STRONGEST OFFSPRING WILL BE ALLOCATED TO FAMILIES DEEMED MOST FIT FOR THEIR UPBRINGING. WEAK SOLD TO HIGHEST BIDDER.
A video mock-up follows. There are metal tables, surgical restraints, torches with masked men and women, and my wife naked with only her eye mask on.
Another file appears.
FIRST ROUND — SURROGATES
I click on it and only grow sicker. Faces of a dozen younger women appear. Some don't even look eighteen. Then their voices startle me, one at a time, all saying the same thing.
"The lineage belongs to the table, not the woman."
The page vanishes, leaving a photo of Valentina, bare, with her red V bright across her chest.
I hold my breath, my insides shaking, fists clenched.
They don't want her allegiance. They want her for a breeding program that steals her DNA and children. And then they decide who they think is worthy and sell the undesirables to the black market.
My phone buzzes. I glance at it.
Sean: Jesus Christ. I know you saw that.
My insides shake with rage. I stare at the blinking red square for a moment. Determined to find out more, I plug in more code, trying to find out who's behind this disgusting plan.
Sean: I'm putting more code in.
I don't reply, my fingers already working at lightning speed. It takes a few minutes, then there's a series of four beeps, and images pop up. Some faces I've seen; others I haven't.
Sean: It's the entire Omni and Royal Council. Everyone but the six of us.
Another file begins to run. Our faces appear with ELIMINATE stamped across them. Valentina's is the last. It flashes, disappears, and my computer fans whir harder before the screen turns dark.
"Fuck, not again," I bark, hitting the on switch, but I already know I'm dead. It's the fifth time it's happened.
Sean: You burned, too?
Me: Yep.
Sean: I'll order another set. We need to know what they're planning for the rest of us.
I shove away from the desk and let out a bitter breath.
Valentina's not safe.
The hairs on my neck rise. I leave the office, grab my jacket, and lock up my apartment. More anger rips through me the second the elevator doors shut. I text her.
Me: Where are you?
Valentina: At Fiona's.
Me: Stay put.
Valentina: Why?
Me: I'll come get you. Don't go anywhere, Minx.
Valentina: Brax, what's wrong?
Me: Not over the phone. Just promise me you won't go anywhere.
