Page 105 (2/2)

With precision and an eed the sharp blade over the gristle and tendons of his throat

Instantly, war from his body in a brutal cascade His eyes wrenched wider, his mouth snapped below my palm, and he thrashed around in death throes

His heart pumped rapidly toward death and the stench of his bowels loosening serenaded hirave and returned to the hunt The hunt for evil He was the first to die, but definitely not the last I gaveI threwelse ceased to exist Ti flies

Room after rooun Seven with a blade Tith the haed to death, and I was the executioner

The eighteenth handler died just before daybreak His final cry petered out, spulsed behind my eyes and I could barely feel e and I didn’t focus on the splatter of blood or other hu down the corridor, I kneouldn’t findHe always slept alone on the opposite side of the compound He was the next to die He was my final trophy

I savoured the anticipation and prowled through the dwelling, suffering blending memories of Obsidian and here Every door looked the sa to see Oscar appear or Clara bolting towardI was the worst sort ofto finish my mission, I stopped to look at the cells I couldn’t let them die behind locked doors when I snuffed out the final handler Retracing my steps, I headed to the heart of the house where the alar with the security mainframe that kept every keypad lock secure on the cells

With my blade, I stabbed it into the main console and severed power to the rest of the co, shredding the silence of the dawn

Rushing back upstairs, I passed children, teenagers, and adults as they shuffled out of their rooes of training looked bewildered but with a small spark of hope in their eyes

The ones who knewdown the stairs and out into the freezing wilderness The ones who didn’t were coaxed by others to leave

It only took a few minutes before the entire establishment was an empty tomb

Another minute until the person I was on my way to see, found me I didn’t hear him arrive, but I sensed him

Kill Sever Bleed Devour

The hair on my neck stood up on end as I spun to face my nemesis My handler stood behindlike a flawless sculpture He was blond and beautiful, but beneath his perfection lurked oil and ink and filth for a soul

My heart bucked, sending thickening fear throughstuttered and failed when faced with the oneover me

"If it isn’t Operative Fox I see you disobeyed orders once again and didn’t s your last task" He cocked his head "And you’re no longer blind Interesting"

I didn’t say anything Claround

Thiscrunched iveness

"I love you, so you can’t be a badto latch onto I wouldn’t let hihed "How did you pull that trick, Fox? I must say Very inventive"

I clenchedknife "No trick You warped ift of sight You drove ue, he shook his head "Always so dra the distance between us Holding out his hand, he growled, "Give me the blade, Operative Fox Return to your cell immediately Punishs spasmed with the conore the conditioning forcing e It was like fighting a puppetht of Obsidian and the man I’d become I’d struck fear into the hearts of others I’d become more than just an operative That man wasn’t afraid of this blond asshole

I’m not afraid

I forced my foot to roaned, clutching my stomach as a wash of sickness filledbuckled ed to hiover my eyes, I pressed forward another step "Not this ti with terror to thudding with an entirely different beat One that craved blood I had violence running in ht have butchered and tortured h to withstand hi you, operative Take one hter you where you stand"

The conditioning rushed ely at s into position Fighting Battling Winning

Then I took another step

My handler bared his teeth, eyes livid "Onemove and I’ll let the bears have you"

Only a foot between us Our heights were even, our body size es of each other However, unlike the past, I was no longer his slave

He washis neck, I squeezed with everything left inside ht to telldevil forme destroy my family, and it’s time you returned to hell"

With cold eyes, he lashed out and a hot laceration erupted down ht"