Mia didn't stop running. She couldn't. Every instinct screamed at her to keep going—to find Ethan and get out of here. The world around her blurred as she sprinted through the dark hallways, trying to remember the path they had taken earlier. The Syndicate was after her. And now, it wasn't just the Syndicate she had to fear—it was the truth.
Ethan.
What was he hiding?
And where was he now?
Mia's breath came in ragged gasps as she sprinted down the hall, the sound of her footsteps echoing through the darkness. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest, but she pushed through it. The weight of the black box in her hands seemed to grow heavier with each step, a reminder of everything that had gone wrong. The Syndicate, Veronica's betrayal, Ethan's lies—they were all closing in on her, tightening like a noose around her neck.
She rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a dead end. The walls were made of cold concrete, and the only way out was the narrow, metal door on the far side. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized it was the same maintenance door they had passed through earlier. She didn't know if Ethan was still on the other side. She didn't even know if he was alive.
"Mia!" a voice suddenly hissed from behind her.
She spun around, her pulse spiking as she instinctively reached for the gun she'd never thought to carry. But it was only Ethan, emerging from the shadows, his face drawn with exhaustion and worry. He was moving fast, too, as if he knew the danger was right behind him.
"Ethan?" Mia's voice broke as she ran toward him, throwing her arms around him without thinking. He was warm, solid. But there was something in his eyes—something unreadable. The moment their bodies connected, she felt the familiar pull between them, but it wasn't enough to erase the doubt, the confusion that clung to her like a second skin.
He pulled back, his eyes scanning her face for any signs of injury, his fingers lingering on her arms. "Are you okay?" he asked, voice strained, his words filled with a raw urgency that made her heart ache.
"I don't know," she whispered, her voice barely audible as she gripped the black box even tighter, as if it might slip from her grasp. "I don't know what's going on anymore. I don't know who to trust. Veronica...she said things. About you. About the Syndicate."
His face tightened at the mention of Veronica's name. The muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn't say anything at first. Instead, he took a step closer to her, his voice lower, urgent. "Mia, you need to listen to me. I don't have time to explain everything right now. But I need you to believe me when I say this: I'm not with the Syndicate. Not anymore."
She shook her head, the disbelief creeping into her voice. "Then why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me the truth? About your past—about who you really are?"