Chapter 6
The next morning arrived with a quiet knock on Kaelyn’s lab door. She looked up from her work and saw a young technician—nervous, holding a sealed data drive in his trembling hands.
“Ma’am, Commander Zayn asked me to deliver this to you personally.”
Kaelyn took the drive, her fingers brushing his just briefly. “Thank you.”
The technician practically fled, and Kaelyn stared at the drive in her hand. It was matte black, marked with a tiny silver insignia she’d seen before—on a file Zayn once quickly closed when she’d entered his office.
This wasn’t just another report.
She plugged it into her system. A security prompt appeared. Retinal scan required. She leaned in, and the system scanned her eye. The screen flickered—then unlocked.
What she saw chilled her blood.
Dozens of patient files. Most marked “Deceased.”
All women. All doctors, engineers, geneticists—experts. Each one recruited under false pretenses, placed into experimental units, then… erased. Disappearances covered up. Some labeled accidents. Others labeled traitors.
At the bottom, one name stood out: Kaelyn Barnett.
Her own file.
Recruitment: “Planned – Phase II.”
Assessment: “Resilient. Emotionally repressed. Loyal to a fault. High strategic value. Potential to control or eliminate.”
Kaelyn’s hands clenched into fists.
She yanked the drive out of the terminal and stormed down the hall toward Zayn’s office. She didn’t wait for clearance. The guards tried to stop her, but the fury in her eyes made them hesitate.
She shoved the door open.
Zayn stood inside, speaking with Mara. They both turned at once.
“What is this?” Kaelyn demanded, slamming the drive on his desk.
Zayn’s face went still. Mara’s eyes narrowed.
“Where did you get that?” Zayn asked, his voice low.
“You gave it to me!” she snapped. “Why would you do that? To test me? Threaten me? Or remind me how easily you could make me vanish?”
Zayn’s jaw tightened. He picked up the drive and closed the door behind her.
“Sit down,” he said quietly.
“I’m not here to sit,” she said coldly.
He stepped closer. “Then stand. But listen.”
He held the drive between them. “This isn’t from my network. This was stolen—from the very group that tried to kill my team. We intercepted it two nights ago. I gave it to you because I need you to understand who we’re up against.”
He opened the drive and tapped into Kaelyn’s file. “They targeted you long before I found you. They knew your skills, your weaknesses. I’m not the one who made that profile. They did.”
Kaelyn’s breath caught in her throat. Her mind reeled.
“You mean… this whole time…”
“They were watching you,” Zayn said. “Waiting to either use you… or destroy you.”
She stumbled back a step, the full weight of it hitting her.
“All those years,” she whispered. “Landen. His accident. His coma. Was that even real? Or were they using me through him too?”
Zayn’s face darkened. “We’re still looking into that. But yes—there’s a good chance your entire marriage was manipulated.”
Silence fell. Cold. Heavy. Unforgiving.
Kaelyn leaned on the edge of the desk, steadying herself. “Why show me this now?”
“Because they’re coming again,” he said. “And I need to know if you’re still with me.”
She looked up, fury slowly solidifying into purpose. “I’m not with you,” she said softly. “I’m ahead of you.”
Zayn’s brow arched.
“I’m done playing defense,” Kaelyn said. “You want to end this war? Then let’s start fighting like it.”
She turned to leave, and Zayn watched her go with something like awe in his eyes.
Once again, Kaelyn had been thrown into the fire.
But this time, she wasn’t going to survive it.
She was going to burn it all down.