“Always been an overachiever,” I replied, voice rough but steady.
She didn’t smile.
“You fractured two of our guard’s orbital bones,” she said, consulting a chart. “And dislocated another’s knee.”
“Glad to be of service.”
She set the tablet aside and stepped closer. “You were given medication to prevent complications. You’ll receive more if necessary.”
“Necessary for who?”
That earned me a look. A flicker of something not quite indifference.
“For you,” she said. “You are not scheduled for termination.”
There it was again.
I leaned back slightly, letting exhaustion show—just a little. “That’s comforting.”
The woman adjusted the drip, eyes never leaving mine. “You’ve been retained because you remain… strategically relevant.”
“Ah,” I said. “So I’m not a prisoner.”
She paused. “You are an incentive.”
The word landed heavier than any blow ever had.
They weren’t watching me anymore.
They were guarding what they thought they could use.
The doctor finished and stepped back. “Rest. Your movements will be restricted until further notice.”
“What happens if I don’t cooperate?” I asked softly.
Her expression finally changed. “We make your survival… uncomfortable.”
The door shut.
Silence returned—thick, oppressive.
I lay back, staring at the stone ceiling, letting my breathing slow as the pain receded into something usable. Something that sharpened my senses instead of dulling them.
The Ascendancy had moved me deep.
They thought mountains were protection.
All they’d really done was limit their own exits.
I tightened my fingers into the blanket, feeling the strength still there beneath the bruises, beneath the cold.
They didn’t realize they hadn’t brought me here to disappear me.
They’d brought me here because they were afraid.
Afraid of a man named Ronan Pierce.
And if he was willing to tear through networks and nations to find me…
