Chapter 15 · The Price

"You're late." Marcus didn't look up as Eli kicked the safehouse door shut behind him.

Eli dropped the folder onto the map table. His hands were shaking so badly, the papers slid across the bloodstained maps.

"Yeah," he said. "My entire childhood turned out to be a lab experiment. Sorry I took my time."

Marcus caught the top page before it hit the floor. The Council seal stared up at him. Beneath it sat a photograph of two children strapped into monitoring chairs, wires taped to their temples.

His good eye narrowed. "Where'd you get this?"

"The archive beneath Station Nine."

"You went back there alone?"

"Would you rather hear about that or Maya?"

Marcus flipped the page. Redacted lines. A chart labeled LIGHTBORN TRIALS—PRE-ZONE. Then a second photograph. Maya, twelve years younger, her face turned toward the camera while a technician adjusted the restraints.

Eli's throat tightened. "She took the hit for me. Twelve years ago. That's why she's changing."

Marcus's fingers stopped moving.

"And the Council sent her into the deep zone three months ago," Eli continued. "They wanted to see what would happen."

"Three months?" Marcus looked up. "You said she vanished sixteen hours ago.