R I L E Y

I was left alone with Kane to go over the plan for my breaking into the ONNT headquarters. As I met his dark eyes, I wasn't sure whether to be wary or pleased. I figured I'd settle for the latter.

"It will be difficult, but you've done it before," he told me, seeming not as worried as he should be.

"I don't remember any of the spying I did," I reminded him matter-of-factly. "I don't even know how."

"You go in disguised as the technician. All I need is the password. As soon as you have it, make sure to be alone in the room. That way, you won't actually have to do any technical work, you can just tell them you did."

"What if that woman meets me—Marcella Krasowski?"

"Have as little contact with her as possible. Convince them you won't need her presence."

"What if I get caught? You saw what she did to Delphinium."

"We broke the assassin out of that hellhole. We will do the same for you." His eyes bored into my own, his words hitting deeper than they should have. No one had offered to do anything like that for me before. And for him, of all people, to say it...

I found myself looking away first. "We're all wanted. My pretty little face will be posted everywhere for each ONNT soldier to see. I won't get three feet in there before they'll jump on me."

He said nothing, though I could tell he was thinking. I followed his gaze out the window. The room we'd rented was high enough to have a good view of the high-end restaurants and shops below. And one of them was a costume shop, advertising wigs and fake furs in the front window.

My gaze snapped back to Kane, already knowing what he was planning. "No."

As he tore his gaze from the window, a corner of his mouth turned up.

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"I don't even need my memories to know this is the stupidest idea we've ever had," I grumbled as I reluctantly followed Kane's large form through the aisles.

"You're wrong," he said, absentmindedly looking around the large space. "Once, we tortured the President of Romania for hours after his men shot Arlo."

"Excuse me?" I raised my eyebrows. Had I been a part of that?

"I'll tell you another time." He threw a tawny brown wig at me, which I barely caught. "Try that on."

"You've got to be joking," I said eyeing the hairpiece with disgust. "I'm going to look awful."

He threw me an annoyed look over his shoulder. "That's the point. You can't look like yourself."

"Fine." I flipped it over my shoulder and took the women's suit he was holding out to me. "Stop enjoying this so much."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Here." He threw a box of cheap color-changing contacts at me.

Catching it with one hand, I grumbled, "Thank God the others aren't here to see me in this."

"I expected you to enjoy this—you always loved playing the part of the people you impersonated." There it was, another shred of myself that I didn't even know. And yet he did.

"I think...I do enjoy putting on different masks and tricking people. But when you look like this," I said, gesturing to myself, "Why cover it up?" He scoffed and turned away in disbelief. "Don't pretend you haven't noticed, Shires."

"I don't notice things like that."

"Of course you don't; I expect it would interfere with that brutish, brooding reputation of yours."

He grumbled out a retort as we reached the dressing room, and stopped before the entrance, probably expecting to wait for me outside. But I threw a purposefully seductive smile to him. "What a gentleman." His eyes narrowed at me, clearly not liking my teasing.

"It's alright," I continued, and threw my hair behind my shoulder. "I've never liked it gentle. Come help me."

Of course, I didn't need help. I was testing the waters, looking for his reaction. Delphinium said he cared about me, but not the same way the others cared. I'd never had that before, not in this way. People tended to not get too close to me. But for some reason, Kane did. And I wanted to know why.

He scowled even deeper. "No, I can't-" My smile spread. His cockiness from earlier was dissipating.

"This was your stupid idea," I said, hand on my hip. "Follow through with it." My eyes bored into his own in challenge. I wanted to see how much power the old Riley had over this pretty boy. I wanted to see if he'd do it.

My smile widened when he reluctantly ambled after me, hands in his pockets.

In the dressing room, I stripped out of my ONNT-issued clothing. There wasn't much privacy in the orphanage, among the hundreds of children. It made me immune to eyes on me. Even now. Though Kane stood in the corner and kept his gaze politely averted, I was very much aware of his presence.

I fought the urge to laugh when I realized how comical he looked—barely fitting in this small space and still trying to shrink back into the corner. He looked as though he wanted to disappear.

I'd been with boys before. They'd been something to distract me from the crushing emptiness in my chest, people to be with so the loneliness wouldn't eat me alive. But they always left. I hardly cared; after all, they'd meant nothing to me. They were just an escape, nothing more.

However, something told me the strongman was different. For one, he was starkly opposed to the loud, overconfident boys I'd surrounded myself with. They'd never really cared about me. They'd never wanted to get deeper into my soul. All they wanted was my body and I'd accepted it. And here was Kane, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than violating my privacy.

