Chapter 18 - The Crack in the Armor
The bulletproof glass cracked, but held.
Sirens immediately blared throughout the underground complex, flashing red warning lights across the white walls.
"Kill them," Elena ordered calmly over the speakers.
A dozen Vanguard enforcers opened fire from the elevated walkways. Vincent shoved me behind a heavy steel support pillar, returning fire with lethal precision. Heavy rounds tore through the laboratory equipment, sending sparks and chemical smoke billowing into the room.
"Dominic! Go get the boy! I'll cover you!" Vincent yelled, taking a hit to his shoulder but continuing to lay down suppressive fire.
I sprinted through the smoke, dodging bursts of automatic fire, heading straight for the containment control panel.
Suddenly, a figure dropped from the ceiling rafters, landing squarely in front of me.
Lily.
She wielded two tactical blades, her movements inhumanly fast. She slashed forward, cutting through my tactical vest and slicing my cheek before I could even raise my pistol. I parried her next strike with the frame of my gun, forcing her back, but her enhanced speed was overwhelming. She knocked my weapon from my grip and drove a heel into my injured shoulder.
I fell hard against the floor near Ethan's containment pod.
Lily stepped over me, raising her blade to drive it into my neck.
"Lily, stop!" Ethan's terrified voice echoed from inside the pod's speaker.
Lily paused, her blade hovering an inch from my throat.
Ethan was pressing his small hands against the glass, tears streaming down his face. "Please don't hurt my dad! You gave me a strawberry... you said we were friends!"
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Lily’s dark eyes flickered. For a split second, the cold, programmed assassin cracked, revealing the tiny sliver of genuine humanity that her conditioning hadn't entirely erased. She hesitated.
That split second was all I needed.
