That night, silence swallowed the facility. The kind of silence that felt heavy, thick, and alive — the kind that made every creak of the old pipes, every flutter of night insects outside the walls, sound like thunder.
Lexi sat on the edge of her narrow bed, her expression blank but her mind burning. She had waited days, suppressing the itch in her veins, resisting the gnawing temptation that clawed at her since the night she found it.
The underground lid. That secret entrance — or exit — that didn't belong. She had pretended disinterest, continued her tasks like a good soldier, but tonight she could no longer bear it. If the lid hid what she thought it did, then everything about this place — Ezra, Nathan, even the system that kept them alive — was a lie.
And Lexi hated lies.
She moved without a sound, her body a shadow slipping through shadows. Her boots kissed the floor without echo, her hand brushing the wall only when she needed balance.
The halls were under surveillance, of course, but she had mapped the blind spots already. She always mapped things. The cameras might have caught others, but they wouldn't catch her.
What she didn't know was that Kelvin was already working in her room.
The man reeked of sweat and desperation, his lips pulled back in a twisted grin as he planted a tiny black camera beneath her bedframe. Another in the vent shaft. A transmitter tucked into the seam of her pillow.
He was tired of following her around, waiting for her to slip, tired of Ezra's lectures about patience. If Lexi wouldn't hang herself with her curiosity, he would build the noose for her. Tonight, he thought, she was finished.
But Kelvin wasn't as invisible as he thought.
From the shadows of the monitoring wing, Nathan watched. His arms crossed over his chest, his jaw clenched, his gaze locked on the grainy feed of Kelvin creeping in Lexi's room like a rat.
A threat.
He had suspected Kelvin's intentions for days, but now he had proof. If Kelvin succeeded, Lexi would be destroyed — and Nathan realized, to his own irritation, that the thought enraged him. He wanted her under his control, not Ezra's. She wasn't theirs to break.
He turned to his men, his voice low, dangerous.
"Bring him in. Quietly. No one sees. Take him to the dungeon."
He commanded as he turned and left.
The soldiers saluted and slipped away like wraiths. By the time Kelvin followed Lexi's trail later that night, shadowing her toward the lid, a pair of strong hands closed around his throat, cutting off his breath before he could scream.
The underground section of the facility was colder, the air stale, carrying a damp scent like mold and iron. Lexi crouched near the corner where she had found the lid days ago. Her fingers brushed the edge of the iron plate, her heart hammering with both thrill and danger. Tonight, she would know.
Her nails hooked into the crevice, and with a grunt of effort she lifted. The lid scraped, heavy but not unmovable. A chill draft kissed her face as a dark tunnel yawned below.
And then—
She froze.
The hairs on her neck prickled before her eyes even caught the movement. Slowly, carefully, she turned her head.
Nathan.
He leaned against the far wall, half-hidden in shadow, arms crossed. His gaze was fixed on her, burning, dangerous.
Lexi's mask slid effortlessly into place. Her features softened, wide-eyed innocence painted across her face like a masterpiece. She tilted her head, feigning surprise, as though she had merely stumbled upon the lid by accident.
"Oh hi," she said softly. "I was just…patrolling."
Nathan pushed off the wall, his boots striking the floor like drums of war. His face was unreadable at first — then she saw it. Fury. And beneath it, something darker.
"You," he said, his voice a low growl. "Do you think I don't see you? Do you think I don't know what you're doing?"
Lexi blinked up at him, lashes fluttering. "Doing what, sir? I'm following orders. Staying sharp. Isn't that what you want from us?"
The corner of his mouth twitched. Not in amusement. In rage.
He loomed over her now, his hand snapping out to seize her wrist and pull her away from the open lid. He slammed the cover shut with the heel of his boot, the echo rattling through the tunnel.
"You're a fool," he snarled. "Do you have any idea what you almost cost yourself? What would've happened if someone else had seen you here? If Ezra had found you?"
She tilted her chin, her lips curving in a faint, taunting smile. "But it wasn't Ezra who found me. It was you."
Nathan's eyes narrowed dangerously. He should kill her — he knew he should. If she uncovered the truth, if she kept digging, he would have no choice. And yet, even now, he couldn't stop staring at the curve of her lips, the calm fire in her eyes, the way she stood before him utterly unafraid.
Infuriating. Unruly. Untamed.
And intoxicating.
"Come," he bit out finally, yanking her arm. "Now."
The walk to his office was silent, but thick with tension. Lexi allowed herself to be dragged, her expression serene, as though she were humoring a child in a tantrum. Inside, her mind whirled with calculations. He hadn't sounded like Ezra. Ezra would have reported her immediately, made a spectacle of her. But Nathan…Nathan wanted something else.
And she had an idea what it was.
When the door to his office closed behind them with a heavy click, Nathan didn't speak. He turned, his eyes storm-dark, and before she could take another step, his hand shot out.
He slammed her back against the door.
Lexi gasped softly, more from the force than fear. His hand pressed against the wood beside her head, his body caging hers, his face inches from hers.
"Do you have a death wish?" he hissed. "Do you know what I should do to you for this?"
Lexi met his fury with calm eyes. "Kill me?" she said simply, her voice mocking. "You could have done it already. But you didn't."
Nathan's chest heaved. He hated her composure. He hated her smirk, her unflinching gaze. She should be trembling, begging for forgiveness. But instead, she teased him.
"Careful," she whispered, her lips curving. "You look like a man who wants something he shouldn't."
That snapped something inside him.
With a guttural curse, Nathan's mouth crashed onto hers.
The kiss was rough, punishing, born from fury and desire tangled into one. His hand gripped her jaw, forcing her still, while his other pressed against her hip. Lexi didn't resist — she leaned into it, her smirk ghosting against his lips even as she kissed him back with maddening calm.
When he pulled away, his breath ragged, his eyes blazed into hers. "You drive me insane."
Lexi tilted her head, her voice soft, mocking. "Good. That makes two of us."
He cursed again, pressing his forehead against hers, his restraint hanging by a thread. He wanted to break her, tame her, bend her to his will. But the more he tried, the more she slipped through his grasp like smoke, taunting, defiant, beautiful.
And she knew it.
Lexi's fingers brushed lightly against his chest, not in surrender but in challenge. Her smile was infuriating, her voice a whisper against his ear. "So what will you do with me, Nathan? Protect me? Kill me? Or keep me?"
For the first time, Nathan didn't have an answer.
And that terrified him.