R I L E Y

I tried not to get my hopes up as I arrived at the ONNT headquarters.

It had been four days since Arden Rong's warning about the incoming invasion. As expected, we had hear nothing from her. She was most likely dead for communicating with us, executed by Orion.

In those four days, nothing else had happened, save for Hunt's reinstatement and my daily testing at the headquarters; they were working to try to get my memory restored. Krasowski had never pursued gaining my memories back because she wanted a monopoly on the knowledge I once held. Hunt had no such desire.

As much as everyone wanted my memory back, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. To them, it was getting my old self back, along with information that could potentially destroy Orion. But this was my own mind and I wasn't even sure what lay in its depths.

I'd never quite thought my mind was a prison, even when forced to fend for myself as a child among other equally-ravenous children. With my harsh exterior and the secret hours I spent honing my powers, I'd created a haven inside myself. Of course, I'd always grappled with feeling like I might not be enough for anyone else. But I was enough for myself.

However, now my mind was a prison, and I was locked out of it.

In the beginning, I'd been afraid to know what was hidden from me, what was a still mystery about myself. I'd thought perhaps living in willing blindness would be better than the agony of awareness. But I'd always been too curious and reckless for my own good. Sometimes I wondered which would get me killed faster.

Now that I'd become familiar with the looming threat of Orion's invasion, I vowed to die on my feet after taking out the maximum number of enemies.

That couldn't happen unless we knew what intelligence was locked inside my head.

Kane walked beside me—he'd quietly insisted on coming along for my daily testing and I had no reason to object. Quite the opposite, actually. And though I might not admit it, the growing terror of never getting my memory back was easier to face when I wasn't alone. I wondered if that was Kane's reason for coming.

Though Hunt's position was his own again, I did feel a small note of unease walking through the front lobby—this had all been Krasowski's just four days ago. I knew little of the director himself, other than the brief encounters we had while I was being treated. From the others' stories, I knew he was a good man. Nevertheless, it was another thing still left in the dark. And I could hold my own, that was certain. But Kane's looming presence at my side comforted me more than I could say.

The doctors and scientists—both groups clad in white coats and translucent gloves—were ready for me. As had become custom for me in the past four days, I pulled myself onto the examining table and waited for them to check my pulse and other medical necessities; they wanted to be sure the previous treatments had truly not begun working.

Shoving a hand through my hair, I watched as Hunt entered the room. He didn't even look at Kane or object to his presence, as it had come to be expected. My lips twisted upwards.

In hushed robes, the director exchanged words with the group of doctors about my progress—or the absence of it. When they were done, he turned to me and gave me as much of a friendly look as he could. "We're going to try something new today, Riley. It seems you're going to need something more powerful than the previous treatments to jog your memory."

My eyes narrowed. "Why did you say it like it's going to be horribly painful?"

"Well...it shouldn't be too painful." He paused, gathering his words. "Krasowski took a blood sample from both Benton and Delphinium when they still had the drugs Orion gave them inside their bloodstreams. Several of them appear to have some unique properties. We all know how Orion was able to control the assassins' thought processes through his own mind. We were thinking...that a certain replica we made of one of the drugs could bring your memory back to its full extent."

I didn't need a moment's thought. "Give it to me."

To Hunt's left, I made eye contact with Kane in the corner. Despite his efforts to hide it, I knew he was concerned. I could glean that much from his expression. I supposed I'd some something extraordinary, breaking through his stoic exterior.

But I wasn't worried. I wanted to remember him. He insisted we had no connection before, but I didn't believe him. I wasn't blind to the way his eyes followed my every move. Nor did I fail to notice how my heart raced and thoughts sang when he was near, like my body knew him even when my mind didn't. Like it was some deep instinct to be close with him.

Hunt nodded and stepped back to leave room for the medics, accepting my decision. They told me to stand and follow them, so I obeyed. But not before shooting Kane another glance; he had to stay outside as they performed the procedure in a much smaller room. Only Hunt and two doctors were around me now as I sat again.

