Page 92 of Tag (The Golden Team #9)

Aponi

I was halfway through cross-referencing Chimera’s aliases when the knock came.

Three soft taps.

Then Blue’s voice came through the door. “She’s awake. And asking for you.”

I didn’t need to ask who. Lacey hadn’t spoken more than a few words since the helicopter ride. Blue said it was trauma. Shock. Survival instinct.

But something in her eyes told me she was holding onto more than fear.

Tag stood when I did. “I’m coming too.”

We walked down the hallway together, past the murmurs of Raven and Gideon, past Kaylie’s quiet click-clack at the keyboard. Everything felt still. Like the whole safehouse was holding its breath.

Blue opened the door to the med room. “She’s alert. Quiet. But sharp. Like she’s been trained .”

I didn’t like the way she said that.

Lacey sat cross-legged on the bed, blanket around her shoulders, eyes watching everything. When she saw me, she sat straighter.

“They said you'd come,” she said.

I crossed to her, kneeling down. “Who told you that?”

She glanced at Tag, then back to me. “The woman. The one with the tattoo. She said you’d be drawn back in. That they’d bring you home.”

I stayed calm. “Why me?”

“She said you knew too much—even if you didn’t remember, they knew you would come just to save us.”

The room went silent.

Tag stepped forward. “Why would they know you’d come back to that place?”

Lacey looked up at him. “She said Aponi—Isabelle—was raised to become the perfect weapon. She said her mother raised Isabelle the way we told her to, and that if she ever woke up again, she’d ruin everything.”

My hands curled into fists.

“She’s lying,” I said.

“Maybe,” Lacey said. “But there’s more.”

She reached under her pillow, pulling out a scrap of paper. She handed it to me. Not folded. Not hidden.

Just waiting.

Written in a child’s blocky scrawl:

“Heard a man on the radio. He called her by name. Said he used to train her. Said she’d never turn against them. Said she was his daughter .”

My blood ran ice cold.

“No,” I whispered.

Tag was already beside me. “What the hell is this?”

Lacey shrugged. “I don’t know. But the woman got real quiet after that. She told the others not to use the radios again. Then they moved us.”

I stared at the paper.

I looked up, vision swimming. “My father is Faron’s father. He died a long time ago. They have me mixed up with someone else.”

Lacey’s voice was quiet. “They lie about everything.”

Tag crouched beside me. “We’ll find out the truth. But right now, that girl is telling us someone inside Chimera believes you still belong to them.”

“No,” I said, my voice breaking. “I don't belong to anyone. They have me mixed up with another woman.”

He took my hand, threading our fingers together.

“No,” he agreed. “You don’t. But we’re going to burn every damn piece of this thing down so no one else ever has to wonder if they do.”

Lacey looked between us. “I want to help.”

I blinked. “What?”

“They taught me things,” she said softly. “Things I wasn’t supposed to understand. I know names. Places. I can draw them. But only if you promise to make them pay.”

I squeezed her hand. “You have my word.”

Tag stood. “We’re going to war.”