65. Sienna
Sienna
“ N o…”
The word barely leaves my mouth.
Elizabeth is shaking so hard I can’t calm her.
Jonah crouches beside me instantly, weapon still up, eyes locked on the doorway while his free hand settles against the middle of my back.
Grounding me.
Holding me together.
“Elizabeth,” I whisper carefully. “What did he put inside you?”
She tries to answer.
Can’t.
Panic crushes the air out of her before the words can fully form.
Vale moves closer slowly.
Too slowly.
Like he’s afraid of spooking a bomb.
“What kind of device?” he asks quietly.
Elizabeth’s head jerks toward him.
Fear detonates across her face.
“You knew,” she whispers.
The accusation hits hard enough even Lance glances at Vale sharply.
“I didn’t know this,” Vale says immediately.
Too immediately.
Elizabeth starts crying harder.
“He said if my heart rate spiked too high…” Her breathing breaks. “Or if I left the perimeter…”
My stomach drops.
No.
God no.
Cal swears under his breath.
Jonah’s entire body goes rigid beside me.
“What perimeter?” he asks.
Elizabeth squeezes her eyes shut.
“He called it a tether.”
Gunfire erupts somewhere deeper in the compound.
Closer now.
Concrete trembles beneath us.
But nobody moves.
Nobody even breathes.
Because every single person in this room understands what she’s saying.
Kade built a dead man’s switch into a human being.
My hands turn ice cold.
“That’s not possible,” I whisper.
Vale looks at me.
And the silence on his face says something far worse than words ever could.
“It’s possible,” he says quietly.
Rage hits so hard my vision blurs.
I surge to my feet.
“You knew he was doing this to people?!”
“Sienna—”
“You told me Oracle was about surveillance!” I scream. “Data. Prediction models. Intelligence gathering!”
“It started that way.”
Jonah rises beside me instantly.
Dangerous.
Cold.
The look in his eyes makes even Vale step back slightly.
“You’re about two seconds from losing the privilege of breathing,” Jonah says softly.
And somehow his quiet voice is far scarier than shouting.
Vale studies him once.
Then looks back at me.
“Kade changed everything after you disappeared.”
“I disappeared because he murdered people!”
“Yes.”
The word slams into me.
No hesitation.
No denial.
Just truth.
Gunfire erupts again outside.
Closer.
Lance reloads fast beside the door.
“We are officially out of time.”
Elizabeth suddenly gasps sharply.
Her body jerks hard against the wall.
My head snaps toward her instantly.
“Elizabeth?”
Her eyes widen.
“No no no—”
Blood drains from Vale’s face.
“Oh God.”
“What?” Jonah snaps.
Vale looks toward the ceiling.
Listening.
Then his expression changes completely.
Pure horror.
“He activated it.”
Every heartbeat in my body stops.
Elizabeth screams.
The sound rips through the room so violently it doesn’t even sound human.
Her body arches hard against my arms around her.
Jonah grabs me and pulls me back.
“WAIT.”
“But she’s hurting—”
“Something’s wrong.”
Elizabeth convulses violently.
A strangled cry tears from her throat.
And then—
The overhead speakers crackle back to life.
Kade’s voice fills the room.
Smooth.
Calm.
Amused.
“Now,” he says softly, “that got everyone’s attention.”
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” I scream.
Jonah’s arm tightens around my waist before I can launch myself toward the camera in the corner.
Elizabeth is sobbing now.
Barely able to breathe.
“Please…” she cries. “Please make it stop…”
Kade sighs dramatically through the speakers.
“You know, Sienna… I truly hoped you’d behave after all these years.”
“You tortured her!”
“No. I motivated loyalty.”
I’ve never hated another human being this much in my entire life.
Not even close.
Jonah reaches up calmly and presses the mute on the comm system.
The speakers die instantly again.
But the damage is already done.
Elizabeth’s entire body trembles violently.
Vale kneels beside her fast now, fingers pressing carefully against the side of her neck.
Checking something.
Calculating.
His face darkens.
“What?” Cal demands.
Vale looks up slowly.
“If her heart rate climbs any higher…” His voice tightens. “The device may trigger.”
Silence crashes down again.
Lance stares at him.
“You’re telling me she literally dies if she panics?”
Vale doesn’t answer immediately.
Because he doesn’t have to.
I look at Elizabeth.
Curled inward.
Terrified.
Broken.
Held hostage inside her own body for four years.
And something inside me changes.
Cold.
Sharp.
Focused.
Kade wanted fear?
Fine.
He just made a catastrophic mistake.
Because now?
Now I want him dead, all over again.