They explained what exactly they were going to do and how they expected it to work, but I hardly listened. All I knew was that this had to work.

I wanted to be myself again. Fully myself.

There was a pinch as the needle was stuck into my neck. I could feel the liquid go inside my bloodstream. If the doctors were correct, it would travel to my brain and free the memory blockage. If they were wrong...well, hopefully I wouldn't die a pathetic death that I'd brought upon myself.

Their eyes were on me, but I stared at the ground, searching the crevices of my mind for new openings. Nothing. Just dark, blank areas.

"Think back to the day I removed you from the orphanage," Hunt suggested, snapping my from my mind. "If you can remember that, it may trigger memory of the other events."

The day Hunt removed me from the orphanage... I hadn't known he'd been the one to bring me away from those dull walls. I hadn't even wondered.

There it was.

Hunt standing before the front desk of the orphanage, our headmistress at his side. At eighteen, I'd accepted that it was too late for me to be adopted—one more year, and I'd be on my own, anyway. And being adopted by a single man wearing a suit that looked like it costed more than my life? It certainly hadn't been what I'd been expecting when I was called from my dormitory.

But I wasn't adopted. From the power he held by being a high government official, he was able to remove me from the orphanage without much question, especially because I was eighteen years old. And when I followed him suspiciously to the black car parked at the curb, he explained the real reason I was being removed.

Meeting the others. The war with Hundsen. Our discovery of Imperium. Spying for Benton and unintentionally destroying our team. Destroying the Russian fortress. Delphinium's capture.

"I remember." The unbelievability of it made my voice soft. "I remember."

"Good. Now think back to the day Evans sent you here to spy on Krasowski's men. Remember what they found. Remember what she killed them for knowing."

I tried. I really did. But my memory seemed to fade a few days before I lost it. In fact, I couldn't even remember the fight with Delphinium that cost me my memory in the first place.

My smile faded. "I...can't. Where is it? Why can't I remember it?"

Hunt didn't look as surprised as I was. "I suppose it did occur right before your head trauma."

"Mr. Hunt is correct," the female doctor said. "Those few days before the trauma could be a bit muddled. But you remembered everything else. The rest of it should come soon."

"Stay here for the time being. We need to see how long it will take for the memory to resurface," the director commanded me. "While we're waiting...Shires is in the hallway."

In spite of myself, my grin arose again. Though he was much more reserved with his feelings, I supposed it wasn't exactly hidden how I felt about Kane. But having Hunt know was a bit what I expected having your father knowing about your romantic life to be like.

I shoved down from the table and marched out of the door, victorious that I even had my memory at all, even if it wasn't complete.

In the hallway, Kane stood across from me. His size and glowering expression must have made all the medical staff intimidated and uncomfortable because the passage was empty. Near-giddy at the prospect of being myself again, I nearly laughed at the thought.

Even before I let the door shut loudly behind me, Kane's eyes were on me. He stayed rooted in his place across from me, as if he was trying to keep himself there.

He said nothing, just kept watching me as if he could already tell I was fully myself. Unable to keep the smile off my face, I burst out, "I remember now."

The understanding on his face told me he already knew. But there was a question there too.

"Sadly, I don't remember the few days before the accident," I felt the need to clarify. "I don't know what Krasowski and Orion are hiding yet. But I will."

His expression didn't change. I wondered if I had misunderstood the questioning on his face. He wanted to know something else.

I raised an eyebrow. I had expected this rejoining to be dramatic. Even so, I supposed the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Just how I liked it.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" I asked, well aware that he was more often silent than not.

"I'm just making sure you're really real."

Though I wanted to kiss him senselessly just for saying that, I leaned against the wall before him, crossing my arms. He could come to me. And I would make sure he would.

In the meantime... "That first day, I asked you if we had some connection and you said no." I made sure to curve my lips the way I knew he hated. "Is that really how you think of me?"

