“Remember your script—J’adore failed to assassinate Peter and triggered the self-destruct mechanism in Ebony Town, which caused both of them to perish.”
“Yes, sir!”
“And…” The President trailed off. Then, he chuckled darkly as he continued. “Don’t let news about J’Adore’s death be out just yet.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” the man in the black shirt said before he bowed and left the basement.
The President’s eyes turned into crescents as he grinned deviously. He had never felt this much satisfaction before .
It was night time when Shadow 1 opened her eyes and was greeted by the darkness outside. She did not know how much time had passed, but based on her estimation, it was probably the night after she escaped from Ebony Town.
She reached a hand out and began to feel around her in the darkness.
When her fingers brushed against a cold and stiff body, her eyes widened in shock as she called out, “Mr. Peter.”
“Mr. Peter…”
“Peter.”
“Peter!!!”
He did not respond to a single one of her cries and Shadow 1 was beginning to wonder if he was dead.
In order to confirm her suspicions, she ran her fingers down his arm and found his pulse—it may be weak, but at least it was there. Perhaps his body has gone into shock! For him to survive the neurotoxin is another feat!
A look of disbelief flashed across her features. Anyone else would have succumbed to the neurotoxin, which meant that either Peter was really fortunate or he had nine lives to spare.
She snapped out of her thoughts and shifted slightly as she tried to search for her phone, but she could not move. The lower half of the man’s body was weighing down on hers and held her in place.
“Sh*t!” she cursed aloud in frustration.
The only time she was ever in a position like this was with Mason and no one else; the intimacy was making her skin crawl.
Shadow 1 muttered a string of curses under her breath as resentment sank on her.
After shifting under his weight for ten minutes, Shadow 1 let out a breath of relief when her fingers finally curled around the edges of her phone.
She tried to send an outgoing text, but her screen did not respond no matter how many times she pressed the ‘send’ button.
In a fit of resignation, she switched on the torch on her phone.
Under the weak lighting, she could finally catch a glimpse of Peter’s face.
He pursed his lips and his brows were drawn together in pain. He looked as though he was in agony.
“Are you dead?” She reached up and patted his chiseled face. “If you aren’t, try to stay awake.”
After all, those who went into shock could easily fall unconscious and it would not take long before their bodies gave up on them. If Peter died, it would mean that Shadow 1 would have nothing but a corpse for company. Once the corpse began to decompose, it would only attract flies and maggots. The idea disgusted her so much that she shuddered and goosebumps were seen along her skin.
With a newfound sense of urgency, she summoned strength and patted his face with more force. “Hey, wake up! I don’t want to spend the night with a corpse!”
Currently, Lara was waiting for news at the MX’s base in Markovia.
Although it was only 9:00PM, she could not help but worry incessantly.
While Janet had told Lara to get help only if there was no contact by six o’clock the following morning, there was still an uneasy feeling that gnawed at her.
Why do I keep feeling as if there’s something off about all of this?
At that moment, there was an uproar that sounded from outside the base as someone asked loudly, “Did you hear about what happened at Ebony Town?”
“Ebony Town? Isn’t that the President’s territory? What could go wrong there?”
“I don’t know, but I was passing by when I was on a mission just now. I saw that it was in flames.”
“What? Was there a fire? What’s going on? It couldn’t have just burst into flames!”
“I don’t know. I heard explosions too. It’s way too bizarre—and the fire was still ongoing when I came back from the mission!”
“Explosions? How did it get serious all of a sudden?”
“Oh, my God! Do you think the President knows about this?”
“Of course he doesn’t know about it! If he does, he would have sent someone to extinguish the fire!”
“True. I don’t know what happened—Ebony Town seemed fine before it exploded into flames.”
The moment Lara heard all that, she abruptly rose from her seat and rushed out of the door.
When the others saw her, they nodded their heads and greeted, “Lara.”
Lara’s eyes were wide and she froze for a moment before demanding frantically, “What were you talking about just now?”
Upon being questioned so suddenly, they exchanged a bewildered look and answered slowly, “We were talking about the fire that broke out in Ebony Town.”
