Something soft presses against my cheek. Warm, smooth, plush. I rub my face against it, keeping my eyes closed, and breathe in the smell of fresh linen.
More sleep.
I groan and stretch out my legs and toes. One of my joints cracks. An ache spreads through my neck, a deep soreness settling into the base of my skull.
Without warning, images of a stark-white lab ceiling, a foggy train window, violent rain in a chaotic city and indifferent almond-shaped eyes come flooding in.
My eyes fly open.
What happened?
I shoot up, entangled in blue cotton sheets on a compact fold-out bed.
The last thing I remember was collapsing in Jesse's shop after he refused to help me.
No sign of anyone else in the small room, which appears more like an office. A massive desk with three computers rests against the wall adjacent to the bed. Piles of papers, gadgets and trinkets sit scattered on top. A cabinet, crammed with vials and bottles, stands next to the desk. A medical examination table and couch both sit against the same wall as the bed.
Two doors remain closed, one in each corner of the room.
Reaching up to the base of my skull, I carefully tap the flesh where the chip was implanted. Nothing. All that's left is a slight hollow dip where it once was.
I'm alive.
I sigh, feeling the weight of the world finally leave my shoulders. No chip, no headaches, no explosions making my brains scatter in every direction.
Then it hits me.
No chip...Jesse took out the chip.
He has it.
I throw off the top sheet, but it tangles around my ankle even more in my little cocoon. Yanking my foot out, I manage to get free and jump off the bed.
After collapsing, I thought I would at least feel wobbly. Instead, each muscle feels strong, almost brand-new. The bullet graze on my neck, the cuts on my hands, all of it. Power electrifies my every movement as I rush to the desk.
Junk litters all across the surface.
I push items around, look under folders, shove papers onto the ground and throw open drawers.
Nothing.
Where is my damn chip?
Suddenly, the door in the right corner opens.
Dark brown, almond-shaped eyes widen and narrow as a young man takes in the sight of my intrusion. Tall, wide-frame, muscular build, dark, wavy hair.
Jesse Wu.
He tilts his head to the side.
"Looking for this?" The chip appears in his hand. My chip.
Cronus tech, with a tracker and all my secrets, in the palm of his hand.
As quickly as it appears, it disappears into his back pocket.
My hands curl into fists. I'm about to rush at him, beat him up until its mine again and take off, but I stop.
He might already know what it is, who and what I am. Stealing it and running away won't do any good if he knows the truth.
I frown at him silently, waiting for the accusations to come pouring from his lips.
CITEȘTI
CRONUS
SF[5X FEATURED] After discovering she's been turned into a cyborg assassin by her government, Ray Lovas - a sixteen-year-old fighter with impulsive anger problems - must survive in the enemy country, The Mhinto Empire, to save her family and keep the...
