Page 195 of Damsel in Disguise

I let him see that this isn’t just intelligence but a structure. It’s how they grow people into assets and call it optimization.

“Jesus Christ,” he exhales with the kind of disgust that comes only when reality turns out worse than imagination.

“What the fuck am I looking at?”

“The truth. The part that ensures nobody ever leaves alive.”

Another swipe.

Another file.

Another photograph.

I watch the exact moment the implications begin assembling themselves inside his head.

His eyes lift fully from the screen to me. “Why give this to me?”

“You’re the only one with enough reach to burn it properly.”

Asher observes with an eerie stillness.

Even after everything he learned, he still dares to shove the iPad at my chest. “Take your shit and leave before I turn you into a corpse.”

A muscle ticks in my jaw. Bear with him for a little longer, Alistair.

“You’ll do it anyway,” I hold the iPad between us. “If you don’t, everything on that device spreads too slowly and too late, and Ariella will disappear into systems you’ll never be able to trace again.”

He stops right on track, eyes narrowing slightly. “Aleron, is it?” he repeats.

The name now sounds as if he’s turning over a piece of a puzzle he’s about to solve.

“You’ve spent this entire conversation talking about Ariella like she’s more than just a target.”

I shrug despite not wanting to. “I just don’t want another me to form in the process. Only this time she won’t be entirely biological like I am.”

He completely ignores the warning in my tone and focuses on something else. “You seem to know minor details about her that aren’t in those files.”

I say nothing.

“You investigated her. Followed her. Watched her.”

The accusation hangs between us.

“Aleron isn’t any random source.”

The silence stretches between us.

Then his expression changes. “You said she became attached to someone inside the Dominion.”

My stomach sinks. I know exactly where this is going, but I don’t attempt to redirect the conversation. I need him on my side. Anyhow.

“And you said Triarch Dominion noticed her because of him.”

I stay motionless when Asher takes a step forward. “You weren’t warning me about someone else but you.”

55. PRICE

alistair