Page 7 of Reckless: Chaos

I track the camera sweeps, the guard’s position, the rhythms Finn taught me. “Three. Two. One...”

The panel opens silently, revealing a space barely big enough to squeeze through. In the distance, Marcus flicks his lighter.

“Ladies first.” Finn’s eyes gleam with challenge.

I slide through the gap, understanding now why the clothes had to be fitted. Finn follows with liquid grace, closing the panel just as Marcus takes his first drag.

We emerge on the other side of the gate, and I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up. “That was...”

“Elegant?” Finn suggests, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “A perfect marriage of digital and physical security penetration?”

“Hot,” I correct, watching his eyes darken at my honesty. “That was hot as fuck.”

He takes my hand again, leading me deeper into the woods beyond the property. “Oh, sunshine. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

The car appears like a ghost through the trees—sleek, black, and definitely not standard PCA issue.

“You’ve been planning this,” I accuse as he opens the passenger door with a flourish. “How long?”

“Since you first tried to run.” He slides into the driver’s seat with that same liquid grace. “Figured anyone that determined to run deserved to learn how to do it properly.”

I hear what he isn’t saying.

If you are going to do it, do it right. He is giving me an out and wants me to choose them. Damn him.

The engine purrs to life, quiet enough to avoid attention. We pull away from the mansion’s looming presence, and something in my chest loosens. Even knowing we’ll return, even knowing this is temporary, the freedom tastes sweet.

The comfortable silence lasts until we hit the highway. Then Finn’s playful demeanor shifts, becomes something more serious.

“Quinn sent me the latest data.” He doesn’t look at me, but I feel the weight of his words. “About the virus.”

My breath catches. Because of course—of course this wasn’t just about sunrises and security systems. This is about beta survival.

“Show me.”

He pulls his tablet from a compartment between the seats, managing to make even that look graceful. “They’re calling it the Hollow Plague.”

The name hits like a physical blow. I take the tablet with shaking hands, reading through data that confirms our worst fears.

“Because it hollows you out,” I whisper, scanning mortality rates that make my stomach turn. “Organ by organ. System by system.”

“Started in major tech hubs,” Finn’s voice carries careful control. “Places where betas concentrate. Places where we make a difference.”

The implications turn my blood to ice. “They’re targeting centers of innovation. Of resistance.”

“Yes.” His hands tighten on the steering wheel. “But that’s not why I brought you out here.”

I look up from the horror on the screen. “No?”

A smile plays at the corners of his mouth, but his eyes remain serious. “I brought you out here because sometimes the only way to face darkness is to remember how to live first.”

The car turns onto a smaller road, heading toward what looks like a private airstrip.

“Finn.” Suspicion creeps into my voice. “What exactly does this sunrise viewing entail?”

His smile turns wicked. “How do you feel about seeing it from 10,000 feet?”

The tablet nearly slips from my fingers. “You’re not serious.”

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