Chapter 17 · Traceless - Chapter 17: The Second Null

Cole's blood is still wet on my hands when Evan drops the file.

Not drops it like he's clumsy. Drops it like the pages burned him.

"There were two," he says.

I'm pressing gauze into Cole's neck, trying to keep him conscious, trying not to look at the chip he dug out of himself with a razor blade. It's sitting on the counter next to us, still blinking red. Still sending.

"Two what," I say, but I already know. I know because my chest is doing that thing again, that cold hollow thing that started the night Evan announced his real match in front of everyone.

Evan's staring at the file like it might explode. "Two Null subjects. The lab didn't just make you, Layla. They made another one."

Cole tries to sit up. I shove him back down.

"Stay," I tell him. "You just carved a hole in your spine."

"How long," Cole says. His voice is scraped raw. He's not talking to me.

Evan flips a page. Then another. His hand's shaking. "Subject One—that's you, Layla. Neural wipe succeeded. Released at age two under cover identity. Subject Two..." He stops.

"Say it," Cole says.

Evan looks at him.