RIVAL’S POV
I slipped out the moment lights dimmed.
Thomas was still lying on the lower bunk, one arm across his eyes, chest rising steady. He hadn’t spoken much all day. Not that I cared.
If he was sulking over the solo mission or the bruises lining his ribs, he could keep that to himself.
I had bigger problems.
The base had secrets — buried, rusted, and carved into the walls like war scars. I’d spent the last week connecting the symbols in my head, lining them up like bones in a skeleton no one wanted exhumed.
I wasn’t chasing ghosts anymore.
I was digging up proof.
Tonight, I headed toward the ventilation wing — the south corridor. It was off-limits due to a “chemical leak” that happened three years ago. No one talked about it, and the only guards posted there were new recruits.
