Chapter 640
Chapter 640:
The speedboat glided into a hidden water lock in Geneva’s old town, the stone walls dripping with green moss and dirty water. Eliza and Cipher moved quickly, bypassing the street-level cameras and slipping into the underground service tunnels that led to the safehouse.
The moment the heavy steel door of the medical room clicked shut behind them, Eliza’s knees buckled. She leaned heavily against a cold stainless-steel operating table, gasping for air. Her lungs burned.
Cipher immediately threw the deadbolts and flipped a switch on the wall. A low, static hum filled the room — the white noise generator cutting off any possibility of audio surveillance.
Cipher walked to a refrigerated metal cabinet, pulled out a glass vial of specialized chemical solvent, and approached Eliza with extreme care. She dabbed a cotton pad in the liquid and pressed it against the edge of the bionic skin near Eliza’s hairline.
The chemical burned slightly. The synthetic mask began to melt and peel away.
Eliza’s real face emerged from beneath the disguise. She was pale, dark circles bruising the skin beneath her eyes. Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead.
Cipher handed her a warm, damp towel, but did not step back. She stared at Eliza with raw, unfiltered respect.
𝘕𝗲𝘸 𝖼𝘩a𝗉𝘁е𝘳𝘀 𝖾𝘷𝘦𝗿𝘺 𝘸𝖾𝘦𝘬 𝗼ո
“I have worked with the best spies in the world,” Cipher said flatly. “None of them could pull off a psychological con like that without heart-rate suppressants. How did you know exactly what would break him p>
Eliza wiped the sticky chemical residue from her cheeks. She looked at her own tired reflection in the stainless-steel cabinet door. A dark, ugly shadow crossed her eyes.
“When you spend over a decade living in a cage built by Anson Hyde,” Eliza said, her voice hollow, “you learn to read predators. You learn their triggers. It becomes a survival reflex p>
She threw the towel into a biohazard bin. “In antique restoration, you look for the greed and fear in a forger’s brushstrokes. Today, I just treated Silas Croft like a very expensive fake p>
Cipher went completely still. She studied Eliza’s fragile shoulders, and a deep, silent understanding passed between them. Cipher knew exactly what it meant to survive a monster.
She looked down at her boots, her voice dropping. “If the commander finds out I helped you leave the perimeter, he will put me in front of a military tribunal p>
The fear of Dallas’s iron-fisted discipline was real. Cipher’s hands twitched.
Eliza saw the panic. She turned, stepped close, and gripped Cipher’s shoulders.
“Cipher, you’ve served him longer than I have. You know him,” Eliza said fiercely. “He will always choose the most honorable death. It is our job to choose life for him. This isn’t betrayal. It’s a debt we both owe him. Are you going to stand by and watch him walk that path alone p>
She held Cipher’s gaze, looking directly into that scarred, ruined face. “And I will use my own life to guarantee your safety p>
The words hit Cipher like a physical shockwave. Her rigid posture broke for a fraction of a second. The guilt vanished.