MY HEAD HURT WHEN I OPENED MY EYES. I GRIMACED, WONDERING if the headache was a side effect of the drugs, or if they’d done it on purpose. As my vision began to clear, the pain faded slightly, and I realized I was in the lab again. I hated how they could steal my time and I’d wake up with no idea where I was or how long I’d been there. If it weren’t for the growing hunger in my stomach (which wasn’t that bad yet, indicating it had only been two or three days), I would have had no idea how long I’d been a prisoner.
Officer Mayer drifted into the light and out again, and I heard Suzanna Palm talking from somewhere behind me.
I had a needle in my arm, and I squinted down at my blood running into a bag. There was a full bag next to it, and I was woozy.
“ . . . eliminate her?” Officer Mayer’s voice was a whisper.
I swung my head to either side, stretching my arms slightly. The metal cuffs around my wrist banged against my skin.
I wondered what Callum was doing. Was he still looking—
I took in a sharp breath. The cuffs. They’d moved around on my wrist.
I glanced across the room to where Officer Mayer and Suzanna were still deep in conversation. I barely moved one arm.
Someone had forgotten to tighten the cuffs.
I began squirming against the cuff farthest away from them. My hand slipped out in seconds.
I swallowed down a wave of excitement. I slowly twisted my other wrist around, the one in their line of sight. Officer Mayer glanced at me and I stopped, blinking blankly at him. He turned back to Suzanna.
My skin burned as I yanked my hand harder against the cuff. Suzanna’s eyes widened.
“Get her! She’s—”
My hand popped free and I shot up to a sitting position, yanking the needle from my arm. The world tilted violently and my attempts to hop off the table resulted in me facedown on the floor.
A hand grabbed my foot and I kicked, gasping as I desperately clawed at the floor. The world tilted and shook and for a moment I thought it was just the drugs making me dizzy, but Suzanna’s face twisted in confusion. Another loud boom sounded from somewhere below me.
Officer Mayer grabbed me by the shoulders, hauling me into a sitting position. “I told you we should kill her,” he panted.
Yells came from outside. I turned toward the door, hope racing through my body.
“Go,” Suzanna said, blowing a curly strand of hair from her eyes. Officer Mayer raced out, and she settled her gaze on me as she pointed a gun to my forehead. “I got this.”
My eyes locked on hers. She didn’t have the best grip on the gun, and I didn’t know why she’d just told Officer Mayer to go. She obviously didn’t use a weapon often.
She hesitated, and I forced my vision to focus as I stared at her. She wasn’t wavering because she was conflicted about whether it was right to kill me, that was for sure. I knew it was because she was weighing her investment, her loss if she wasn’t able to research me further and put me back in the field. Her disappointment in me was just as obvious as Officer Mayer’s.
A smile started to form on my face, and Suzanna gave me a confused look. I was proud that I disappointed them. I wasn’t emotionless or hardened or the perfect monster they thought I was. I was trained.
I lunged forward so suddenly Suzanna gasped, almost dropping the gun in an attempt to fire it. I snatched it out of her hand and slammed my palm into her chest. Her back hit the ground.
She dove for the gun in my hand again, growling as her fingernails dug into my arm. I fired one shot into her head.
I let out a sigh of relief as my legs gave out and I hit the ground. I didn’t usually look at humans after I killed them, but I stared at her blank eyes. I’d killed her in self-defense, and I couldn’t say I minded that she was dead, but I wished I hadn’t had to do it at all. Maybe that was what Callum meant when he tried to explain the difference between me and Micah. I’d never killed someone if I didn’t have to.
I turned away from Suzanna, a strange mix of relief and sadness mingling in my chest as I crawled for the door.