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Prologue
She emergedin a red dress and the shoes I’d sent to her. The heels clicked against the pavement as she walked across the parking lot. She moved with such freedom and optimism that it instantly made me want to squash it out of her.
And tonight, I’d get to do just that.
I’d been preparing for this over the past six months. At first, I assumed she’d flake out like all the others had and leave me to my mission. But Finley Reyes had proven to be more persistent and annoying than I’d bargained for. Especially when she started to encroach onmyterritory. I couldn’t let her stand after that.
So, I waited and devised the perfect plan, infiltrating from the inside.
She pulled her phone out of her bag and I watched as she tapped into the app. One of my monitors lit up, showing me her message. I currently had three screens visible as I worked. One featured the app, logged into three different accounts after I’d cloned theirs, the middle displayed the video footage of Oblivion, and the last was the actual account we were hacking into.
Focusing on the first part of the sabotage, I responded to Finley from the cloned account.
Oblivion: I’m here. Are we set?
Blackhawk: We’re all good. Ready on your count.
Switching monitors, I silenced the alarm for the school Finley was at and disabled the one for the true test back to back. It was a lot to manage all at once, but I’d been preparing for this night for months and I was ready. Every step had been outlined in my notebook of when and what I needed to do so I wouldn’t accidentally screw up my chances to get into the MidKnight Guild while I thwarted Oblivion. If tonight didn’t go as planned, I’d have to try a different approach. But with everything meticulously scheduled to the minute, along with my skills and expertise, it should all go off without a hitch.
A message popped up on the actual server, and I clicked over, triple checking I was on the right one. I’d even colored-coded each one to distinguish them apart and keep them separate. It would only take one stray message sent to the wrong person to screw it all up. Not that there hadn’t been close calls in the past, but everything hinged on tonight’s mission.
Blackhawk: I’m in position. Alarms?
Obsidian: Good to go.
Blackhawk: Any update from Oblivion? She should be here by now.
Obsidian: Nope. Guess she couldn’t hack it in the end. Being grounded is a rookie move and not an excuse if you want to be a Knight.
I wanted to laugh at my joke, but there was no one here to hear it, so I chuckled softly to myself, enjoying my own humor.
Blackhawk: I thought she had what it took. Keep trying to get a hold of her.
Blackhawk: I’m in. Going silent.
The need to punch something rose up in me at his words, and I calmed my breathing, remembering it would all be over after tonight, and he’d be mine, once and for all.
Obsidian: Everything’s clear. You got it.
Quickly, I zoomed back over to the other monitor, checking in on Finley. She walked toward the main office, not even realizing the alarm was going off the whole time. I snickered at my ingenuity as she set her own trap. Loading some pre-written text, I added it to the voice app for it to say. I’d already set it to wait a few seconds between each voice and change the octaves on the voice manipulation to help distinguish between us.
The most amazing thing to come out of this past year was the tech that I’d created. Finley had been a big help to motivate me to design something I could use to manipulate her. I’d even gotten off on the fact she’d developed some of the specs. I didn’t know what that said about me, but I also didn’t care. I’d use whatever advantage I could to get ahead.
I was twenty-one, had spent most of my life alone, and had finally found what I was good at. I wouldn’t apologize for going after what I wanted at whatever cost. Too many people had discarded me, used me, or dismissed me over the years for me to have any empathy for others. The world was brutal, and the sooner she learned that, the better off she’d be. In fact, I was helping her understand the world before she let too much of her optimism out. She needed to buck up and see the world for what it truly was.
And now that I knew what I was good at, I didn’t want anyone else coming in and stealing it. There was only one person I cared about, and I wouldn’t let him be swayed by an underage girl who thought she could steal him from me. This was an act of kindness that I was doing for both of them.
Blackhawk: I got the files. Can you make sure the cameras are wiped? I’m headed out.
Obsidian: Already done. See you back at home base.
Blackhawk: Still nothing from Fin? Maybe she got caught on her way out?
Obsidian: Nothing. It’s probably for the best, anyway. She never even realized we were all in the same city. How good of a hacker could she be?
Blackhawk: That’s not fair. We concealed our location on purpose.
Obsidian: We found hers. She should’ve been able to do the same. We can talk about this later.
