“You didn’t burn everything.”
“Yes, I—” Realization setting in, Maya swiveled her searing gaze in Becca’s direction. “The black rose. You hid a fucking kill switch in the black rose!”
Becca nodded.
“You stupid bitch!” Maya spat with rage. “Why would you do that? You weren’t a part of the project. God! You ruin everything. You should’ve died. I wanted you to die.” She wrenched her aim away from Jay, the barrel of the gun swinging toward Becca’s chest. “I’m the one they chose. Not you. They didn’t want you. You weren’t good enough. Not special enough.”
“Get back behind the crates,” Jay shouted.
“Who?” Becca cried. “Who chose you, Maya? Who did this to you?”
“You were supposed to die.”
“Why? Why did any of us have to die? We loved you. We?—”
“Shut up,” Maya screamed.
“Put the gun down!” Jay yelled.
“I can’t,” she shouted back, her hand steady despite the crack in her voice. “Come with me, and Becca lives. Make them mad, and she dies. There’s no other way.”
“Put the gun down!”
“There’s no other way,” she repeated.
“There is another way.” Becca took another step. “Let us help you. We’ll stop Dominion together. The three of us. Then we’ll?—”
“The Syndicate will never allow it. They didn’t want you. They still don’t want you. Only Jay.”
“The Syndicate? Maya, what are you talking about?”
“The Syndicate. The Syndicate. Double blind study. Twins. They didn’t want you. You weren’t good enough.”
“Oh, my God! Jay!” The truth hit Becca like a nuclear bomb. The changes she’d witnessed in her sister. The lack of empathy. The robotic responses. The complete absence of humanity. “I think Maya has a neural implant!”
“There’s no other way.” Maya shoved Nik aside, and the air went deadly still as she adjusted her aim and Becca stared down the barrel of the gun, one hundred percent certain she was about to die from a bullet to the brain.
Then Jay charged. Nik leapt. Maya pulled the trigger. And all hell broke loose.
The loud bang of Maya’s gun echoed around the inside of the metal building, deafening in volume and sounding like multiple shots fired instead of just one. The bullet caught Nik in the back, and he landed at Becca’s feet in a heap while Jay immobilized Maya, disarming her with a harsh twist of her wrist.
Her pistol clattered to the cement, and he slid it out of reach with a shove of his foot. “Look what you made me do!” she screamed, fighting against his iron grip.
“Nik,” Becca yelled, already dropping to her knees beside him. “Oh God. Oh God. Oh God!” She hovered her hands over his body. Not sure what to do. Blood seeped from the small hole in the centre of his back, soaking his dirty shirt and pooling beneath him.
Jay keyed his mic. “HVT secure, but we need a medical assist for the hostage. STAT.”
“Coming in hot,” Jamie replied.
“Stay with me, Nik, please,” Becca begged, her voice cracking as she ripped the duct tape from his mouth. “Help is coming!”
Still bound behind his back, his hands twitched. “Told you…I…” His breathing ragged, every word cost him precious energy. “Would save you.”
Becca choked on a sob as she reached to clasp his fingers. “I’m sorry, Nik. I’m so sorry. I never meant for it to come to this. I never wanted to hurt you. Please, just hold on. Jamie’s coming, he’s a medic. He’ll save you.”
“No…” Wheezing breath. “Saving.”
“Nik—” Tears raining down her cheeks, Becca doubled over, her body curving around her frenemy as she scooped his head into her arms. An offer of protection, too late to make a difference.
