The final mission begins… and not everyone makes it out alive.
ZARA'S POV– INSIDE THE LAB.
The plan was chaos. And chaos was our only shot. Rina jammed the override panel, her fingers flying across the hacked touchscreen.
"Two minutes. That's all you've got."
"Make it enough," I said, tightening my grip on the tranquilizer gun. "We're bringing Selina back."
Selina. My sister. My ghost.
The girl I thought I'd buried…now locked in a glass pod, eyes wide open but vacant, like her soul had been rinsed clean by every horror the cartel had to offer.
Leo nodded at me from across the lab, crouched behind overturned metal shelves.
"On your go."
I swallowed. My heart wasn't racing—it was thundering. Every breath felt like a countdown.
I stepped toward the pod.
She blinked.
That was the first sign she was still in there.
"Selina?" I whispered.
She didn't answer. But her hands twitched. And for a second, just a second, her eyes flickered with something human.
"Zara," Leo hissed. "Incoming—three guards!"
I dove behind the console. Gunfire tore through the air, riddling the steel wall with holes. Sparks rained down like fireflies.
Rina screamed. "One minute left!"
Leo moved like a weapon unleashed—his body instinct, his eyes locked. A bullet clipped his arm, but he didn't flinch.
I returned fire, and one of the guards crumpled. The second…The third…And then—
"STOP!"
The voice cracked through the room. The Viper.
He stepped into the chaos, calm as a storm before the wave. Next to him—Kai. And next to Kai…a girl.
Selina. Another Selina. My stomach dropped. I turned back to the pod. Still sealed. Still my sister. Still motionless.
The girl standing beside Kai? Not her. A decoy. They were duplicating her. Mind-control. Genetic programming.
My sister was a blueprint.
"You never understood the vision," Viper said. "But your sister? She will live forever."
<<<<<
LEO'S POV– THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING.
I couldn't breathe. Not because of the pain in my shoulder. Not because I knew we were outnumbered. But because I saw what Zara was seeing: Her sister was alive. But twisted.
And it broke her. Zara aimed the gun at Viper. "Open the pod."
He smiled. "Why would I do that?"
"Because if you don't," she said slowly, "I'll destroy every single file in this lab. You'll never replicate her again. Never use her again."
Viper's smile faltered.
And that was all I needed.
I lunged forward, tackled one of the guards from behind.
Rina screamed, hitting the final override.
The pod hissed open.
Zara caught Selina before she fell.
Her sister's eyes were glazed. But she whispered one word. One word that shattered us all:
"Run."
ZARA'S POV– RUN.
Everything exploded. Alarms. Gas. Shouts. Bullets ricocheted. But all I heard was her voice.
We sprinted through the lab. Rina at the front, Leo behind us, covering every step. Selina in my arms.
We didn't stop. Not even when the roof began to collapse. Not even when Kai shouted my name—Not even when the Viper screamed, "You'll regret this, Zara!"
Outside. Moonlight. Jungle. Freedom.
<<<<<
LEO'S POV – OUTSIDE THE FORTRESS.
We reached the pickup zone just as the chopper descended.
Zara was covered in ash and blood.
Selina was barely conscious.
Rina collapsed, laughing through tears. "We did it."
I looked at Zara. "Did we?"
She met my eyes. Fierce. Fragile. Alive.
"We brought her back."
I kissed her—fast, hard, desperate.
"I would follow you through hell," I told her.
Her voice broke. "Then get ready for war. Because this? This was just the beginning."
We looked down at Selina. And we knew.
The cartel would come for her.
Viper would never stop.
Kai… might still be out there.
Watching. Waiting.
But for now… we had each other. We had fire in our blood. And we had war to start.