Something told me the strongman knew me deeper than anyone else had ventured to go—he'd wanted to and still hadn't run from my chaotic nature. Perhaps that was what drew the old me to him.

Finally done, I turned away from the mirror to face him. He still seemed to find something very interesting on the ground. "How do I look?"

He was slow to look, like he expected me to be fully nude. A wave of relief washed over his face when he saw I wasn't. "You...don't look like yourself." He looked me up and down. Oh, he clearly noticed, all right.

"I know." I glanced back at myself in the mirror, the strange new girl staring back at me. Pale green contact-covered eyes met my gaze, a smile cutting across her face—a warm tan against the red-brown wig. "They'll never suspect a thing." Despite my earlier complaining, I didn't mind wearing this costume. As it turned out, I still looked good in it. I should never have doubted myself.

"Wipe your mouth," he said suddenly. Something in me bloomed with triumph when I noticed him staring at my lips. "You always wear that red lipstick. It'll give you away."

My mouth downturned in a pout. "Then I'll look boring."

He rolled his eyes. "You'll never look boring."

After a moment's thought, I wiped my mouth off on the back of my hand.

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The only time I remembered being in the ONNT headquarters was when the crew stormed it to rescue Delphinium and Benton. As I walked back into it, I was still taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the operation—countless soldiers and workers all bustling around in uniform. It seemed to have grown even in the small time since I'd been here.

My unease blossomed when soldiers came to greet me once I'd entered into the lobby. "I'm here to check the database at Ms. Krasowski's request," I told them, hoping I wasn't saying anything wrong.

It seemed to be an acceptable answer, because they ordered me to follow them. Though no one had said it, I figured they would take me to Krasowski herself, which I was dreading more and more. What if she recognized my voice or some imperceptible tell that Kane and I had forgotten about? Damien Hunt told us all about her monstrous experiment on our mothers; she was clearly capable of much more darkness than any of us had expected. Would I experience it firsthand today?

My blood chilled. What would she do to me if she found me—torture me for information or something far worse?

Then I remembered the stories the others had told me about my previous acts of bravery: poisoning Benton so that we could capture him, finding out some secret from the ONNT and providing the crew enough information from inside the Romanian fortress to make us able to destroy it. I'd somehow found it within myself to become more than just an angry, lonely orphan.

Though I didn't remember, I'd done things worse than this. I could do it. I'd get Kane that password. It would be the first of my great triumphs I would remember.

I began to walk with renewed fervor, head held high. That familiar fire burned through my veins. If Marcella Krasowski found me out, I'd do everything I could to take her down with me. I wasn't very good at fighting, but I did run on pure spite. One way or another, she'd suffer.

At the sight of her, there was no familiar spark within the depths of my memory as I'd hoped. But I did know enough to be sure we weren't anywhere near her office. No, we were underground now.

Krasowski held her hand out to me. I looked her directly in the eye and shook it. There was no recognition on her face. My confident demeanor didn't falter.

"You have my thanks for coming on such short notice," she said, clasping her hands together. "I have an urgent need to be sure my database is completely secure."

"I understand," I replied, my voice sounding much more genuine than I felt. In reality, I wanted to slap her across the face for what she did.

"Right this way." She gestured to the door she was standing before. "I'll show you the space you'll be working in." She began to go through the doorway. But Kane said I needed to be alone inside.

"Wait." She turned and stared at me with an eyebrow raised. "It's my policy to be alone with the computers—simply a precaution. You certainly understand that, I'm sure."

The director gave me a hard look that told me she doubted my intentions. "We're in a bit of a situation with security. I think you'll find it in your best interest to break that policy this time." She spoke lightheartedly enough to let me know she still thought I was the technician, but it was a threat nonetheless.

Determined not to back down, I made a show of leaning in and saying in a low voice, "I'm aware of your situation. The crew will be handled, I have no doubt. But these soldiers..." I paused to throw a glance at the men who'd ushered me here. "I can't be sure of their intentions. Can you?"

She paused and I knew I'd gotten under her skin. Hunt said she was power-hungry and desperate for control. Knowing that her own soldiers could sabotage this event would make her need to keep an eye on them—away from me, as she thought I was on her side. Sadly, she couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Without a word, she plucked a pen from her blazer pocket and began to write on a slip of paper. Handing it to me covertly, she stepped aside. I went into the room alone and closed the door behind me.

Surrounded by computers that lit up the dark room, I unfolded the paper. On it was a code made up of random letters and numbers. Knowing she'd want the paper back for security purposes, I began to commit it to memory.

A smirk twisted my lips. Something told me the old Riley would have been proud.