ELIAS'S POV

I couldn't sleep that night. Kept replaying Hale's words in my head.

“You were always a test subject.”

Everything I thought I knew about my life was wrong. My admission to the Academy wasn't because I was clever. It wasn't because my forged documents were good enough. It was because they wanted me here. Needed me here for their research.

I got up around three AM. Went to Ronan's desk. Pulled out the documents Hale had given us.

My admission file was on top. I read through ...