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0: Don’t Fail

“HerCitizenIDis1311?” He rubbed his goatee, brows sliding together as he considered the situation at hand.

“Yes.” It was only one word, but her firm tone and body language communicated everything she needed.

The older man sighed, clearing his throat before protesting. “Madam President, what you’re asking us to do is placing an unnecessary risk on our forces.”

“I’m well aware of that, but I ask it of you nonetheless,” she pushed back. Her gray hair rested neatly on her head in a tight, braided bun. Despite her petite stature, she stood tall and regal as she commanded the room.

The man rubbed his goatee once again, pulling on the peppered strands, staring off at the floor as he breathed in heavily through his nose. “We’ve never attempted something like this before. Trying to get into the Administration building is going to require intel we just don’t have access to yet.”

“Well then, get the access you need.”

A second man, blond, with chiseled cheekbones and green eyes like meadow grass, chimed in, “It’s impossible. The REG has tons of firewalls to protect access to the tracking chips. To hack into their system and deactivate her chip is, well…there’s a reason why we’ve never done it before.”

The woman closed her eyes, lips set in a thin line. Silence. Time ticked. Opening her eyes once again, she set her narrowed gaze on her subordinates, crows feet framing her eyes. “This rebellion depends on us outsmarting Raúl and his REG officers. And to do that, we must be willing to take risks to gain something greater. Removing her from the equation takes away his ability to hold her against us—”

“To hold her againstusor to hold her againstyou?” It was a challenge. One that the woman met with a beady glare, causing the younger man to clear his throat. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I just can’t help but be concerned—”

“Rest assured, gentlemen,” she interrupted, her voice firm, cutting the man off like a knife. Her patience was wearing thin. “Whatever my personal attachments might be to the Telvian president or his child, I will always maintain what is best for our cause as my compass.”

She stared both men down, her senior years carrying the full weight of her decades of experience and political leadership. “This rebellion must survive, and we must take Telvia back. We cannot tolerate the mistreatment of the people any longer.” Her voice grew firm,sharp. “Raúl will lose this time. I will take myself to the grave before I allow him to continue to rule the regions. But to do that, we need more help. And to gain more help, I needher.” She paused for a moment, setting her gaze back on the blond man. “Can you do it? Or do I need to find someone else?”

Tension saturated the room. Both men looked at one another, nerves settling through their bodies as they shifted their weight from one foot to the other. Finally, the blond cleared his throat before speaking. “Yeah, I can do it. Consider it done.”

The woman gave one firm nod. “Then get to it. Contact the others. We need everyone on this.”

“Madam President, what if it doesn’t work? What if we risk our moles just to fail? We’d have to start all over, and it took usyearsto get these people into position in Telvia.”

She blinked, lifting her chin as her shoulders rolled back. “Then don’t fail.”

Both men glanced at one another before facing her once more. “Yes, ma’am.”

1: Do It

“Iwasworriedaboutyou.” Chase’s voice was soothing, calm. How he always kept such control over himself, I would never know.

I looked up at the passing clouds of spring—white tufts of cotton, floating freely across the sky. Nothing told them what to do except the soft April breeze that whispered rain but brought none. The clouds had not a single care in the world.

Must be nice, I thought bitterly.

“Mara?”

“What? Oh! Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. You know I can’t do anything when I’m in there.”

Chase rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. “Want to talk about it?”

I gave him a quick glance.DidI want to talk about it? I wasn’t convinced it ever helped. Talking about it just made the memories more vivid, and I usually ended up crying like an idiot. And Ihatedcrying in front of him. He was this beautiful, blond Adonis—refined cheekbones, a firm jaw, and light green eyes. Completely gorgeous. The last thing I wanted was to look ridiculous in front of him.

I shook my head, brushing back a swath of my brown hair from my face. I definitely didn’t want to talk about it.

He opened his mouth, but hesitated. “Did…did she hurt you this time?”

I pressed my lips together as the memory resurfaced—my stepmom gripping me by the arm tightly as she dug her nails into my flesh, throwing me down the basement stairs. And then…the lashings.

The sensation of leather cutting into flesh…

The snap cracking in the air…