He seemed to choose his words carefully. "I couldn't say yes. You flirt all you want, but you get skittish when it gets real. I didn't want to force anything on you, especially when you didn't feel the same way."

"I suppose you were right." Somehow, I found myself looking away from his intense gaze. "I might not have known you then, but I still felt myself inexplicably drawn to you." I chewed my lip. "And I didn't know why."

"You might have been drawn to me and you might have made your attraction clear," he said, sounding like every word was forced out of him. "But I never would have made an advance for you. You're uncontrollable, like a thunderstorm, a hurricane. I barely know what you're thinking. But I knew you didn't want me, not in the way I want you."

I was never more aware of the way his dark hair curled over those beautiful eyes as I was now. So, doing my best to keep my eyes off his parted lips, I said, "I'm here now. And I'm not leaving. What does that tell you?"

When he was quiet, I knew he wanted to hear me say it aloud. So I did. "Stupid, foolish boy, you know I will always adore you."

That did it for him. Finally closing the distance between us, he grasped my hand tightly and pulled me through a doorway of an empty room. The door shut with a click and Kane's mouth found my own. I gave a wicked grin against his lips; I'd known I could get him to crack.

And we'd done this once before, but I hadn't known him as I did now. That day was a result of the pent-up desire between us—by then, I finally couldn't take it anymore. I had real growing feelings, yes. But I hadn't been ready to face them, so it had been borne of months of tension and desire. And that only.

Not that I didn't desire him now; my obvious attraction to him said otherwise and I didn't care who knew it. I knew he mirrored my thoughts through the hunger in the way he grasped my face, the way his lips parted against mine. But we'd gone through hell together and had only come out stronger. I was no longer afraid to embrace what I felt.

As my fingers raked through his hair, I half-wondered why I hadn't done this much sooner. He kissed me slowly, passionately, large hands gentle against my face. Lips met teeth and tongue and I clutched him to me, wanting him closer. It was good to know the power I held over him for future reference, if we ever lived through this.

What a shame we were in the ONNT building amidst hundreds of people, because the incoming war was only fueling my reckless nature.

And he'd thought I didn't want him. If we lived through this war, I'd remind him I did every day.

Arching my spine, I allowed him to tilt my chin up, the back of my head resting against the wall. His mouth left mine and went to my throat. His soft curls brushed my jaw. In my half-aware deliriousness, I wondered if he could feel how hard my heart was beating through the pulse in my neck. I could barely concentrate on even my own thoughts when he was touching me like this—like I was precious and he never wanted to let me go again.

"You'll never know how difficult it was," he said against my skin, "Being around you all the time when you wanted nothing to do with me. I had to keep myself away."

"You certainly did," I said, my breathy voice sounding strange to my own ears. Had I ever been this flustered in my life?

"I promised myself I would hide what I felt. And I'd stay away. For you. Even if it killed me."

"Delphinium said you'd do anything for me," I said softly, barely able to get the words out right.

"Anything. You know I would."

After he said that, I gently brought his face back up to mine to kiss him until he was panting for breath. When we broke apart, he simply stood before me, hand against my face. The grin playing on my lips was borne of pure happiness—an emotion I barely knew and suspected Kane knew even less.

But when Kane's lips turned up at the ends in a real, rare smile, my heart nearly cracked in two. It was strange, really. The idea that your personal happiness could lie with another person. And yet here we were, finally feeling it.

And then the realization came.

It hit me like a punch to the face. I literally staggered back with the suddenness of it and immediately, Kane's smile dropped and he supported me, wordlessly wondering if he'd done something wrong.

"I remember," I said, suddenly short of breath. "And I remember why Krasowski didn't want anyone to know. Rong's warning about Orion working in the depths... Because Orion's finally cracked the code on how to implant the enhanced gene into soldiers—the code to give them power." I looked up at Kane in horror. "And he's making an army of them."