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Chapter Twenty-One

Case

Brennan called and told us we had to get Trace to crack—Mr Z’s orders. Laughn is currently acquainting him with some electricity, yet he still hasn’t budged. My skills are useless here. I can break into anything... buildings, vaults, literally everything that has a lock.

I step back into the room after texting Jolie. We’re all in agreement that once her results are in, we need to tell her something. Mr Z will expect us to be a team of six again. He won’t let her get away, and will keep a close eye on her and our team, even though we all know something suss is going on.

Trace looks up at Laughn and smiles; you can tell he is tired but refuses to give in, whether that is his training or for her, who knows. Whatever it is, it’s making our life harder.

“You do realise my training started before you were all born, right? Get Mr Z here or I won’t talk.”

“So, he does still have a voice,” Boston snaps. Boston is a leader, born to make the hard decisions.

“You forget that your team wasn’t the only one trained at the facility. Your little genetically modified group?—”

“Shut the fuck up. I preferred when you didn’t talk,” Laughn sneers.

It’s true, while we all have specific areas we are better at—where we are genetically designed to excel over the others—we all have some traits in common. Super endurance, no fingerprints, poison and disease resistance, bones stronger than most people’s, and the list goes on. We can still get hurt just like everyone else, but it’s a little harder.

Laughn has next to no damn pain receptors, especially when he is electrocuted. Davis is a human lie detector. Marlow and computers talk the same language—there is nothing he can’t hack or find. Boston literally remembers everything he wants to remember; not like a photographic memory—this is more situational—but whatever he catalogues in that head of his is there forever. I have excellent vision in the dark, but fuck, as a result, I’m the one that gets sent in first and I sure as shit ain’t bullet proof—I have the scar on my shoulder to prove it. And that is only the quick run-down of our abilities.

Clapping comes from behind us, and we turn to see Mr Z in the flesh; his dark-blue suit is impeccable, and as he smiles, his teeth are so damn white it’s unnatural.

“Well done, Trace. It’s impressive how well you still remember your training.”

Trace’s head snaps up, and he sneers at Mr Z.

“Take him to shower and meet me in the boardroom in fifteen minutes. It’s time we debrief.”

I look at Brennan, but he isn’t giving anything away. Why would Mr Z need to debrief? We only do that after a mission.

Laughn catches on a few seconds before I do, charging at Trace, who has now been untied by Brennan. Marlow and Davis dive for Laughn before he does something he regrets, while Brennan and Boston escort Trace to shower and change. The rest of us stay behind to try to calm Laughn.

He is pacing the room, shaking his arms out after every lap; we all watch and wait. He continues this routine for a few minutes until I finally snap.

“Are you fucking done?”

“I’m done when I say I’m done,” he demands, stalking towards me, coming face to face.

“Is that so? Get over it, Laughn. Does it really matter how Trace is involved? We have her back. Do you remember the months after she left? I know I do. I cried every fucking night, begging someone to bring her back to us, no questions asked.”

“Why does it matter?!” he yells, pushing me in the chest, causing me to take a step back. Marlow goes to step forward, but Davis throws his arm out to stop him, letting Laughn continue. “All those years lost, that’s why. Every day she has been gone, a piece of our souls disappeared. We turned into the complete opposite of what our team was intended for. We were created to love her.”

“That’s it!” It hits me out of nowhere. “We were told we were created to love her. What if she was created to be taken away from us, so we could be moulded into relentless monsters?” Jolie hasn’t seen our true colours yet. I know I want her to remember me as I was before she gets to see Trace.

Death has its own stench, one you can’t erase from your skin, your mind, your damn soul, and that is why she was removed. So we could be honed into a team of extreme ruthlessness.

“It makes sense. Look at Team Rampage—they all love the same girl, but they are weak. The other teams are also weak, either fighting over one girl or there’s a power imbalance. Taking her away gave them the opportunity to make us unstoppable, and now bringing her back, they know we will protect her with a ferocity even they can’t begin to understand. It’s well played, really,” Davis adds clinically.

“How about we go and hear out Mr Z,” Marlow interjects.

Laughn nods and pulls me into his lanky-ass arms. He won’t use the word sorry, but I clap him on the back to show him I understand, and he releases me.

By the time we make it to the boardroom, Brennan, Boston, Trace, and Mr Z are sitting around the oval table.

“It’s about time,” Mr Z states as we take our seats. “Time is money, boys. I’m sure you all have questions, but first I want to thank Agent Trace for his service.”

