She was built to obey. Trained to kill. Programmed to feel nothing. But some nights, the weapon remembers what it cut. Violet is Sector Eleven's deadliest operative-sharp, silent, unflinching. Until her latest mission shatters something deep inside. Now, ghosts cling to her skin and orders don't silence the screaming. Her punishment? A new assignment buried in the snowy ruins of northern India, where ancient microbes and forgotten symbols whisper secrets older than empires. Her cover: intern. Her real job: recover what remains of Ashoka's lost science-if it exists. But Violet's not going in alone. Kian is fire to her ice. Controlled, calculating, and assigned as her partner. She doesn't trust him. He doesn't need her. Yet the deeper they go, the more the line between mission and instinct blurs-and something buried beneath the Black Pool begins to wake. Old gods. Dead science. And two weapons learning what it means to burn.