Aurora turns her head to study my face, her expression growing serious. “That must have been terrifying for him. Seeing someone who looks like you trapped in some horrific medical experiment? No wonder he freaked out.
“What do you think we’ll find in the lab?” Aurora asks, shifting the conversation to darker territory.
I trace patterns on her comforter with my finger, considering. “Honestly? I’m not sure what we’re walking into. We know Marco is running experiments on Avids and animals, but the scope of it…” I shake my head. “How many people are trapped down there? How big is this operation? What exactly is he doing to them? Those are the questions that keep me awake at night.”
Aurora stares at the ceiling. “What happens after?” she finally asks. “Say we succeed, expose the lab, save whoever’s left alive, burn it all to the ground. Then what? What does the world look like the day after we win?”
Until now, I’ve been so focused on the mission itself that I haven’t let myself think too far beyond it.
“I mean, Solace has rescued individual Avids before, shut down trafficking operations,” I say slowly, rolling onto myside to face her. “But they’ve never uncovered something this massive. Never exposed the truly horrific shit the Volkovs are doing on this scale.”
What we’re attempting makes my chest tight. “We’re not saving the people in one lab, Aurora. We’re potentially saving thousands, everyone who would have ended up there in the future. And Banks said this is the largest facility. There are at least two more labs we know about.”
“But that’s what I’m getting at,” Aurora says, turning to meet my eyes. Her expression is serious in a way that reminds me she’s a strategist, a fighter at heart. “Even if we accomplish all of that, even if we expose everything and wake people up to what’s happening… then what? Irina’s not the answer. We’ve already established that. The Syndicate isn’t proving to be much better than the current district leaders.”
She pauses, and I can see her working through the implications. “It feels like a lot more people are going to die before we see any real change. And when that many lives are at stake, I want to make sure we’ve thought this through. That we really know what we’re doing and what comes next.”
People will die, probably a lot of people. The question that’s been lurking in the back of my mind surfaces. At the end of the day, if we’re responsible for all that death, how are we any better than them?
But we have to be better. We’re fighting for the right things—for freedom, for a world where Avids aren’t property, for leadership that unites instead of divides. We’re standing against the worst kind of evil.
“They count on fear to keep us obedient, but hope spreads faster than fear ever will. It’s the one contagion they can’t contain,” I say, feeling determined to make a difference. “If we reveal the truth, hope will take root, and it will spread.”
Aurora looks up at the ceiling, deep in thought.
“Would you rather we throw in the towel?” I ask carefully, studying her face. “Run away instead of fight? Because if that’s what you want, Aurora, I wouldn’t blame you.”
She snorts, and for a moment she’s back to being my fierce friend. “Me? Miss out on a fight? Not a chance in hell. I want every one of those bastards to pay for what they’ve done.” Her expression grows serious again. “But I’m also not naive. The system is rigged, Kat. We’ve already declared nobody in this mess is purely good or purely evil. Everyone’s doing terrible things and slapping different labels on them to justify it.”
She sits up slightly, her voice gaining intensity. “I need you to consider the possibility that this won’t end the way we want it to. Maybe we don’t make the difference we think we’re making. We could be trading one kind of suffering for another.”
I shake my head, feeling something fierce and determined rising in my chest. “I’m not saying we’re going to save the world with this one mission. That would be delusional. But it’s a start, Aurora. Everything we’re doing is a push in the right direction.”
I think about Meadow, about the visions I’ve been seeing, about the woman who looks like me trapped in that nightmare facility. “We’re on the brink of something important. Maybe it won’t be perfect, and maybe the world we create won’t be paradise, but it has to be better than this. It has to be better than children being sold like livestock, than people disappearing into labs never to be seen again. Than the fucking gutter zones that are spreading by the day.”
I reach out and squeeze her hand. “We keep pushing because the alternative, doing nothing, isn’t an option. Not for me. Not anymore.”
“Malachi would probably killme if he knew I was taking you back to the ranch right now,” Alex says from the driver’s seat.
We’ve been training nonstop for two days, and today I was on a team with Cade and Alex. We crushed it, using our masks, training with different forms of Avidian, working together flawlessly. We were faster than Nasha, Aurora, and Dante in every drill Bash put us through, which is why the three of us got to leave early.
Since Cade’s jeep was stolen, I had to ask Alex to take me back to Malachi’s cabin. I want to get more of my things, and I’m hoping the journal about the first Avid is still there. I barely got to read much of it before the fire, and then Malachi forbade us all from going back to the ranch, claiming it’s not safe.
“Malachi is always being overly cautious. We’ll be fine. In and out, right, Kat?” Cade says from the passenger seat in front of me.
“I promise I’ll be quick, and it’s been weeks since the attack. I doubt anyone is hanging around the ranch after it burned to the ground,” I tell him from the back seat.
Alex nods, but I don’t miss the way he grips the steering wheel tighter, like he’s anxious about this whole thing.
We pull up to what’s left of the ranch, and my heart sinks. The main house is nothing but blackened timber and ash spread in stark contrast against the snow, with only the stone chimney still standing. I don’t care if Irina is a terrible person, but I feel for Malachi. This was his safe place where he grew up after his mom died, and I know he must have had memories here.
We drive past the house and toward the back of the property where Malachi’s small cabin still stands untouched, thankfully.
“I’ll keep watch out here,” Alex says quickly, alreadygetting out of the car. “This spot gives me a good view of the access road. You two should still be quick.”
I glance over at Cade, who’s already walking to the front door. “We’ll be fast,” I promise, and follow Cade inside.
He’s already in Malachi’s bedroom, pulling a backpack from his closet and handing it to me. “What am I looking for exactly?” he asks as I take the empty pack from him and start putting some of my clothes in it.
