Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

thirty-one

Emily never thought it would've been Oscar.

In fact, he was the last one she would have expected to be the mole. It made more sense for it to be one of the newer members or some disgruntled Atlas employee. She never thought it would be one of their own.

The original six had now been reduced to the original five.

Why did it have to be him?

The hurt caused by his confession still lingered throughout her like a ghost pain. It stung her like a swarm of bees. She hadn't been angry with him—not how Chase had been anyway. She was just disappointed.

But there had been no time to dwell on it. Before Oscar was cast out of The Acropolis, courtesy of Stella, he told them of a plot to attack the meeting scheduled at the Pentagon in just a few days' time. According to him, the rogue Primes were planning on getting rid of Senator Crane for good.

Except Emily didn't believe that for a second. Despite not having any proof regarding Crane's treachery, she knew he was behind it. No one could convince her otherwise.

The attack on the Pentagon wasn't for him; it was just meant to look like that. The actual targets were the other government officials still opposing the PRA. It had to be. They were truly the only ones preventing it from being ratified. If they were eliminated, nothing would stop Crane from achieving his goals.

An hour after Oscar came clean, Director Shaw called a meeting. As they had been drafting up a plan of action, they got the chilling call from an Atlas agent.

The apartment building Oscar's uncle and sister lived in had exploded. The firefighters attributed the explosion's catalyst to a series of bombs hidden throughout the complex. According to the authorities, they had been set off remotely.

The fire engulfing the building had been stopped by Oscar himself. Videos of the event hit the internet within minutes of it happening. But once the flames were quelled, he had vanished. No one had seen or heard anything from him since. Atlas agents were still searching for him.

Two days had passed since they received the news.

Emily could still remember the looks on everyone's faces as they sat around Director Shaw's office. Suddenly, no one was angry anymore. Theo and Andre looked horrified. Guilt had stained Chase's entire being. Stella had seemed shocked but tried to mask it with indifference.

As for Emily, she couldn't believe it.

He had mentioned his family had been threatened, but she didn't really think anything would happen to them. After all, who would attack the family of a Prime affiliated with Atlas? That was like asking to be hunted down and thrown in jail.

But now they were dead because he did the right thing. He had paid the price for it. Emily wasn't sure if she would've done the same. Her family—specifically her younger brother—meant everything to her. If someone had threatened them, she would have done whatever to keep them safe.

If only she had seen Oscar's side before they pushed him away.

Now he was alone.

Emily scowled at the thought of him by himself; hiding and hurting. No one deserved to go through what he had endured. But instead of being his friend, instead of understanding his dilemma, they discarded him like a broken toy. They branded him a traitor. And enemy.

He didn't deserve that.

"Emily!" Stella's shrill voice yelled.

She jumped in her seat, her features twisted in irritation. With her eyes narrowed, she glared at the girl. "What?" she hissed.