Chapter 69: The Lies We Live By
Julian’s blood pooled across the floor, stark and vivid under the harsh fluorescent lights. Cambria dropped to her knees beside him, her hands instantly slick with crimson as she pressed against the wound. Her heart thundered in her ears.
"Stay with me," she whispered, desperation cracking through her voice. "Don’t you dare leave me now?"
Julian’s eyelids fluttered. His mouth twitched into the faintest trace of a smile, pained but wry. "Told you... dangerous game."
Maddox knelt on Julian’s other side, his expression grim. He scanned the wound and then met Cambria’s eyes. "The bullet missed his heart. Barely. But it’s deep. We need to move. Now."
Across the room, the teenage boy, the prototype from Project Genesis, stood frozen in place, the weapon still extended, his face pale and stricken.
"I didn’t... I didn’t mean to..." His voice was a broken echo.
Cambria turned toward him, her breath uneven, but her tone steady. "You have a name?"
He hesitated, blinking back the horror. "They called me Genesis. But... I remember something else. Noah."
"Noah," Cambria repeated gently, tasting the name. It was soft on her tongue, painful in her chest. "You have a choice now. Come with us. Let us help you."
He stared at her, eyes wide and fractured, confusion battling fear. "He said you’d try to turn me. That love is just another kind of control."
"It’s not," she whispered. "It’s the only thing that’s real."