CHAPTER 10

I don't have time to bleed.

The train rumbles beneath me, the cold metal pressing into my back as I stare up at the dark sky. My shoulder is a mess, my ribs feel like they've been crushed, and my head won't stop pounding from the fight at the station. But pain doesn't matter. The Oath is still after me. I need to keep moving.

I climb down the side of the train, slipping through the door into an empty car. The overhead lights flicker, casting shadows on the torn seats and graffiti-covered walls. No passengers. Good. I need a moment to think.

I drop onto a seat, pressing my fingers against the wound on my shoulder. Not deep, but still bleeding. I rip a strip from my ruined shirt and wrap it tight. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now.

My mind shifts back to the USB drive. The corrupted files. The message.

You made the right choice, Nathan. But they will never let you walk away.

What choice? What did I do?

I don't remember. But someone does. And if The Oath wants me alive, it means I'm still useful to them.

I need answers before they find me.

I pull out my phone. A burner. Untraceable, but even those can be tracked if I'm not careful. No calls. No texts. I need someone I can trust.

One name comes to mind.

Riley Kade.

If anyone can crack the drive, it's her.

Last I heard, she was working security for an underground syndicate. If she's still in the game, she can get past any encryption. She can tell me what The Oath is trying to hide.

The train slows. I get off at a small station on the edge of the city, keeping my head down. Cameras are everywhere, and I don't know how many of them belong to The Oath.

I disappear into the streets, moving fast, hands in my pockets, shoulders hunched. My body is exhausted, but rest isn't an option.

Finding Riley isn't easy. She doesn't just hide—she erases herself. But I know who to ask. After a few dead ends—and some "persuasion"—I get an address.

An old warehouse near the docks.

I approach carefully, scanning every shadow, checking every rooftop. If Riley is still Riley, she's watching me right now.

The door is locked. Not a normal lock. No keypad. No keyhole.

A biometric scanner. Military-grade.

I smirk. Classic Riley.

I knock once.

Nothing.

I knock again, this time in a pattern only she would recognize.

Silence.

Then, a voice crackles from a speaker above the door.

"Nathan Vale. I was wondering when you'd come crawling back."

Her tone is sharp, amused.

"Open the door, Riley."

She doesn't. "You're bleeding on my doorstep. That's rude."

"I'll buy you a new doorstep."

A pause. Then—a click.

The door unlocks.

I step inside. The place is filled with screens, wires, and enough tech to break into the Pentagon. Riley sits in a chair, feet propped on a desk, flipping a knife between her fingers. Her dark eyes scan me, taking in the torn clothes, the bandaged shoulder, the exhaustion I can't hide.

"You look like hell," she says.

"Feel worse."

She nods to the chair across from her. "Sit. Talk."

I drop into the chair, exhaling slowly.

"I need you to decrypt something." I pull out the USB and place it on the table.

Riley doesn't touch it. She just looks at me. "Where did you get this?"

"From me."

She raises an eyebrow.

"I had it hidden. Didn't even know I had it until today. The Oath wiped my memory, but this survived."

Her smirk fades. She picks up the drive, turning it over in her fingers.

"If The Oath wanted this erased, then whatever's on here is dangerous."

"Exactly."

She slides it into one of her computers. Her fingers fly across the keyboard. Lines of code fill the screen, scrolling too fast for me to follow.

She frowns.

"This encryption isn't standard." Her voice is quieter now. "It's layered. Someone really wanted to keep this buried."

A progress bar appears. Thirty percent. Forty.

Then—the screen flickers.

Riley curses. "Shit. It's fighting back."

The system starts shutting down. Files scramble. The drive is erasing itself.

No. Not now.

Riley's hands blur over the keyboard. Bypassing firewalls. Isolating corrupted data. Trying to save what she can.

Then—

A single line of text flashes before the drive self-destructs.

A name.

Elias Graves.

My pulse pounds in my ears.

Riley turns to me, her face grim. "Who the hell is Elias Graves?"

The question burns in my mind.

I don't know.

But something deep inside me does.

And it terrifies me.