I don’t miss a look passed between Brennan and Trace.

“His service?” Davis scoffs. “What about his loyalty to his brother? Or did he ditch me the second he decided Jolie was his best friend?”

“While I understand you are angry, let’s save the dramatics,” Mr Z adds firmly, causing Davis to lean back in his chair and stare down Trace.

The day Trace went missing, Davis made us all promise to forget him. His involvement in Zircon’s accident is why he presumed his brother ran.

“Trace was following orders, which I understand is a surprise, but let me explain a few things. Brennan, Trace, Creed, Chester, and Kai were my original super team, but we ran into a few issues with the female embryo not taking, so...”

Creed is Laughn’s creepy-ass brother, who was a handler once upon a time, but now his special skills lie with dead bodies, as he finds solace in the silence. There’s also Chester, a.k.a. our school guidance officer and Marlow’s brother, who they use as an extra set of eyes on us at school or when Brennan is too busy to babysit our asses. And then you can’t forget my dickhead of a brother, Kai.

“So, what you’re saying is our brothers are more like our twins, and we are from the same embryos?” Boston rises in disbelief.

“Something like that,” Mr Z confirms.

“That’s just fucking weird. Kai is a dick and I’m nothing like him,” I grumble. I can’t express how much we don’t get along.

“Back to the point. I found as Zircon was growing older, both groups had a love for her. Team Zeus started to resent and hate Team Hades. I couldn’t have that, so I came up with a plan.”

I’m listening, but something isn’t adding up.

Davis cuts him off. “You didn’t want Team Zeus, as you call them, to be stronger than your surviving team, but their hatred and anger gave you an idea of how to make us stronger, more ruthless.”

“Precisely. Remember that this is a learning process for future generations. So, I set in motion a series of tests.”

Now that I think about it, thirteen-year-old us didn’t get along with our siblings, but isn’t that natural? “So, you sent her away with an older handler who you’re saying had a boner for her.”

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that,” Trace snarls.

Laughn laughs hysterically. “You think she will love you when she finds out who you are, and that you lied to her?”

“We had this overwhelming instinct to protect her, even from you. I think Mr Z left out a little tidbit... that we would have taken you out for looking at her wrong and still would.”

“Sounds like Brennan likes incest,” I say, and he shoots me a look.

We can all see how he really feels about her; he is only lying to himself. Which means they all could love her.

“What Mr Z is saying is we were trained as her handlers, not yours. When faced with this issue, he had to have a plan,” Brennan adds.

“You fucking knew about this?!” Boston shouts in outrage.

“Not at the time, but I’ve since been filled in.” Brennan is smart, and is holding himself together well, but I can see by the way Boston is staring at him they are having an unspoken conversation.

“You let them beat me and you knew!” Trace scoffs, glaring at Brennan.

“Everyone, stop. Trace—Brennan was following my orders to make sure you hadn’t forgotten your training. Brennan and the rest of Zeus were the reason I sent you into hiding. I wanted to test your skills and theirs. Now, on to more important matters.”

“Can we tell Jolie who she is?” Davis asks the question we are all wondering.

“No. This is no longer a test for you—taking her away was your test. Bringing herself back into the fold is hers. You will not say anything or I will make her disappear again. Do we understand each other? She has one last test, and you will all play your parts. I need to see if deep down she still has that fire.”

“We need to see what she does as she uncovers the truth. Summer has played her part and given her information. Now we wait,” Brennan says, but I can tell he isn’t happy. I also plan to find out how—and when—the fuck he fell in love with her. It doesn’t make sense, and with the way Boston is looking at his brother right now, he is thinking exactly the same thing.

“One last thing before I go. Zircon, or Jolie, has a new handler.” We all look in his direction and I already have a feeling this isn’t going to be good. “Kai.”

“No fucking way,” I roar in outrage. Not him!

“He is set to start school tomorrow. I suggest you learn to get along because he isn’t going anywhere. Her protection is top priority. While you’re all capable, it’s protocol. Brennan can fill you in on all the details later. You will all report to the training facility for twenty-four hours and then return home. I will see you at the gala where I expect you all to be on your best behaviour. Remember, these people fund our organisation.” With that, he stands and motions for Trace to follow.

We all turn to Brennan, but he shakes his head and scratches his nose, our signal that it’s not time to talk. We all nod back—it’s time to get our training on. Twenty-four hours of gruelling testing with no sleep. Let the fun begin.