Jace
My positionhere has officially been compromised. I’m on my way, my liege. And I’m bringing yourErositawith me.
I read the message three times, my mind refusing to accept what it said.
This couldn’t be about Izzy.
It couldn’t be a message for Cam.
He wouldn’t do that. He would never partner with Lilith. He… hevaluedhumanity and human life.
“This has to be wrong,” I said even while my mind began to puzzle together all the pieces, the game finally revealing itself inside my head.
I’m bringing yourErositawith me.
Mira had been working for Lilith. Guarding Izzy.Why?
For Cam.
Except he would never be a willing participant in any of this. Unless Lilith had somehow coerced him.
Or…
My eyes widened as a new path formed, a potential outcome that had me sick to my stomach.
Shit. The logs. The fucking protocols.
“Do you have the logs?” I asked Damien, my mind racing. “Can you find the most recent one Lilith recorded? I need to hear it again.”
However, Calina was already thinking about a different log, the one that had initiated them all.
If you’re watching this, then something has gone terribly wrong and the necessary fail-safes were engaged. Including the one you’re experiencing now.
Her memory was better than mine, the visual clear in her mind. Mostly because that log had resonated with her as her own doomsday protocol had somewhat correlated to that one.
Calina started thinking about all the research she’d reviewed, the mental-manipulation weapons meant to subdue immortals, and the potential applications of those.
What if she…?Calina paused, still sorting through the notion as I followed her path through all the potential outcomes. She started considering what Lilith would do, what fail-safes she’d put in motion to ensure the continuation of her projects.
Cam was her biggest threat to that success.
He was the unequivocal figurehead for the entire resistance operation.
Or he could be her greatest weapon.
If only she could mold his mind,Calina thought. Then her eyes widened as we gaped at each other.
By wiping it,we thought at the same time, both of us recalling the memory refining tool mentioned in the research files at Bunker 37.
The necessary fail-safes were engaged. Including the one you’re experiencing now,Calina repeated the log again.Jace… What if that was her way of explaining the memory loss to him?
Bloody hell,I breathed, realizing she might be right.
All of this… they’re the protocols Lilith engaged upon her death, the ones Mira’s initial communication enabled,Calina whispered.In addition to the doomsday protocol. So while you’ve been busy trying to find him…
Her videos have been brainwashing him,I finished for her.
Because no way was he the real Liege.
