Chapter 32 Asher's Truth
ARIA'S POV
Asher's scream shattered the night.
I whipped around to see my brother collapsed on the ground, clutching his head like something inside was trying to claw its way out. His body convulsed. Blood dripped from his nose.
"Asher!" I dropped beside him, grabbing his shoulders. "What's happening?"
His eyes opened—but they weren't his eyes. They were blank. Empty. Just like the enhanced subjects we'd barely escaped.
Then he blinked, and my brother was back. Terrified and in pain.
"Aria," he gasped. "It's... it's happening again. The programming. I can feel it taking over."
My blood turned to ice. "No. Dr. Park's kill switch freed you. You're supposed to be—"
"It didn't work completely." Asher's whole body shook. "The enhancements they did to me... they're permanent. And the programming is adapting. Getting stronger." His fingers dug into my arms. "I'm losing myself. One piece at a time."
Kael limped over, his face gray with exhaustion and pain. Luna followed, still crying over Marcus. Dr. Park stood apart, staring at his hands like they were covered in blood.
"How long?" Kael asked quietly. "How long until the programming takes over completely?"
Asher's laugh was bitter. "Hours. Maybe less. I can already hear it whispering. Telling me to eliminate threats. Telling me you're all threats."
I wanted to scream. Wanted to cry. We'd just lost Marcus. I couldn't lose Asher too. Not when I'd just gotten him back.
"There has to be something we can do," I said desperately. "Dr. Park, you created the kill switch. Can't you—"
"The kill switch was designed for basic programming." Dr. Park's voice was hollow. "Asher's enhancements are far more advanced. They've integrated into his nervous system at a cellular level. Removing them would require surgery we don't have time or equipment for."
"So that's it?" Luna's voice cracked. "We just give up?"
"No." Asher struggled to sit up. His hands were still shaking but his eyes were clear. "There's one option. One way to make sure I don't hurt anyone."
He pulled a gun from inside his jacket. Where he'd gotten it, I didn't know. Didn't care.
Because he pressed it into my hand.
"If I turn," he said softly. "If the programming wins and I become one of those things... you have to kill me."
The gun felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
"No." I tried to shove it back at him. "Absolutely not. I'm not—I can't—"
"Aria, listen to me." Asher grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "I've already hurt people. Done terrible things while Cross controlled me. I won't do that again. I won't become a weapon used to hurt the people I love."
"There has to be another way!" My voice broke. "We'll find a cure. We'll figure something out. We always do!"
"There's no time." Asher's body jerked again. His eyes flickered blank for a second before he fought back control. "It's getting harder to resist. Please, Aria. Please don't make me die as a monster."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. This was my twin brother. The person who'd protected me our entire lives. Who'd died investigating this conspiracy to keep me safe. Who'd fought his way back from living hell just to warn us.
And he was asking me to kill him.
"I won't do it," I whispered. "I refuse."
"Aria—"
"No!" I threw the gun away. It clattered across the pavement. "I didn't come all this way, risk everything, lose Marcus, just to give up on you now. You're my brother. My twin. Half of my soul. And I'm not letting you go."
Asher's face crumpled. "You don't understand. When the programming takes over, I won't be me anymore. I'll just be a weapon pointed at everyone you care about."
"Then we'll find a way to bring you back." I gripped his hands tight. "You broke through the programming before, didn't you? At the facility?"
"Barely. And it's so much stronger now—"
"But you did it." I looked at Kael, Luna, Dr. Park. "We've done impossible things already. Infiltrated the Academy. Survived Cross. Destroyed his facility. Freed dozens of enhanced subjects. If we can do all that, we can save Asher."
"How?" Luna asked gently. "What's your plan?"
I didn't have one. But I couldn't admit that. Not when Asher was looking at me with hope and terror warring in his eyes.
"The summit," I said, the idea forming as I spoke. "Sienna's enhancing five hundred students in twelve hours. She must have equipment there—advanced medical technology to handle that many simultaneous procedures. If we can get inside—"
"You want to break into the place where Sienna is creating an army?" Dr. Park stared at me. "That's suicide."
"Maybe." I helped Asher stand. "But Marcus died buying us time. I'm not wasting it. We're going to that summit. We're going to stop Sienna. And we're going to use her own equipment to save my brother."
Kael moved beside me, his broken body still standing through sheer willpower. "That's the most reckless, dangerous, completely insane plan I've ever heard."
My heart sank. "So you think—"
"I think it's exactly what we need to do." Kael's silver eyes met mine. "We end this. Tonight. All of it."
Luna nodded, wiping her tears. "For Marcus. And for everyone else they've hurt."
Dr. Park hesitated, then straightened his shoulders. "I helped create this nightmare. I should help end it."
Asher squeezed my hand. "Thank you. For not giving up on me."
"Never." I hugged him tight. "We're twins. We fight together or not at all."
We started toward where we'd hidden our car. Every step hurt. We were exhausted, injured, traumatized. We'd just lost one of our own. The odds were impossible.
But we had each other. And sometimes that's enough.
Asher stumbled. I caught him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just—" His eyes went blank again. This time for three full seconds.
When he came back, the fear in his face had doubled.
"Aria," he whispered. "It's showing me things. Visions of what it wants me to do. I see myself killing you. Killing Kael. Killing everyone." His voice dropped to barely audible. "And part of me wants to obey."
Cold dread filled my stomach.
"How long?" I asked. "How long until—"
"Six hours. Maybe less." Asher's hand trembled in mine. "After that, I don't know if I can fight it anymore."
Six hours to reach the summit. Stop Sienna. Save five hundred students. And somehow cure Asher before he became the enemy.
We reached the car. Kael slid into the driver's seat despite his injuries. Luna navigated. Dr. Park checked his remaining equipment. I sat with Asher in the back, holding his hand like I could anchor him to reality through touch alone.
We drove through the dark night toward an impossible battle.
Then Asher's phone buzzed. He checked it with shaking hands.
His face went white.
"What?" I demanded. "What is it?"
He showed me the screen.
It was a message from Sienna: "I know about Asher's programming. I'm accelerating his countdown remotely. He has one hour now, not six. Tick tock, Aria. Bring him to the summit or watch him become mine forever."
Below the message was a video.
It showed our car. Driving down this exact road. Which meant Sienna could see us right now.
"There's a tracker on us," Dr. Park realized. "She's been following us this whole time."
"Where?" Luna started checking equipment. "The car? Our phones? Our—"
Asher gasped. He pulled up his shirt.
Embedded in his chest, right over his heart, was a small metal device. It pulsed with red light. Each pulse matched his heartbeat.
"It's inside me," he said. "Surgically implanted. There's no way to remove it without killing me."
Which meant Sienna knew exactly where we were. What we were planning. She'd know when we reached the summit.
We'd lost the element of surprise.
And now we had one hour to save Asher instead of six.
Kael met my eyes in the rearview mirror. I saw the same desperate determination I felt.
"Drive faster," I said.
He did.
Behind us, headlights appeared. Multiple vehicles. Moving fast.
"We've got company," Luna said.
Through the back window, I counted six black SUVs. All speeding toward us.
All full of enhanced subjects coming to collect my brother.
The hunt was on.