Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

Oliver yanked on the metal chains at his wrists and feet. His arms were pulled behind his back, his ankles straddling a pole, the chain securing them on the other side, keeping him on his knees.

There was no give. Not even a little bit. The steel was seemingly unbreakable.

For the first time in what felt like hours, he stopped tugging. He breathed through the anger and frustration. The raw fear for Tori’s safety. For the safety of his brothers.

Where were they? Had they gotten away? Were they hurt?

He needed some goddamn answers. No one was giving him anything. Not while chained to a pole in an empty fucking room.

Oliver cursed under his breath. His last memory before waking up in this room was of reaching up for the camera. What had happened between then and now? Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good. Not if this was where he’d ended up.

His muscles bunched at the idea that they’d gotten to Tori. That she was here, at Hylar’s mercy.

He prayed that wasn’t the case.

Jaw tensed, Oliver turned his head to look out the huge window. It ran along an entire wall. He saw roads and the roofs of buildings. They were high up. He knew they weren’t in Marble Falls but had no idea where they were.

The sun was only just rising, telling him it had been hours since he last saw Tori.

The room itself was white, almost sterile-looking. There was nothing else here but him and his chains.

What was worse, he could hear nothing. No heartbeats. No voices. Not even a damn footstep. He was either alone up here, or the walls were soundproof, even for him.

He was putting his money on the latter.

Oliver yanked on the chains again. The metal rattled just as the door to the room swung open.

Anger rolled off Oliver, his eyes narrowing at the sight of his greatest enemy. Hylar.

He came to a stop a few feet away. “Oliver, so nice to see you again.”

Nice? It wasn’t nice for Oliver. All he wanted to do was rip away from the chains and tear the guy apart. It was maddening.

Now that the door was ajar, Oliver could finally hear more than his own heartbeat. There were people out there. Not many. Maybe half a dozen.

Was she one of them? His brothers?

“Tell me she’s far away from you assholes and my brothers are safe.” Oliver snarled the words, his hatred for the man bleeding out of him.

Hylar didn’t react to the tone or the words. “You haven’t seen me in months, and even then, we hardly got a chance to talk. Don’t you want to know how I’ve been? What I’ve been up to? There was a time when we were close.”

Oliver didn’t need reminding. “I don’t have a fucking blindfold on anymore.”

And Hylar wasn’t wearing a mask.

Hylar sighed. “That’s disappointing. I’ve finally had to accept that you boys aren’t coming back to me willingly. A bitter pill to swallow. And, to answer your question, your brothers are safe. For now.”

At the intentional absence of any mention of Tori, Oliver’s heart stuttered. “Where. Is. She?”

“These women have such holds over you boys.” Hylar shook his head. “Doesn’t that in itself show you what a weakness love is? This control that you let someone else have over you makes you vulnerable.”

Oliver didn’t need a lesson on weakness from this guy. His only weakness was that he hadn’t seen the true Hylar from the start. Hadn’t murdered him before Project Arma began. “Did you take her?”

Oliver was almost certain he knew. But he needed confirmation. His brain was struggling to accept this reality.

Hylar took slow steps over to the window, shoving his hands into his pockets. “She’s here.”

On the outside, Oliver didn’t react. Internally, every part of him rebelled. Anger and fear hit him like a tidal wave.

She was here. At the hands of this animal…

“Adrien was supposed to kill her back at Gorman Falls. He thought he had,” Hylar continued. “At first, I was angry at his oversight. Then it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

Oliver was almost sure he wouldn’t like the reason why. But he had to know. “What do you need her for?”

“Someone here cares about her. Someone who won’t complete the job we need her to complete without some…incentive.”

And Tori was that incentive.

Oliver’s blood ran cold. What were they going to do? Threaten to hurt her if this person didn’t comply? Actually hurt her?

Hylar turned back to Oliver. “I wouldn’t worry about the girl, though. I’d be more worried about you.”

More worried? Not a chance. “If that’s the way you think my mind works, you never really knew me at all.”

“Maybe that’s true.” His former commander walked toward him. “I chose you boys for your loyalty. I thought that loyalty would be unbreakable after what I gave you.”

“Gave us?” Oliver sneered. “You injected us with drugs without our consent. You altered our DNA permanently. Planned for us to fight in your personal war regardless of our wishes.”

Hylar looked confused. “I made you so much more than you ever would have been without me.”

“You made us stronger and faster, but you didn’t make us who we are.”

The muscles bunched in Hylar’s arms. The man wanted a thank you. No, he wanted Oliver to pick up a gun and fight the guy’s enemies for him.

That wasn’t going to happen. Ever.

“Luckily, I don’t need your gratitude. I’ll get your loyalty another way. It turns out, any mind can be manipulated with the right technology.”

The guy made Oliver sick. “So, you’ve finally figured out a way to control us and I’m the first of my brothers to test the product.”

Something akin to excitement crossed Hylar’s face. “Yes.” He took a step closer…so close, Oliver could almost touch him. What he wouldn’t give to have a free hand right now. “This device is going to change everything. I’ll finally be able to exact my revenge on the military for hanging my team out to dry. For leaving us in that godforsaken country for too damn long. To be tortured. Murdered.”

“Yeah, Sinclair told us all about your capture in South Sudan. The thing is, you knew the risks when you became a SEAL.”

