Serena:
Voronov didn’t flinch when I leveled the gun at his face.
He didn’t beg. Didn’t blink. He just smiled—like a man who’d seen the end of the world and decided it wasn’t so bad after all.
“The phoenix,” he repeated softly. “You’re even more beautiful up close.”
Nico stepped up beside me, gun raised. “Say that again, and I’ll redecorate the walls with your teeth.”
Voronov chuckled, a sound like brittle paper. “Still protective, I see. They taught you loyalty well.”
I ignored that. “You know who I am?”
“Of course. You’re the first. The experiment that failed because you were never meant to break.”
“I didn’t break,” I said flatly. “I woke up.”
He tilted his head, his expression caught between admiration and clinical detachment. “No. You resisted. That’s different. You’re still f
