The overhead lights flickered once, then steadied as a new set of footsteps clicked across the lab floor. I blinked hard against the haze still clinging to my brain from whatever they pumped into me.
"You," I rasped, yanking against the straps holding me to the table. "Lila? All this time it was you running this nightmare?"
Lila Voss stepped fully into the glow, white coat crisp, hair pulled back the same way I remembered from fake childhood dinners. No more tired apartment act. She looked in charge, eyes sharp behind those glasses.
"Avery, good. You're awake and talking. That saves us time," she said, voice steady like we were discussing homework instead of me being tied down like meat.
"Time for what? You lied about everything else. Now you're the head scientist in this hole? Untie m