Finally, some anger showed on the man’s face. “You have no idea, boy. Imagine being captured. Watching your brothers die, one by one. Luca. Then Asher. Maybe they slice Eden’s throat and force you to watch the life drip out of him. They all die. Bar you and Kye. No. They prolong your torture. It lasts months, bringing you to the brink of death without actually killing you.” Hylar shook his head. “If you think you’d have one scrap of humanity left in you, one ounce of compassion for the people who sent you to that fate, you’re wrong.”

This was the real Hylar. The man he rarely let out. He almost looked psychotic. There were demons in his eyes. A deep-rooted anger that would likely never be extinguished.

The man’s thirst for revenge was so much greater than anyone had realized. How the hell had Oliver and his team missed this side of him all those years?

Hylar blew out a long breath, seeming to recover from his rant. “That’s why I’ve created an army unlike any the world has ever seen. A dozen men with the power of hundreds. Thousands.” He paused. “Once I control you boys, don’t have you trying to destroy me at every turn, I’ll create more. My army will grow—and so will my power.”

Oliver shook his head slowly. “But it won’t. Because you won’t ever achieve what you’ve set out to accomplish. We won’t let you.” Oliver leaned forward. “Ever.”

Hylar’s jaw clenched. Veins popped out in his neck. “If you weren’t the useful soldier you are, you’d be ten feet underground right now. All of you.”

Oliver lifted a shoulder. “Maybe that’s your weakness. You created something you could never destroy. Instead, allowing it to slowly destroy you.”

Even tied to a pole, with no idea where he was, Oliver still believed that they would destroy Hylar and his work. Good would prevail and their former commander would die. The guy would never get his revenge.

“The second I created you, you became property,” Hylar sneered. “You breathe because I allow you to breathe. You live and love because I’ve given you that freedom. The moment you chose to hunt me instead of joining me, I started planning. That planning is finished.” Hylar turned his attention toward the door. “Bring her in.”

The bravado left Oliver in a second, replaced with cold dread at the possibility of seeing Tori. How would she look? How badly was she hurt?

But when Carter entered the room, he didn’t have Tori. He dragged another woman behind him. A woman with blond curls escaping a hairband. Her dirty clothes looked like she’d been wearing them for weeks.

When she raised her head, anger ripped through Oliver’s chest. Her face was covered in black-and-blue bruising. Dried blood spattered her skin.

She’d limped behind Carter as he dragged her. Her breaths were shallow and strained, indicating she likely had a cracked rib.

If Oliver hadn’t been sure before, he was now. These men were the absolute scum of the Earth. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Carter chuckled. “I knew he’d have a fit at the sight of her.”

Oliver struggled against the chain, hearing the first small protest of the pole. Fucking animals. The lot of them.

“This is Samantha,” Hylar said, not paying any attention to Carter’s amusement or Oliver’s rebellion.

Oliver’s eyes went back to the woman. Samantha. Tori’s friend. Her best friend.

If the woman was important to Tori, she was important to him. That made his muscles tense further.

She studied Oliver. “Who is he?” Even though she looked beaten and defeated, her voice was firm and strong.

Hylar didn’t look at her as he spoke. “He’s the man you’re going to build the microchip for.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You know I’m not going to do that.”

“Oh, but you will.” Hylar walked over to the woman. Wariness misted her eyes, but to her credit, that was the only sign of her fear. She didn’t pull back and her expression didn’t change. “I know you wouldn’t care if we hurt him. A stranger. And you’ve proven you don’t care what we do to you.” Oliver’s hands clenched at that statement. “But fortunately, I have someone you do care about.”

Oliver’s stomach cramped. He thought he might be sick at what he suspected was coming next.

He hoped he was wrong. God, he’d lay down his life to be wrong. But he knew he wasn’t.

Hylar turned to Oliver. “This is why love is a weakness. It makes you agree to do things you would never otherwise do.” There was a small pause. “Adrien.”

Adrien stepped into the room, a body hanging over his shoulder. She wore just a bra and underwear. And she was completely limp.

Tori.

Adrien dropped her onto the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Oliver’s world narrowed to pinpoint accuracy. He couldn’t hide the pain from his face if he tried. She was pale. Her heart rate slow. Her left eye black and almost swollen shut.

“You fucking assholes!” Oliver went wild. Pulling and wrenching at the chains. He used every ounce of strength he had and still didn’t get anywhere. “What the hell did you do to her?”

“We knocked her out.” Adrien lifted a shoulder. “Then she woke up, so we knocked her out again. I hear head injuries aren’t good after suffering from amnesia.”

Oliver was going to kill him. Tear him apart bit by bit.

“So, we know what Oliver thinks,” Hylar said dryly. “What about you, Samantha?”

Oliver watched Tori for another moment, the ache in his body only increasing. When he finally turned his gaze to Samantha, it was to see the fear she’d been trying to mask moments before now showing.

No. Not just fear.

Downright terror.

Carter shoved her. She fell forward but caught herself before hitting ground. “Hylar asked you a question, bitch.”

“How do I feel?” Her bottom lip trembled before she took a breath and straightened. “Scared. Because I know you’re going to make me watch my best friend be tortured—since I’m not going to do what you’re asking.”