The Kill Order

Chapter 17

There is something incredibly lonely about keeping secrets. I made for a terrible spy – hiding things from my enemies was easy, but lying to my friends was becoming more and more difficult. As much as I knew the guys, especially Johnson, cared about me, I couldn't confide to them about this. Maybe if I were a guy. Maybe if there were usable intel to be gathered from this super secret werewolf election. Maybe if (even if I could barely admit it to myself that he did) Johnson didn't have feelings for me.

There were too many maybe's in that equation.

So, for the time being, I was so deep undercover I couldn't communicate with anyone.

Three days was a long time to be covering up a lie as big as "I might die soon.

The last night of my purgatory ended with a curt phone call from Montana. "649 Sawleaf Lane. Be there at 10:30."

I was just finishing up a strength training set in the workout room. Johnson was taking out his frustration alongside me, and raised an eyebrow at me as I responded. "Got it."

There was a moment of static on the phone, long enough that I checked to see if Montana had hung up. Instead, her voice came through one final time, laced with uncertainty. "Aris... I know you have a choice to make. And I know it's going to be a hard one. But I need you to consider that letting your friends in on this could mean a lot of people are going to die. Including Mason." She paused, like she wanted to say something else but changed her mind. "Just think it over before making a decision, okay?"

The line went dead.

Johnson waited expectantly for me to clarify, but I simply shrugged. "Mason wants to see me tonight." A knot twisted in my stomach. It wasn't a lie, I mentally defended, it just wasn't the whole of the truth.

I've never been a wonderful liar, and I was certain that the fact that I was hiding something was written all over my face. My squadmate, for his part, didn't look wholly convinced.

"Okay," he said slowly, before moving to free weights.

The room was silent apart from our heavy breathing. Johnson finally dropped the weights he was working with to the mats, interrupting the relative silence with a loud thump. "I'm gonna go grab some dinner. I'll see you later?"

I nodded, trying to steady my breathing as I finished my last set. By the time I completed my reps, the room was empty and the clock said it was already almost 10. Great. Just enough time to shower, get geared up, and walk into a possible death trap.

The first moment of hesitation came when I went to put on my bulletproof vest. I didn't expect the mutts to shoot at me, but walking into an unknown situation without some kind of body armor would be dumb. I stared at the large block letters stating I was FBI, emblazoned across my chest for the world to know. Was this a sanctioned mission? Was I really going in as a Special Agent of Squad 17, or was I doing this for personal reasons?

I sighed and strapped on the vest. No point in wasting time fighting with myself, especially since there were plenty of real enemies waiting for me.

My sniper rifle was not going to be of any use in confined quarters, but I felt next to naked without it. Instead, I loaded up on firearms, even grabbing a few grenades for good measure. I stuffed everything into a large duffel bag and slung it over my shoulder.

Finally, I grabbed my phone. Part of me wanted to leave a message, in case I didn't make it out of this alive. I opened a text to Jennifer, knowing she wouldn't see the message until the morning. My fingers froze on the keyboard.

What do you say to the people you love when you're about to die a traitor?

Hey Jen. If you can't get ahold of me tomorrow, tell everyone I love them, okay? Especially Johnson. Tell them to look out for each other.