Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Briar headed upstairs and took a shower. She didn’t bother drying her hair-just threw on spajamas and

started towel drying it as the powered her laptop.

She hadn’t brought it with her while hanging out with Ellen, so it had been off all day.

The second it booted up, messages started pour

in. Before she could even open any of them, a voice call popped up

Briar paused, slipped on her headphones, and answered, “What's up, Alex?”

“Good news,” Alex said, sounding way too cheerful. “Someone just dropped a huge chunk of cash on the Hacker

Alliance, trying to dig into what you've been doing since you got back.”

Briar shrugged. “That's nothing new. People have been trying to dig into my background.”

“True,” Alex said, laughing. “But guess how much they o

aid this time?”

“How much? Am | finally worth more?” Briar asked casually.

She remembered someone once tried to pay 30 million dollars for her intel, but that deal never went through.

“Not quite that much. They're not asking for your full résumé-just stuff about your life here with the Jennings

family. They've got no clue how big you are overseas,” Alex said, clearly hyped. “But get this-they’re offering 15

million dollars just for that!”

Briar paused. She hadn't realized her connection to the Jennings family was worth that much on its own.

Alex continued, “What if we tell them you're a top-tier professor at Atrington University and Tristan’s only

student? I think we could squeeze another 15

million dollars out of them.”

He still hadn't forgiven himself for passing up the old 30 million dollars offer. Now he was broke and desperate to

make up for it.

Briar rolled her eyes. “Don’t tellthat Alexia froze your accounts again.”

Alexia was his wife. Whenever Alex did something dumb, she'd lock him out of his money. No matter how rich he

was, when she cut him off, he was dead

broke for months.

“You knowtoo well.” Alex smiled, a little embarrassed. “She’s go

[e]

s goton financial lockdown for two months. | gotta make cash somehow.”

“Try taking that job. | dare you.” Hair half-dry, Briar tossed her towel aside and opened the Hacker Alliance site.

There it was, right at the top-the latest bounty, targeting her.

0

Only the other four current leaders of the Hacker Alliance knew about her real background. She figured the

messages piling in were from them teasing her about it.

People had started digging into her the minute she cback. Trouble always seemed to find her no matter

where she went.

Alex hesitated. “Forget it. You sound mad. I'm not touching it. I'll reject the job.”

Briar might've been the youngest of their crew, but even if all four of them teamed up, they still wouldn't be able

to take her down.

Briar didn’t say anything, just waited.

After a beat of awkward silence, Alex let out a guilty laugh. “Okay, okay-I already took it. Just figured I'd give you

a heads-up. | mean, con—it’s 15 million dollars! | couldn't say no.”

For a man who wouldn't have a dof pocket money for the next two months, this cash felt like a lifesaver.

Chapter 20

Briar chuckled, “Fine. Go ahead and sell them whatever they want. It might helpfigure out who's behind H.-

Money matters more tothan you do but as your friend, | figured I should warn you. You're being watched the

second you step back into the country. The Hacker Alliance doesn’t wanna lose another leader,” Alex said

seriously.

The Hacker Alliance started out as a small team of six elite hackers. Alex, Alexia, George, Georgiana, and Briar

were handpicked from around the world by

groups in the world, on par with the Dark Netz a guy named Dexter. Under his lead, they got so good that they

becone of the top ha

But five years ago, during a mission, Dexter was killed outside Spoivania. No one ever found out who did it. That

loss hit the Hacker Alliance harder than anything else.

“Don’t worry. I'm not that easy to kill,” Briar said, then hung up. She sat there, staring at her screen, deep in

thought.

Someone was clearly on edge about her return. There was no way anyone would spend 15 million dollars just to

track her movements.

They were probably watching her to decide whether she posed a threat-whether she needed to be taken out,

just like her mother,

Meanwhile, in Spoivania, Darkreceived a 15-million-dollar job from someone in Dasmieca. Usually, Xavion-

who ran the group-wouldn’t even blink at a job like that. But when he saw the nBriar Jennings, he paused.

He looked deeper and confirmed it was the sBriar his boss Ashton held in such high regard.

Just to be safe, Xavion gave Ashton a call. “Mr. Wade, someone's digging into Miss Jennings. They wired 15

million dollars to find out everything she’s doing in Dasmieca.”

Spoivania and Dasmieca were twelve hours apart. It was 10 AM for Xavion, but 10 PM for Ashton-tight in the

middle of his nightly hypnosis therapy.

When the call cthrough, Ashton, who'd been on the verge of sleep, snapped fully awake. Frederick, the

psychologist helping him, looked like he wanted to throw something. He knew Ashton probably wouldn't sleep at

all now.

Five years ago, Ashton had nearly died after getting shot in the head during less than four hours of sleep a night.

an attack abroad. Since then, he'd struggled with severe insomnia, averaging

Frederick was one of the best in his field, but even he couldn't do much. If Ashton managed to drift off once or

twice out of ten attempts, Frederick called it a win.

Only a handful of people knew about Ashton’s condition. In the entire Wade family, only Griffin was aware. Not

even Ashton’s parents had a clue. Tonight, Frederick had been so close to helping Ashton fall asleep until

Xavion’s call ruined everything. He was so mad he nearly snapped at the phone.

Ashton hadn't slept well in a week, and the dark circles under his eyes were noticeable enough.

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