John walks up to me and grabs the collar of my shirt to get my attention, but I keep moving. She needs me. If she’s alive, I have to save her. I have to.
“What? Fucking say something!” John snaps.
Gale grinds his jaw. “General, what does this have to do with Briar? She was only a civilian that happened to get caught up in this.” He sounds confused but suspicious.
“Briar. Chloe. We used to call her Lethe.” Nolan doesn’t sound the least bit upset.
Taylor takes a step forward and tilts his head. “What the fuck?”
I freeze, squeezing my vest tightly as I listen.
“Arnold has been in the Dark Forces for over twelve years. He doesn’t have a fucking niece. There is no Thornton Farms. No Thornton family that Briar was ever a part of. It’s all a hoax. She’s Project Lethe. Our forgetful littlenon-soldiersoldier.”
John stares at him with a disgusted look. “What are you saying? She’s a girl from the city. She has a past and memories!” He has tears in his eyes now, too, because it’s a really fucked-up reality to believe in.
Nolan shakes his head. “No, she’s not. She only knows what we brainwashed her to know. She’s never left Seattle until coming here. She has no surviving family members.” My blood runs cold hearing him say basically what she’s told us. He makes her sound like a robot. Like a tool. “Did she ever tell you where she’s been in the last eight months since Callum attempted to terminate her? She’s been in ?‘hiding,’ hasn’t she? No? It’s because she doesn’t know. We picked her up in the forest and put her under for surgery. That little prick almost killed her. She’s been in our care this entire time. Until Grahm reached out with the ploy of luring her in as an estate attorney.”
Our silence is loud. Practically numbing.
Sutherland lured her here? Why?
“How can she not remember any of it? What did you do to her?” Bensen asks, sounding hurt.
“A little serum that we’ve been using for years now. She’s the most susceptible person to it. And look at how she’s blossomed.”Nolan looks at me. I stare through him. “I knew you’d take a liking to her, Syxx. She’s just as broken as you. You’re practically magnets for each other. Shame that you didn’t keep your promise to her. I was willing to let you keep her if you would disobey a direct order. You know I like seeing how far you’ll go.”
I force my head the other way and strap on my gear.
“Where are you going?” John asks with a raspy voice.
I don’t look at them. I just clutch my helmet tightly. “I’m going to go get my girl.”
Bensen and Taylor approach me and set their hands on my helmet.
“Me too,” Taylor says definitively.
“Squirt’s coming home,” Bensen adds.
Gale nods. “No member of the Icarus Squad left behind.”
My chest warms, and I look at them. I didn’t expect them to do this. For me, of all people. They know I wouldn’t do this for them…but maybe I would. I’m not the same man I was before.
We collectively look at John. He flexes his jaw and gives me a slight shake of his head with a pained grin. “Let’s go get her.”
General Nolan doesn’t say anything as we suit up. He doesn’t try to stop us. That man’s mind is a sea of mystery. I don’t know what he’s planning to do. I don’t know what he anticipates will happen. But I have a sick feeling that this was one of the scenarios he thought of because he doesn’t seem a bit surprised.
Hold on, Briar.
35
BRIAR
Callum stares upat me through hooded eyes as I drag the sharp end of my knife over his throat. His pupils dilate, and his pulse leaps as I lean down and press an empty kiss to the top of his forehead.
“You’re terrifying. You know that?” He presses his thumbs into the soft divots of my neck, making my breath stagger.
“Am I?” I ask as I take in his lovely features before nicking his ear. He all but winces, letting the blood drip down his neck without a care.
“Yes,” Callum murmurs, pulling me down and kissing me.
