Due to publishing restrictions with Amazon, the full version of this book and the other books in the series will no longer be available on this platform after June 7, 2024.
“Shit that was excruciating.” Iva sighs out.
His arm is tightly bound against his chest. A clear ceramic brace covering the middle of his hand to his elbow.
“I’m starved. This is your old academy, Oren. Take us to the food.” Fletcher drags his feet over to walk next to me.
“You do know where the mess hall is right?” Iva chuckles. “I mean, we figured you had to eat in the toilet while you were here or something. But you have an idea where the building is, yeah?”
I glare hard without answering.
“You better watch your ass dude.” Fletcher warns, throwing his arm around my shoulder. “My man here can probably laser beam your face off.”
Everyone laughs, and I'm too tired to hold back mine.
“Wait.” Iva leans in close on my other side. “Can you really do that?”
He raises his brace up like he’s about to record something on his wrist device. His face falls staring at the offending brace that replaces it.
“Shit, I think he’s going to cry. No wrist tech. Gotta interact with others now.” Fletcher gives him a pouty lip then his beaming smile, earning Iva's finger.
Kane and the captain whisper behind us as I lead them to the cafeteria. The whiff of food overrides my need to eavesdrop. Overcooked steak and mushy macaroni and cheese have us all moving quicker.
“Oh my God.” Addy piles two steaks on her plate. I drop heaping scoops of mac over the top of mine.
“I’m going to eat every last bit of this disgusting slop.”
I nod in agreement. I can’t believe how quickly I got used to Centrum’s gourmet menu. My whole life I dreamed of being able to walk into this cafeteria. Dreamed of eating the hot food they serve. And now I’m dreaming of one of Fletcher’s specials.
We make quick work of our meals and I show everyone to the locker room to shower and change. I find myself standing in front of my old locker. It’s still empty. I think back to the sludge someone had to clean out from the last prank. It’s a lifetime ago.
We have an hour for shuteye before we head home. Home. I’m close to my village. I can leave while they’re showering. I'll run home, get what I need, and disappear. They hid my secret during the debrief. But how long will it stay hidden with Cole in talks with Centrum command now. They could be heading this way to arrest me.
Footsteps approach and I make my way to the exit. Now’s my chance. Cole enters, blocking my path. His cold eyes are bloodshot.
“Cole Targe.” Kane’s deep voice booms around the empty space rattling off the metal lockers around us.
The rest of the squad enters the aisle behind me. The steady thunder of their boots along the concrete floor sound like a ticking clock. Cole swallows hard but keeps his stance. Kane steps up to my right side and the captain appears on my left. The rest of the squad is at my back.
How many times have I faced off with Cole in this very room? With me on my own and the other cadets with him. Cole’s eyes find me again and there’s a twitch in his mouth. The start of a crooked grin before it fades. His shutters pull down tight as if remembering he shouldn’t smile.
“Warrior Targe.” The captain stands between us.
Her hands are behind her back holding folded black cloth.
“An officer is addressing you, warrior.” Sergeant Gray’s bellow rushes the silence before he appears behind Cole.
His arms are crossed over his bulky chest as Cole snaps to attention for the captain.
“Warrior Targe, you are here by assigned to the Elite Squad under my command.” The captain presents his black uniform with the red wings of the Elite’s displayed on top.
“You will be designated a trainee with the specialty focus of technology and weapons. Your trial period is TBD based on your performance. Do you accept, warrior?”
Cole gets a choice. He’s still at attention when his eyes lock onto the Elite emblem offered before him. It’s what he’s always dreamed of. Unless those were the dreams of his father.
It’s smart of the captain to offer him a position dependent on performance. He won’t accept out of pity or, as I suspect, to be kept under watch.
“I accept.” He is resigned but not angry.
“Welcome, warrior. We move out in one hour, squad. Dismissed.” The captain spins on her heels and meets with Sergeant Gray.
Cole and I stay put as the others move to the exit leaving the door open. I want to ask him if he told them what happened, what I can do. But I can't form the words. Words that determine my future. Cole sighs and sags, deflating.
“They identified the blurred figure on the video as a warrior. They wanted to know how it’s possible for someone to move so fast.”
My brows furrow. “It could have been a Flick . . . it was a blur on the screen."
Cole shakes his head. “The images show a warrior. A warrior in black.” He lifts his Elite uniform.
