“Ha ha. Aren’t you just full of jokes.”
“Wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t.”
We banter back and forth for a couple minutes before settling into the quiet. Just laying here, holding each other as the world carries on around us.
I close my eyes.
Somewhere out there is an active facility with children being created as weapons. A conspiracy that reaches into the highest levels of power.
But right now, in this moment, Jagger is warm against me, and the city is quiet outside the windows, and for the first time in three years, I feel like I have something worth fighting for.
It’s time I regain control of my life.
Chapter Eleven: Jagger
Thedirectivearrivesat6 AM.
I'm in bed, Jonah's warmth pressed against my back, when my work phone lights up with the kind of notification that makes my body tense. Priority alert. Ministry seal. The subject line reads: INFORMANT RETRIEVAL ORDER - IMMEDIATE COMPLIANCE REQUIRED.
I slide out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake him. He mumbles something and rolls into the warm spot I've left behind, and I look at him for a moment before forcing myself to focus on the screen.
The message is short. Bureaucratic, but devasting in its own right.
INFORMANT-7 flagged for immediate retrieval. Transfer to Processing Facility 7 for full cognitive reset. Compliance required within 24 hours. Non-compliance will result in disciplinary review and potential asset forfeiture.
Someone noticed Edmund's disappearance. Someone started asking questions. And now they're pulling at threads that lead directly to my apartment.
I have twenty-four hours to come up with a plan, take Jonah somewhere safe and pass off the fact that Jonah has been in my apartment for weeks as a simple memory extraction and reprogram.
I move to the living room, closing the bedroom door behind me, and dial a number I haven't used in three weeks.
Jace answers on the second ring.
"It's early. What do you want," he says. His voice is rough with sleep, but alert. We were trained to wake up ready for violence.
"I need extraction."
Silence. I can hear him sitting up, hear the rustle of sheets, hear Elliot's questioning murmur in the background.
"How bad?"
"Ministry retrieval order. Twenty-four hours."
"For the asset?"
"For Jonah. Yes."
More silence. Then: "You're using his name."
"That's what you're focusing on right now?"
"It's relevant." I hear him moving, footsteps on hardwood. "Jinx said you were different. I didn't believe him."
"Jace. I don't have time for this."
"You have time to tell me what's actually happening." His voice sharpens. "You killed Edmund Holloway. Don't bother denying it. Jinx has ears everywhere. Now the Ministry is coming for your asset, and you're calling me for extraction instead of handing him over."
I close my eyes. "Yes."
