Chapter 14 · Forced Roommates

"Get your hands off me!" I screamed, throwing my weight backward.

But the agents didn't budge. Two of them had me pinned against the cold metal table, my wrists locked in fresh, heavy-duty cuffs that bit into my skin. The collar around my neck was still humming—a low, vibrating heat that felt like a warning. Or a countdown.

Vivian stood three feet away. She wasn't shouting. She wasn't even moving. She just looked at me, her blue eyes wide and shimmering with something that looked a lot like grief. The betrayal was written all over her face, and it hurt worse than the cuffs.

"Is it true?" she whispered. Her voice cracked. "The evidence... the fabric... Tess, tell me it's a mistake."

I opened my mouth to lie. I wanted to tell her I was being framed, that I was just a victim of some cosmic glitch. But the collar surged. A sharp, electric spike shot straight into my spine, forcing a gasp out of me.

*Kill her,* the voice in the chip whispered. *Eliminate the witness or die.*

"I..." I choked out, my body betraying me.