Chapter 9 - Darkness was my weapon.I'd spent my life being overlooked.

For once, nobody noticing me became an advantage.

The corridor erupted into shouting.

Gunfire flashed through the dark.

Someone screamed.

I grabbed Leo.

His small hand locked around mine.

"Follow me."

"But Papa—"

"He's coming."

I pulled him behind a concrete pillar.

Adrian fired twice.

Hale shouted orders.

Maya ran in the opposite direction.

Then the emergency lights returned.

Hale was gone.

So was Adrian.

Leo looked up at me.

"Papa?"

My heart sank.

We found Adrian near the stairwell.

He had blood running down his side.

He was still standing.

Barely.

Maya stood beside him.

For a second, we all stared at each other.

Then Maya spoke.

"Take Leo."

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

"He cannot stay with you."

"You don't get to decide that."

"I've been deciding it for six years."

Their voices were low.

Angry.

Broken.

I stood between them.

"Enough."

Both looked at me.

"We can argue about family trauma later."

Maya's lips almost curved.

"Your mother was right."

"About what?"

"You have her temper."

I almost laughed.

Instead, I asked,

"How do we stop Hale?"

Maya looked at Adrian.

"Destroy Project Echo."

"What is it?"

She hesitated.

"Not a file."

I frowned.

"What then?"

"An operation."

She led us through a hidden passage.

We entered an underground archive.

Thousands of folders lined the walls.

People's names.

Birth dates.

Medical histories.

Political records.

Blackmail material.

Every person's life reduced to paper.

"How many?" I whispered.

"Thousands."

Adrian looked at Maya.

"You knew."

"I helped build it."

He stared at her.

"Why?"

"Because I thought it would protect us."

"Instead?"

"It created us."

She pointed to a wall.

At the center was a photograph of Leo.

Under it:

PROJECT ECHO: LIVING ACCESS KEY.

I read the attached report.

"Leo's blood."

Maya nodded.

"They used his genetic markers to encrypt the archive."

"Why him?"

"Because Hale needed someone no one would suspect."

Adrian's hands curled into fists.

"I'll kill him."

Maya shook her head.

"Killing Hale won't destroy Echo."

I looked around.

"Then what will?"

She looked at me.

"You."

I froze.

"Because your mother built a failsafe."

"What kind?"

Maya pointed toward a terminal.

"Only someone carrying Elena's encoded memory can access the master system."

My stomach dropped.

"You mean me."

"Yes."

Adrian stepped between us.

"No."

Maya stared at him.

"You know what happens if Hale gets her."

"I know."

"He'll extract everything."

"Over my dead body."

Maya's voice softened.

"That can be arranged."

Before Adrian could answer, a siren sounded.

Security doors slammed shut.

A message appeared on the terminal.

MASTER AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.

Then another.

NORA BENNETT DETECTED.

I stared at the screen.

"That's impossible."

Maya's face went pale.

"No."

"What?"

"He's already inside."

The archive doors exploded.

Hale walked through smoke.

But he wasn't alone.

Behind him stood six armed men.

And one woman.

I recognized her immediately.

Chloe.

The waitress whose tray had started everything.

She looked at me.

Then at Hale.

And said,

"Sorry, Nora."

My blood ran cold.

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