They know it’s an Elite. They know one of us has unnatural abilities. Will they take me like Targe attempted as an experiment, a lab rat? Or like an abomination. Too close to the demons to keep alive.
“Why accept?” I nod to the uniform.
Has he been assigned to the squad to reveal who the warrior in the video is? Or does Centrum want him for something else?
“Because my father was right." He stands straight, eyes hard. "You move like them, and we don’t know what you are.”
"And did you tell them about your father? How his rightness killed my family?" My fists clench and my eyes blink bright before I pull back.
Cole pales and satisfying fear moves over his face. I've never directed my anger at someone else. But now it's a pressure valve General Targe and Centrum set loose. A boiling wrath ignited from someone else's crimes.
All my life I quietly accepted my fate. But I never doubted my warrior born instinct of duty. To protect our people and serve Centrum as much as they would allow in shadow and secret. But it's Centrum's secrets and shame I carry. They're serum kills warriors. I'm not the traitor, they are.
Cole masks his fear. "You think the truth is going to matter?"
He's right. Even with the knowledge about my family, my inescapable truth remains. I'm different. A difference that risks my life and those around me. And that's the barbed wire noose around my neck. My family's innocence doesn't matter if they discover what I can do.
But I’m stronger now and armed with knowledge. What came out of the Mist is not the same folding warrior that went in. And I'm not waiting for them to destroy another Oren.
A rushing stampede of chaos breaks out behind Cole in the academy courtyard. Cadets, instructors, and medics in white run past the open doorway. Cole’s the first to join them. Once I’m sure they aren’t coming for me, I follow. But I stay just inside the doorway, out of sight.
“Unresponsive, blunt force trauma, multiple sharp force injuries and lacerations.”
“Crash team prepped and ready.”
Cole jolts back as if hitting an invisible wall, dropping his uniform to be trampled by the crowd. Furrowed, pinched faces are given a wide berth as they rush to the infirmary. I get my first look through the gasping shocked cadets retreating to the barracks.
A limp warrior’s hand hangs over the side of the bloodied stretcher. It's soaked through and dotting the bright concrete walkway below. Gloved hands press deep into the warrior’s mangled flesh. But there aren't enough hands to contain the open gashes sliced from his chest to groin. The flash of the general stars adorning his collar somehow still shine bright.
Neon green eyes flutter closed as he passes. I swallow the thin nauseous saliva welling up. Limb locking fear overpowers my anger until the courtyard empties and Cole’s rigid stance is all that’s left.
“We’ve got you General Targe. Hang in there.”
END OF BOOK 1
Summary:
When the walls of Centrum are breached across all the regions it's up to the Elite Squad to save the nation from being overrun with demons. But they can't do it alone.
They'll have to team up with the highly decorated, pretentious warriors of the other founding families. Together they must train select warriors to defend against the nationwide threat. But with civilian unrest from the attacks, Centrum doubts the warrior-born strength is enough and reinstates Targe’s experimental serum.
The squad will face attacks from more than just the demon horde. And find themselves at a crossroads between duty to Centrum or duty to each other. Rain finally learns the source of his power which makes him question whether being a warrior-born is an honor or a curse.
Join Rain and the Elite Squad in the exciting follow up to Out of the Mist.
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Preview Episode 1
I crouch behind the thorny brush ignoring the slicing sting against my cheeks and hands. It's not the best spot to hide but they wouldn’t think of it either. And I need to get my bearings. The musk of damp soil and sweat suffocates. A faded red string twists in the vines by my battered boots.
They’ve been after me all day and I'm fading fast without water and food. The blazing sun beams spotlights around me as if it’s trying to give away my location. The gusting breeze rattles the branches above making it hard to locate their movements, even with my unnatural enhanced senses.
They managed to catch up to me over and over again. They’re hunting me in full combat gear and rations. All I have is the thin black training uniform I left in. They have orders to capture me by any means necessary. I don’t think I can lose them again. Not without unleashing more of my abilities and I won’t do that.
My eyes squeeze against the internal reel of images that have plagued me for weeks. Blades slicing human flesh through marrow. Wet thuds and silent screams frozen on dismembered heads. I won’t risk hurting anyone, not again. I just have to make it to the other side of these woods. And I’ll be in the clear, I'll be free.
"Oren, on your feet."
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