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A blurry figure stood over her, like a ghost brought back to life.

Khalani wiped her eyes, squinting, assuming she was stuck in a nightmare loop. But the image slowly began to clear, revealing a pale girl dressed in white pants and a long-sleeve white shirt with black buttons down the middle.

The girl staring down had messy blonde hair that reached her waist and sharp facial features that tightened in annoyance. She appeared a few years older than Khalani and had strange metal cuffs wrapped around her wrists.

“You need to get up,” the girl ordered, moving toward an open door. She glanced back once more before adding, “If you’re not outside in two minutes, they’ll shock you.” She gestured to Khalani’s wrists before leaving.

Khalani’s eyes widened as she looked down to see similar metal cuffs around her wrists. She patted her hands down her legs, wearing the same white uniform as the girl.

Her gaze darted around frantically.

The bright room she was in was the size of a large closet. White walls surrounded her with one translucent door that lay partially open.

Thirty-Two.

The blood-red number was plastered above the door.

The cell reminded her of a lab, but much whiter, colder, and reeking of despair.

Khalani turned as an influx of people wearing similar uniforms started walking past her cell, barely glancing her way. Their backs were hunched, eyes gaunt.

A low groaning noise reverberated from her left, and she turned.

Takeshi was in the cell with her.

He lay on his back. The white tunic fit snug around his large frame and the metal cuffs around his wrists were clearly visible. His eyes were firmly closed, still knocked out from whatever the guards had injected into their necks.

Khalani had a fleeting temptation to leave Takeshi for the electrocution he undeniably deserved. But she was smart enough to know that having the Captain alive was her best shot at escaping.

Her limbs felt like lead, each movement slower than the last as she crawled over to him.

“Wake up.” She nudged his arm.

Silence.

“Takeshi.” She shoved harder. “Wake up!”

No movement. Not even a stir of an eyelid.

She stopped breathing, unable to swallow past the knot in her throat. But then she saw the gradual rise and fall of his chest, and Khalani sighed with relief.

But the instinctive surge of worry only stoked the fire burning in her stomach.

She lifted herself on her knees, leaning over his unconscious frame. It was the first time in a while she’d seen him without a cold scowl. Takeshi’s deathly beautiful face finally looked at peace…

SLAP.

Her hand struck his cheek with much more force than necessary, and Takeshi’s black eyes flew open in shock.

In the next heartbeat, she was flat on her back, and Takeshi was on top of her, his powerful hand clutched around her throat.

Her body locked in panic as he squeezed the life out of her. She stared into his menacing gaze, silently pleading, unable to draw in a single breath.

Finally, Takeshi’s expression shifted, his eyes flooding with horror as he realized what he was doing. He scrambled off her, his face drained of color.

She coughed and sat up, heaving.

“Kanes.” He swallowed, genuinely shaken. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else.”