fluorescent lights of what appeared to be a school nurse

pt this pathetic excuse for compensation?" A woman with cheap blonde highlights and

lood sugar. Her physical showed she had barely eaten anyt

ucratic bullshit! You peo

rds left my mouth before I cou

sed by the unfamiliar voice that had come from my thro

the

orner of the room sudde

ly 7:10 this morning. The uninhabited island, reportedly owned by an anonymous European investment

d into me. The facility.

arly alive, but in

s flooded my consciousness. School hallways. Taunting lau

me surfaced from th

e experiences collided in my brain. I pressed m

ommanded through gr

o check your-"

ough force that both wom

this life-glared at me. "We'll discuss this attitud

oom attached to the nurse's office. I bra

sy brown hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. But the eyes-they w

y quite delicate and well-proportioned beneath the extra weight. The faci

on my tongue. "Better than Shadow, I suppos

y. Somehow, I-Shadow, the world's deadliest assassin-had survived

se poked her head in. "Jade? Are you feeling be

t how naturally I responded to the

we exited the school building. She checked her watch dram

r mouth, cheap clothing trying too hard to look expensive,

ndies. "Here. Take the bus home." She thrust them at me without making eye contact. "

parking lot. It's Jade's mom, my mom now: Linda Morgan, factory line worker, perpetu

led bills in my hand. Three dollars wouldn't e

ories now settling in my mind, home was in a low-income neighborhood about

he few passengers disembarking was a slender boy with a pronounced limp. Som

nd wire-rimmed glasses. Without saying a word, he reached into his bac

ingers brushing momenta

urned and continued hi

on the outskirts of Cloud City. I headed straight for wh

lethal skills and memories with Jade's mundane existence was taking it

ive pounding on the

erced through the door. "Mom says you have to ma

ifteen-year-old sister and constant tormentor, a

ther microwave dinner because you're too busy

ed girl. Emily was everything Jade wasn't-thin, c

" I asked

d her shoulders, averted her eyes, and mumbled a meek "sorry" before shuffling to the kitchen.

k," she stammered, taking a

torment at this girl's hands. Young, but with a

tiness. This one definitely