ZARA POV.
The girl sat cross-legged on the floor of the hidden bunker, bathed in the flickering blue light of the old generator. Her hair was wild, her skin dirt-smudged, but her eyes… her eyes knew things no one should.
She looked up as we entered, flanked by Kai and Rina.
"You came," she whispered, almost like a spell. "He said you would."
Leo and I froze. She knew us?
Kai knelt beside her, surprisingly gentle. "Tell them what you told me."
The girl's eyes flicked to me—haunted, hollow, but oddly calm.
"I remember you," she said, pointing at me. "From Spain. You wore white. You screamed for your sister."
My stomach dropped. The room blurred.
"My sister was in the van," I whispered.
"She wasn't the only one."
The girl crawled forward on her knees, grabbed my hand. Her skin was cold.
"They were building something. A place. For girls like me. Like her. Like you."
Leo's voice was sharp, controlled. "Where?"
She shook her head. "The island. But not the one you think. There's another one. Smaller. Hidden. That's where they take us for the final phase."
"The final phase?" I asked.
She didn't blink. "They call it Project Seraphim. They're making us into weapons."
<<<<<
LEO POV.
Zara didn't breathe for ten seconds straight.
Her grip on my hand turned to steel.
Kai stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "I only knew about the lab. Not the name. Not the purpose."
The girl continued, emotionless. "They train us to feel nothing. To kill without blinking. Then they inject us with something... something dark. The last one didn't survive."
Rina muttered under her breath, "No wonder they killed the scientists last year. Loose ends."
Zara pulled away from me and stood. "We're going there."
I grabbed her wrist. "Zara, we don't even know where it is."
But she was already pulling a crumpled paper from her boot—Kai's map. "Yes, we do. And I'm not asking for permission."
<<<<<
ZARA POV.
Two hours later, we were on a stolen speedboat, slicing across black water. Storm clouds churned above. The silence between Leo and me was volcanic. Charged. Heavy.
He finally said, "When this is over, what happens to us?"
I didn't answer. Because I didn't know.
We docked under cover of night and approached the lab from the jungle. It was sleek. Hidden. Guarded by men in black uniforms with the cartel's serpent sigil.
We crawled through mud, cut through vines, and reached the side door.
Rina whispered, "This is your one shot. Once we're in, there's no coming back."
I turned to Leo.
"You with me?"
He looked at me like I was gravity. "Always."
Inside the Lab
The lights were cold and white. Glass walls. Blood samples. A woman's screams from down the corridor.
I sprinted toward the sound—and froze.
Behind a locked glass door was another girl.
She had my sister's eyes.
And she wasn't alone.
A man stepped into view—dressed in all white.
Leo swore violently. "No…"
It was him. The man who trained him. The man who betrayed us all.
The Viper.
He smiled.
"Well, well. The prodigies return."