Page 8 of Now or Never

Four months ago

Rain hammered incessantly against the wall of windows all lined with crisscrossed wire. The din outside, heavy gray sky, and miles and miles of ocean surrounding them cast the room in low light. Personally, Kenna would flip all the lights on and make things in here as bright as she could.

MaybeDominatusdidn’t want to have to pay a huge light bill on their deep-sea platform in the middle of… She had no idea where they were. It wasn’t the Caribbean, that was for sure. Not with this constantly gray weather.

Kenna stared at the bowl of stew in front of her, the rain swelling in her ears until it was all she could hear. She pushed a couple of carrot chunks that were still hard around the bowl with the plastic spork they’d given her. As if she didn’t know how to use it as a weapon.

Mystery meat popped to the surface.

Kenna held her breath and stood. One foot over the other off the bench seat. Down to the end of the row. She just about madeit, narrowly missing the edge of the trash bag stretched to its limits over the rim of the plastic can.

Bye-bye, bread roll.

That was the best part of the meal, usually. It was hard to mess with a basic roll, even if it was bland. Butter made everything better.

Her stomach heaved again, but nothing came out, even though she gagged.

A cup of water appeared in front of her.

She looked over at Dr.Marcus Buzard—one of them anyway. Kill one, and another pops up. She tried not to think aboutDominatusand their science experiments. Especially since shewasone of their science experiments currently.

“Drink it.” He shoved the cup at her.

Kenna took a sip. The water tasted like salt—like the rain hammering against the windows. When it was empty she chucked it in the trash can while trying to swallow the taste out of her mouth.

Buzard stared at her, his eyebrows heavy under the smooth skin on the top of his head. No lab coat today, which only made her wonder if it was covered in blood from a horrifying experiment on someone else captive in this place whom she hadn’t met yet, and now someone had been tasked with bleaching out the stains.

Two pens and a pair of reading glasses in his shirt pocket. She could use both to injure him. She could use his tie to strangle him. But what was the point in all that effort? The room was rimmed with guards, all of them armed with stun guns and batons—and syringes.

Kill one, and another pops up.

“Since you’re finished eating…” He snapped his fingers, and two guards pushed off the wall, striding toward them. “You have an appointment.”

She held still, and they stopped a few feet away.

Noise erupted from the loudspeaker on the wall beside the double doors that led to the hallway. “Doctor Buzard, the retrieval team has returned.”

Kenna shuddered. The voice. It was the same woman from the videos.

Her mind flashed with images of war. Uprisings. Genocide. Mass graves. Things that happened unlessDominatuscontrolled the world. Unless they created humans to their specifications, trained them, and set them in positions of power across the world.

Those who don’t fall in line are cut down in their prime.

She knew they were brainwashing her. They’d started the first day, pushing her to exhaustion and keeping her hungry and thirsty. Forcing her to “earn” food and water so the baby stayed safe within her.

She’d tried to resist. To comply outwardly and yet, within her mind, retain her sense of self.

She’d tried.

Failed.

Tried.

Failed.

Who cared what they wanted to tell her, or what she had to say she believed. She had to protect this baby growing in her womb until she could either escape or was rescued. There were no other options.

Lord…