CHAPTER 40

Nowhere Left to Run

The underground safe house smelled of damp concrete and old metal, a far cry from the sterile, clinical hell that had just unraveled in my mind. I sat against the cold wall, staring at my hands—hands that suddenly felt like they didn't belong to me. The flickering light overhead buzzed, casting long shadows that crawled across the floor.

Across from me, Riley sat stiffly on a crate, her fingers laced together so tightly her knuckles had turned white. She hadn't said much since we escaped. That silence burned more than any bullet ever could.

I exhaled. "You haven't looked at me the same since the bunker."

Her gaze flickered to me, but she didn't argue. She didn't even try to deny it.

"You told me yourself," she said quietly. "You think you used to work for them."

"I think, Riley. I don't know." I ran a hand through my hair, frustration curling inside me. "That memory—it wasn't a choice. It was forced into my head, ripped out like it was never supposed to be found." I met her eyes. "That doesn't mean I was on their side."

"But it doesn't mean you weren't."

The weight of her words settled between us, thick and suffocating.

I clenched my jaw. "You don't trust me anymore."

She hesitated. "I want to."

"That's not the same thing."

Her silence confirmed it.

I pushed off the wall and paced the narrow room, my pulse a steady drumbeat of frustration. "After everything we've been through, you think I was one of them? That I'm still some—some sleeper agent just waiting to turn on you?"

"I don't know what to think, Nathan!" she snapped, standing suddenly. "I spent years trying to dig into my past, and now I find out yours might've been erased too? That we're both just—just pieces of something bigger neither of us understand?" Her voice wavered, but she held my gaze. "I've been running from a ghost. But what if that ghost was you?"

The words hit like a gut punch.

I took a step back, my chest tightening. "You think I would hurt you?"

Her lips parted slightly, like she wanted to say no. That she knew me, that I was different. But she hesitated.

That hesitation was a knife to the ribs.

The overhead light flickered again, the buzzing filling the tense silence. I forced my breathing steady, forced the chaos in my mind into a tighter box. I couldn't afford to fall apart now.

I turned away, staring at the wall. "We need to focus on surviving."

"That's what I'm trying to do," Riley said, quieter this time.

She didn't say that's what we're trying to do. She said I.

That distinction wasn't lost on me.

Before I could respond, a shrill beep broke through the silence.

Both of us snapped to attention.

The burner phone on the table vibrated once, then stopped. A single message lit up the cracked screen.

One line.

"Come find me. If you dare."

I felt my blood turn to ice.

Riley stepped closer, reading the words over my shoulder. Her breath hitched. "Julian."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "He wants me to walk into a trap."

"Yeah, no shit." She crossed her arms. "Are you considering it?"

I clenched my fists. "I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, Nathan."

I turned to face her. "Do I?" I gestured around us. "We're in the middle of nowhere, stuck in a crumbling underground network that won't hold against The Oath's reach forever. You don't trust me. I barely trust myself. And Julian? He's controlling the board while we keep playing defense."

Riley exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down her face. "So what's your plan? Walk right into his hands? Let him dig around in your brain some more?"

"If I don't go, he keeps coming after us. He keeps winning."

She bit her lip, conflict flashing across her face. "And if he's telling the truth? If he really did make you?"

My stomach twisted.

I didn't want to consider that possibility.

But deep down, I already was.

I turned away. "Then I find out what I am before he turns me into something worse."

Riley inhaled slowly, like she was steadying herself. "I'm going with you."

I froze. "You just said you don't trust me."

"I don't. Not completely." She squared her shoulders. "But I trust Julian less."

I let out a short, humorless laugh. "High praise."

Her expression softened, just a fraction. "We started this together, Nathan. Even if everything else is falling apart—I need to see this through."

For a moment, I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

Then I nodded, once.

Riley stepped back, brushing her hair behind her ear. "We should move at dawn. We'll find Julian's trail before he sends someone to 'escort' us himself."

I watched her for a long second, then grabbed my jacket.

We had nowhere left to run.

So it was time to stop running.