Page 35

Chief Aiken Oakley

Valor

The helicopter’s engine was a comforting drone.

They were free.

Valor sat close to Zorion in the spacious cabin as Jo motioned for them to put on the padded headphones hanging beside them.

She was still clad in her sleek black ninja gear as her voice crackled through the headset.

“We pulled this off because of some kickass teamwork.” Jo nodded to the others in the back seats. “Meet the people who helped make your escape possible.”

Valor scanned their faces. The first two he recognized immediately. Dr. Santana and Dr. Pheung gave hesitant waves. They’d left behind the lab coats and were now dressed in dark-green tactical jackets and pants.

Next to him were two men he recognized from Cipher’s team. One was from the combat wardrobe team, a lean man with an inquisitive gaze and short curly black hair. He wore a sleek black outfit with reinforced material, looking more like a field operative than someone who designed warfare gear.

Beside him was the weapons specialist. He believed her name was Sable. A beautiful Black woman with jet-black hair and a scar running from her right brow to her ear, as if danger had always been her occupation.

Jo pointed to a young guy slouched in his seat wearing a different set of headphones than the rest of them as if in his own world. His fingers flew across the keyboard of the compact computer in his lap.

“That’s Glitch, my tech expert. A reject from MIT. Not because he wasn’t smart enough, but because he was too damn smart. The professors hated him for always calling them out on their mistakes, so they convinced the administration he was cheating.” Jo laughed. “Anyway, he’s the one who caused the blackout.”

Glitch briefly glanced up, pushing his round glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. His ruddy-auburn hair was a mess of chaos, and he wore a hoodie covered in cryptic symbols that Valor had no clue what they meant.

“You’re welcome, by the way,” he muttered, then returned his gaze to his monitor.

The last person Jo gestured at was a stunning woman.

“And this is Virginia. She’s from the Browns’ shadow division.”

Virginia crossed her arms—which were tattooed with stalking black panthers and snakes wrapped around dozens of knives—over her huge breasts. She had short, spiky hair dyed a variety of bright colors, from red to blue to pink, then silver. Her eclectic appearance was attractive, and if he’d preferred women, he would’ve asked for her number right then and there.

Zorion glanced in Valor’s direction before turning to Jo. “Where are you taking us?”

Jo exhaled. “Off the grid. The director is obsessed with you two. Out of all the Ravens, you are his crowning…million-dollar experiment. Meridian and Ex are wildcards, and the Browns are blindly loyal to the cause of righting wrongs in the world and still unaware of the director’s corruption.”

“For now,” Virginia chimed in. “But once Grace discovers who he’s been killing and that he’s now on the wrong side of right, his wrath will be unstoppable, and he’ll level that facility to the ground.”

“And our so-called handler, Cipher, does he have a way to track us?” Zorion asked.

With all they’d undergone, Valor had no clue if they’d been implanted with chips or trackers.

“No, absolutely not,” Dr. Santana said.

“Good, we don’t need a handler,” Zorion gritted.

“The hell you don’t,” Glitch interjected. “Jo will be your handler.”

Zorion shook his head.

“Yes.” Glitch glared hard. “Jo has already proven she’s on your side. And to show how loyal she is, she’s taking you somewhere only a few people in the world know about.”

Virginia smirked as she flipped a switchblade back and forth in her hand. “Not even we know where it is.”

Valor frowned.

“I’m taking you to the Order of Imuma Aga Khan.”

Valor continued to stare. Was he supposed to know where or even what that was?

Jo smiled serenely. “It’s a place that’s nowhere. My home. The Order of the Beginning.” She let those words linger before continuing. “The origin of the true assassins. The home of my brother, Lion, the Man of Triumph, and his cherished… Omega. The second and third deadliest men in the world.”

Valor’s instincts flared, his muscles tensing. He turned toward Zorion, his instincts to protect him surging in his chest.

“They aren’t to be feared,” Jo added. “Not by the righteous, not by the morally good, or the pure at heart. They aren’t men. Lion and Omega are something else.”

Valor scowled. “Lion and Omega…and they are—”

“Legends masked in humility,” Virginia whispered as if in awe. “Warriors honed beyond anything the human mind can measure.”

Now, he was intrigued.

“Tell us more,” Zorion said.

“They are assassins.”

“What the fuck?” Zorion growled.

Jo held up her hand. “They aren’t Ravens, nor associated with the Ravens. They exist beyond morality, beyond laws, loyal only to an ancient code of discipline and honor, taught by the Shaolin elders and grandmasters of the Order.”

“Fuckin’ badasses,” Glitch muttered, not looking up from his screen.

“Why are you taking us there? Shouldn’t we go to a remote island or something?” Valor asked.

“The Order is on one of the most remote islands in Southwestern Asia. Assassins of the Order have no country. They pledge to no flag and have no path except the one they choose to walk. And they don’t kill for vengeance, money, or power.”

Jo leaned toward them. “They kill when it is written in the universe. To restore balance. You both need training, and Omega and Lion are the best. I need you to be rid of the facility’s brainwashing and taught how to fight in nature and alongside the elements. In the Order, you will learn what it means to fight with honor and for glory. To battle without fear, to move without sound, to become the shadows of the world and to kill without discrimination. You will become ghosts.”

Zorion was motionless.

“It’s the only way you’ll be able to take down an organization as vast and powerful as the Ravens,” she warned.

Valor clenched his fist. Jo talked a good game, yet he wasn’t as enamored as the others. But he guessed he had no choice.

“You said they were the second and third deadliest. Who’s the first?” he asked.

Jo just stared at him.

Valor glanced around, noting the stoic expression.

“Death’s messenger. The Alpha. He is the darkness in the abyss, the whisper before a man’s final breath, a force that ends wars before they begin.”

Virginia’s smile was eerie. “He’s God’s avenging angel.”

Jo rolled her eyes. “Virgina is being dramatic. Ignore her. She has a crush on a man she has never and will never see.”

Valor turned toward the window to contemplate Jo’s words. His past had been stolen from him, his identity eliminated. His unknown was no longer a feeling of loss. It was a battle to be won.

He’d been freed from one cage. Now, he would become something a cage couldn’t contain.

Let the hunt begin.