CHAPTER ONE : OPERATION EMBER VEIL BEGINS
1017 Words
Skye Hunter
Most people my age stress about grades, deadlines, or what to wear to class. Me? I’m stressed about whether my fake identity will hold up if someone tries to scan my student ID too closely.
Typical Monday.
Kai leaned against the black SUV parked near the gates of Blackridge College, sunglasses low on his nose, chewing gum like we weren’t about to start the biggest mission of our lives.
“You nervous?” he asked, glancing at me as I adjusted my backpack.
I scoffed. “Do I look nervous?”
“You look like you’re trying too hard not to look nervous,” he said with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes but said nothing. He wasn’t wrong.
This was it. Operation Ember Veil.
The mission that could finally upgrade us from low-level junior agents to full-fledged operatives in ORION Core. No more minor field tests. No more following orders from cocky senior agents who only saw us as “the director’s kids.”
If we pulled this off, we’d earn our place — not just as Hunter twins, but as agents in our own right.
“We’ve got to blend in,” I muttered as we approached the front entrance. “You’re drawing attention.”
Kai shrugged. “Let them look. I’m hot.”
“You’re insufferable,” I hissed.
He winked. “You love me.”
Unfortunately, I did.
---
Kai and I stepped onto campus like undercover fashion models — at least, that’s what Kai would say. I was dressed in ripped jeans, a cropped hoodie, and combat boots. He wore a white tee under a denim jacket, dark jeans, and sneakers that probably cost more than my laptop.
“Okay, question,” Kai said as we passed the fountain at the center of campus. “If someone asks, do we tell them we’re twins, or keep it a secret spy-style?”
I raised a brow. “What spy-style? That we’re cousins from Sweden who just happen to look identical?”
He grinned. “I was thinking more like… long-lost childhood friends who reunited after surviving a forest fire.”
“Yeah, let’s go with the lie that sounds like a Netflix drama,” I muttered.
“You’re just mad because I always get the good ideas.”
I snorted. “You once tried to convince a customs agent that your name was Kai-oto the Ninja Prince.”
“And he let us through, didn’t he?”
“Because Mom threatened to erase his memory.”
We both laughed, easing some of the tension between us.
For a second, it felt like any normal day — just two siblings joking around. But this wasn’t normal. We weren’t here for classes or college parties.
We were here to find Zayn Castillo — the only known lead to a drug kingpin that ORION had been chasing for three years.
---
We picked up our student packets at the administration office, complete with fake transcripts, dorm keys, and course schedules. ORION had thought of everything, right down to my major in psychology and Kai’s in computer science.
“Hey, look at this,” Kai said, flipping through his schedule. “Intro to Calculus. Mondays at 8am. This mission is already violating human rights.”
I smirked. “You hacked into an international server last year, but you can’t handle math?”
“I only like numbers when they help me crack bank codes.”
We stepped outside, squinting in the sunlight, when suddenly—
Boom.
A soccer ball bounced off Kai’s head.
“AGH! My brain!” he shouted dramatically, dropping his backpack like he’d been shot.
A guy jogged up, looking alarmed. “Oh man! You okay?”
I turned and froze.
There he was. Zayn Castillo.
Tall. Golden brown skin. Hazel eyes. Muscles that had no business being that defined under a simple white jersey. He looked like trouble dipped in honey.
Kai blinked up at him. “Are you the ball or the angel of death?”
Zayn chuckled, reaching out a hand. “Sorry, man. I was aiming for the net. You just… got in the way.”
Kai groaned, accepting the help up. “That’s what my ex said too.”
I choked on a laugh. Zayn looked over at me, and for a split second, our eyes locked.
Everything slowed because he was lesser than what i expected.
And just like that, I knew.
This mission was about to get dangerously annoying.
---
Zayn gave me a lopsided smile — the kind that made me think I'm in for a big boring mission and my brain forget all polite agency protocols.
“You new here?” he asked.
I nodded, praying I remembered not to show my distrust. “Yeah. Skye… Winters.”
Kai cleared his throat. “And I’m her emotionally damaged twin brother, Kade.”
I elbowed him.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Kai. Just Kai.”
Zayn grinned. “Cool. I’m Zayn. I can give you a campus tour if you want. You know, as a peace offering for almost turning your brother into a human goalpost.”
Kai rubbed his temple dramatically. “Too late. The damage is internal. I’ll never do algebra again.”
Zayn laughed. That laugh was somehow real. He didn’t know his dad was one of the most wanted drug lords in the country. He didn’t know he was being watched.
---
Back at the dorm that night, Kai tossed his duffel on his bed and collapsed beside it.
“So,” he said, staring at the ceiling. “We found the target’s son. And you looked at him like he was dipped in s**t and printed with hatred.”
I sighed, flopping onto my own bed. “He’s just... a dummy?.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“What?”
Kai smirked. “You’re gonna catch feelings. And when you do, remember: I called it first.”
I threw a pillow at him.
He caught it midair, grinning like the chaos goblin he was.
“Let the mission begin.”
- Writer
