You used me.”
Lucia's smile faded.
“I use everyone.”
Rachel lowered her gun.
“You promised me immunity.”
“And you'll have it.”
“You lied.”
Lucia looked at her.
“I don't lie.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“You just redefine the truth.”
Alessandro suddenly moved.
He slammed his head backward into the man behind him.
The gun went off.
Rachel ducked.
Samuel fired.
Chaos erupted.
I rolled onto my side.
My restraints snapped.
Someone had cut them.
Liam.
He appeared from behind a pillar.
“Come on!”
I stared at him.
“You're alive.”
“Barely.”
“You betrayed me.”
“I was pretending.”
I almost laughed.
“Everyone is pretending!”
He grabbed my hand.
“Save the emotional reunion for later.”
We ran.
Behind us, gunfire erupted.
Alessandro tackled one of Lucia's men.
Samuel pulled Rachel toward the exit.
Liam dragged me through a side door.
We entered another room.
A staircase led upward.
“Where are we?”
“Old Eden facility.”
I stopped.
“You knew about this place?”
“I found it years ago.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you weren't ready.”
“I hate that answer.”
“Get in line.”
We reached the upper floor.
Liam opened a steel door.
Inside was a laboratory.
White walls.
Broken monitors.
Rows of old files.
I walked slowly.
One label caught my eye.
MERCER, ELIZABETH.
I opened it.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Psychological profiles.
The final page made my hands shake.
SUBJECT E-17.
Memory suppression successful.
Behavioral conditioning incomplete.
Attachment response unstable.
Potential reproductive compatibility with V-01: 98.7%.
I stopped reading.
Alessandro entered behind me.
He looked at the file.
Then at me.
“No.”
I couldn't meet his eyes.
“What if it's true?”
“It doesn't matter.”
“You and I…”
He stepped closer.
“Emma.”
“My entire life may have been designed.”
“Your choices weren't.”
“What if that night was?”
He took my face in his hands.
“That night was mine.”
My eyes filled with tears.
He leaned his forehead against mine.
“I chose you.”
A distant explosion interrupted us.
Liam shouted.
“Move!”
We ran deeper into the facility.
At the end of the corridor was a large vault.
The key from the Mercer house fit the lock.
Inside was the black box.
I opened it.
A small recorder.
A ledger.
And a handwritten note.
I unfolded it.
Elizabeth,
If you've found this, then Eden is active again.
There is only one way to stop it.
Find the original subject.
I looked at Alessandro.
“What does that mean?”
Samuel entered.
“The original subject.”
He looked at the ledger.
“Your father never told me who it was.”
We opened the ledger.
Hundreds of names.
Most crossed out.
Several marked dead.
One name remained.
Active.
I stared at it.
ALICE MERCER.
My mother's name.
“No.”
Samuel whispered:
“That can't be.”
Liam stepped closer.
“Maybe it isn't your mother.”
But beneath the name was a photograph.
My mother.
Alive.
And beside her stood Victor Sloane.
The date was yesterday.
My hands went numb.
“She’s alive.”
Rachel entered behind us.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Rachel's face had lost all color.
“She isn't.”
“Then who is that?”
Rachel stared at the photograph.
“That's your mother.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw her last night.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Rachel swallowed.
“She came to the police station.”
“Why?”
“To turn herself in.”
I stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Rachel's voice trembled.
“She gave us a location.”
“Where?”
Rachel looked at Alessandro.
“The address was the Vitali family estate.”
Nobody spoke.
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Her face went white.
“What?”
A pause.
Then:
“Say that again.”
She slowly lowered the phone.
“Your mother escaped.”
“From where?”
Rachel looked at me.
“The Vitali estate.”
My heart pounded.
“What did she take?”
Rachel answered:
“The Eden ledger.”
I stared at the empty vault.
The ledger was still in my hands.
Rachel shook her head.
“Not that one.”
She looked terrified.
“There are two.”
Before anyone could react, every monitor in the facility turned on.
Lucia's face appeared.
She smiled.
“You found the first ledger.”
Then the screen changed.
A second ledger appeared.
And beneath it, a message.
THE SECOND LEDGER CONTAINS THE NAMES OF EVERYONE WHO WILL DIE.
Lucia looked directly into the camera.
“The first victim is already chosen.”
The screen zoomed in on a photograph.
May you like
I screamed.
It was Liam.
