Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Elara and Kael prepare to infiltrate the Cadmus Road facility, gathering intelligence from Yuki and receiving forged credentials from Tobias. Elara reaches out to Soren Marsh through an encrypted channel, and Marsh responds with partial security details and a cryptic warning. Elara and Kael drive to the industrial district before dawn, entering Unit 9 through a maintenance access point. Inside, they find clinical rooms with evidence of people being held and documented, including medical equipment, numbered patient files, and restraints. In the final room, Elara discovers Nina's file with a recent photograph showing her alive, along with transfer records indicating she was moved to another location. As they photograph everything, motion sensors trigger an alarm, forcing them to escape with the evidence. While regrouping at a secondary location, Elara notices one of the photographs shows a window reflection revealing Marcus Liddell standing behind Crane during one of the sessions. Kael identifies the transfer location as connected to his brother's program, raising the stakes for their next move.
I didn't sleep. Not really. I drifted in that shallow space between consciousness and exhaustion where my mind kept circling the address on my arm like a moth around a flame—appropriate, given everything. The ink had smudged into an unreadable blur by three in the morning, but I'd already memorized it. Cadmus Road, east side. Unit 9. The words lived behind my eyelids now.
Kael dozed upright in a folding chair across the room, head tipped back against the wall, one hand resting on his thigh close enough to the knife strapped there that he could reach it without opening his eyes. Even in sleep, he stayed armed. Even in sleep, he stayed ready. I watched the slow rise and fall of his chest for longer than I should have, cataloguing the way lamplight carved shadows into the hollows of his collarbones, the strong line of his throat where his pulse beat steady and visible.
I wanted to press my mouth there. I wanted to feel that heartbeat under my lips.
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