"No. It says you can’t shoot them when you’re dead. But it never says you can’t touch things. Victor still grabbed the alboxes just fine," Adam replied, lips curling into a sly smirk. "If you’re dead, let your ghost haunt the killer. They can’t shoot a ghost anyway."
That was all the squad needed.
Fueled by Adam’s words, Squad B2 moved with renewed confidence.
The tactic worked. Flo and Chasey charged at the last enemy, forcing him to scramble backward as the girls closed in, aiming to tear off the shield.
Adam and Rowan locked into position the mont the enemy was cornered.
When Chasey finally yanked off both cushions, paintballs rained down without rcy, hamring into his vest. The red light on the opponent’s chest lit up: DEAD.
The mbers of B2 exchanged silent, satisfied glances.
As they made their way back to the eting room, Adam caught a flicker of movent from the corner of his eye, by the ergency exit. But when he turned, there was nothing there.
The knock on the eting room door pulled Lethia’s eyes away from the numbers flashing on the snake box in front of her. She walked over, pressing her ear to the door.
"Queeeeenn!! Open the door. It’s us," Chasey’s high-pitched voice chirped through from the other side.
A smile of relief tugged at Lethia’s lips as she unlocked the door.
The mont it swung open, Chasey threw her arms around her, gripping her shoulders tightly.
"How are you feeling? Does your stomach still hurt? Is it okay now?" she fired off all at once, full-on Chasey-style—rambling, dramatic, loud. Lethia had grown used to it by now.
Ever since that heart-to-heart—well, more like a confession about her fated mate—Lethia, surprisingly, had grown more patient, even fond of Chasey’s endless chatter.
Sothing she couldn’t even manage with her own subordinates back when she was leading the marketing team.
Sohow, Chasey had found a crack in the thick wall Lethia had built to keep people out. She slipped through like she belonged there.
It was... comforting, knowing soone could find her annoying and still stay.
She’d never admit it out loud, but Chasey’s dramatic energy was sothing she’d grown to find endearing.
The rest of the squad spilled into the room, and Adam locked the door behind them. Lethia’s gaze dropped to the life indicators on Chasey and Flo’s vests.
Her chest dipped slightly. That ant they’d need to ask the guards for a blue card.
"I’m fine. My doctor said it’s normal, and I already took so ds, so I’m good," Lethia said smoothly.
It was a lie.
The pain had faded, yes, but that creeping heat still lingered beneath her skin, rising in careful, teasing waves.
She rembered what Renar told her that other werewolves or lycans wouldn’t be able to scent her heat.
She decided to tough it out until the ga was over.
It was bearable, at least for now.
"OH FOR THE HOLY MIGHTY MOON GODDESS, QUEEN! What the hell happened here?!" Chasey’s shriek made everyone whip their heads toward the snake box, half-filled with water, yet the snake inside was lying completely still at the bottom.
"Ah—don’t touch the water. It’s—"
"YOU KILLED THE SNAKE?!" And there it was—dramatic Chasey, unleashed. "I’ve been careful as hell from the beginning not to hurt it while trying to get the card out—and this?! This is a cri against wildlife protection!"
Lethia had already predicted this exact reaction the mont she’d hesitated, grabbed the water heater from the pantry, boiled the water, and poured it into the snake box.
Chasey was rambling on about her noble mission to preserve wild creatures while trying to retrieve the card earlier.
Lethia sighed, long and deep, then strode toward Chasey, wrapping a firm arm around her shoulders. She bent down beside her so they were eye-level with the glass.
"Look," she said, voice steady. "Do you really think a real snake that died from drowning would just lie motionless at the bottom like that? Now look at that tiny flicker behind its eyes. That’s not a snake—it’s a robot."
Chasey blinked, slowly leaning in, squinting at the glass as she studied the unmoving serpent.
Lethia explained that yes, she had originally planned to kill it with hot water. But instead of dying, the damn snake short-circuited—and now the water carried an electric current.
Adam and Rowan stepped in, carefully lifting the box and carrying it over to the sink.
They tipped it gently, draining the water bit by bit before using a ruler to fish out the red card from inside. Adam grabbed a tablecloth and wiped the card clean.
"Is this red card not damaged from the water?" Rowan asked.
"No, it’s built waterproof," Lethia replied smoothly.
"How do you know?" Adam raised a brow, doubtful.
"It looks like it. The material feels similar to the cards we use at the cafeteria, right? I dropped mine in the bathroom once, by accident, and it was totally fine." She lied without blinking.
Hours earlier, she’d used her hearing power to eavesdrop and learned that Squad B1 had to retrieve their card from an aquarium filled with piranhas.
That was how she knew the red cards were designed to be waterproof.
The rest of the team simply nodded and stayed in their seats, unbothered.
But Lethia had a gut feeling Adam didn’t fully buy her story—not with the way he kept that calm, unreadable face and one perfectly arched brow fixed on her.
Squad B2 gathered around the eting table to plan their next move.
They now had four red cards in hand. The two enemies who had attacked them with shield cushions hadn’t carried any, and both had been from Squad B3.
From what Lethia had overheard earlier—just before Victor slamd into the ergency exit—Squad B1 still had three mbers alive, and Squad B3 had only two.
Since the recent attackers had been from Squad B3, it ant the remaining enemies still alive were from Squad B1: Thania and Arnold.
But the team was still tossing around ideas, trying to figure out how many survivors were left from the other squads.
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