Page 154 of Resurgent

The line goes dead and I slip my phone into my pocket, my gaze drifting across the now-empty arena.

I can't help but think back to the very first attack when I was on shift in the infirmary, I replay every deep claw mark carved across his flesh with unsettling precision, each one almost too perfect. And then there was the poison. The way it twisted the victim until he’d barely seemed human, his body thrashing violently as though something else had taken possession beneath his skin.

Hunter says it's another creature, and maybe he's right, but I've learned the hard way that beasts with claws aren't the only things capable of leaving scars behind.

Sometimes...the worst monsters wear human skin, and I'm really beginning to wonder if this one does too.

Chapter forty-five

Annalise

Walking back to my room from Hunter’s place, I can’t hide my smile. He loves me. He actually said the words, “I love you.” Holy shit is my heart racing.

The only person who has ever said those words to me is Matt. Not my dad, or my mom before she left, not even Aiden. But Hunter did.

My phone vibrates in my pocket as I’m passing barracks A, and I expect it to be Hunter or my friends, but it’s an encrypted message from the Ghost Walker instructor line.

Meet at the vault. 30 minutes. Come alone.

Well shit. That’s not ominous or anything.

Turning back in the direction I just came from, I thank the gods I’m wearing tennis shoes as I walk behind Captain Lin’s house and down to the rocky entrance to the vault.

I slip a little on one of the rocks as I climb down the embankment, but I correct myself before I fall.

Saying my name into the scanner. The lock clicks, and the door opens.

Major Halden is standing in the front of the room talking with an older man with salt and pepper hair that I’ve never seen before.

“Annalise, please, come take a seat.”

I sit at the table in front of them before they both pull up chairs and sit across from me.

“Annalise, this is Colonel Tanner. Sir, this is Recruit Corvin.”

Neither miss the way I stiffen when I hear his rank, but the Colonel shakes his head, “Relax, Corvin. You aren’t in trouble. What we are about to discuss is completely off the record, so I would appreciate if we could skip through the formalities and get straight down to business.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Just Tanner,” he corrects.

I nod and Major Halden takes that as his opening. “Annalise, what we’re about to ask you to do is beyond anything that a recruit should ever be asked to do, but you have excelled in every mission since you started. Have proven your ability to overcome… the worst of situations…and the powers that you and Tyr share make you the most likely to be able to succeed in this mission of any Ghost Walker.”

“In all of Thandroan,” Tanner adds.

I nod again, because as much as I appreciate the upfront votes of confidence, I would really like for them to just spit it out already.

“Tyr, you listening to this?”

I can hear his huff of annoyance through my mind, but still he answers, “Flattery isn’t going to get us anywhere if they won't tell us what the hell they want. And the way they are buttering you up, I already want to say no.”

“I completely agree. They are laying it on way too thick. What could they really need us for that they’re willing to go this far?”

“As you know, every student is required to go on a real mission before graduation.”

“Yes.”

“Well, this will count,” Tanner clears his throat, “this will more than count as your mission. If you can complete this mission, you will have first selection on duty stations after Scion."