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Chapter 14
Sarah, 15 years old
Undisclosed location
One Year Later
“You ready, Orion?”
“Arghhh!” I startled awake at the sound, grabbed the weapon I always carried with me, and jumped out of my bed in a heap of bedsheets, only to come face-to-face with three pairs of familiar eyes.
“Jesus, you scared me. What the hell are you guys doing here?”
“Waiting for you to wake up.”
“I can see that. What time is it?”
“2 AM.”
“And why are you guys awake?”
“We haven’t gone to bed yet.” For some reason, that did not surprise me at all.
These three always lost track of time when they coded and could go days without sleeping when they were on a hunt.
But before I go into that, maybe I should bring you up to speed.
The behavioral camp the Guild shipped me to almost a year ago turned out to be a mental conditioning facility where they sent “problematic” members.
The facility was used to brainwash people who didn’t fully believe in the mission, and all the activities onsite were meant to help you see the “light”.
The conditioning would have worked too if Ghost hadn’t prepared me for it.
My mentor knew my smart mouth would one day get me into trouble, so he made sure I could withstand whatever they did. As a result, I learned how to get away with murder (figuratively, obviously) instead of turning into the Guild’s puppet. Yay to me!
Sure, I pretended to be a perfect little soldier. I trained, fought against the others, and behaved like a sheep during the day. I could even recite the Guild’s manifesto by heart.
But at night? When no one was looking? That was another matter completely.
I didn’t know why Marlow thought it would be a good idea to put me around people who could empty your bank account while smiling at you innocently, but it goes to show how much adults know.
I was now a hacker who could hotwire a car, open a safety vault with a stethoscope, and unlock a door with a bobby pin. HAH!
As for the people currently talking to me, well, please meet three of the best hackers on the planet (after yours truly), Bones, Surinam and the Cajun. Together, they formed the Holy Trinity, and could hack pretty much anything connected to a server.
I’d be lying to you if I told you my first meeting with them went well. I was first introduced to Bones when he was given the odious task of showing me around, and I’m ashamed to say I was not nice to him.
You’ve got to remember the Guild dropped me into this place straight from the Academy. The memory of those assholes was still fresh in my mind, so when I stumbled, and the gangly boy tried to help me by grabbing my arm, I lashed out.
Of course, that is when I met his best friend, Surinam.
Unlike Bones, who is the epitome of every nerd cliché you’ve ever seen in a movie, Surinam was a tall, exotic-looking woman who could bench pressed me without blinking.
She was not impressed I attacked her boy, and the next thing I knew, the woman was sitting on me while I laid on my back on the ground. That went over really well with me.
Finally, you had the Cajun. Early twenties, soulful eyes that will suck you in, and as attractive as they come.
The Cajun isn’t really from the South, he got his moniker because his fast-talking ways reminded everyone of Remy Lebeau. So, before you swoon over the handsome bastard, you may want to check your pockets. Odds are, you’re missing your wallet.
