“I know,” I interrupt gently. “Listen to me instead.”
She hesitates. That hesitation tells me everything.
They’re still testing loyalty.
She injects the IV line into my arm—not sedative. Not painkiller.
Neuromuscular disruptor.
Low dose.
Just enough.
My muscles seize—not violently, but with cruel precision. My jaw locks. Breath shortens. Pain flares bright and contained.
I ride it.
Don’t scream.
Don’t beg.
Sentinel wants sound.
Instead, I count.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Fifteen.
The woman’s pulse races in her neck.
“You don’t have to watch,” I manage through clenched teeth.
She looks away.
Good.
That’s the price.
Sentinel didn’t break me.
Hespent me.
And I let him.
Because the moment the disruptor hits my bloodstream, the biometric readouts spike—clean, sharp, unmistakable.
Logan will see it.
And he’ll know exactly what it means.
Now,I think.
Now you move.
16
