Project Pandora
by Aden Polydoros
Genre: Thriller, Young Adult
Expected Publication: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Blurb:
Tyler Bennett trusts no one. Just another foster kid bounced
from home to home, he’s learned that lesson the hard way. Cue world’s tiniest
violin. But when strange things start happening—waking up with bloody knuckles
and no memory of the night before or the burner phone he can’t let out of his
sight— Tyler starts to wonder if he can even trust himself.
Even stranger, the girl he’s falling for has a burner phone
just like his. Finding out what’s really happening only leads to more
questions…questions that could get them both killed. It’s not like someone’s
kidnapping teens lost in the system and brainwashing them to be assassins or
anything, right? And what happens to rogue assets who defy control?
In a race against the clock, they’ll have to uncover the
truth behind Project Pandora and take it down—before they’re reactivated. Good
thing the program spent millions training them to kick ass...
She
trained her eyes in front of her as she hurried down the hall. Even in the
large living room, she felt suffocated. She returned the key to her pocket and
eased her hands to her side. Slowly, the tension dissipated, and she began to
feel calm again. Prepared.
Apollo
unzipped his backpack and removed a black ski mask from the main compartment.
He passed it to her before retrieving a second one for himself.
She held
the mask, twisting the knit fabric between her fingers. She didn’t want to put
it on just yet.
His face
was expressionless, but as she watched him, his golden tan blanched into a
sickly pallor. He took repeated glances at his wristwatch. Twice, he reached
into his jacket to touch the gun, as if hoping to comfort himself. Each time,
he jerked his hand back with a low, terrified moan, like his fingers had
skimmed over a snake’s rattle instead of cool metal.
Even when
they made accidental eye contact, neither spoke. Silence was their partner in
crime, unseen and unheard, but felt as heaviness in the air that was even more
burdensome than gravity.
One
minute passed, then two.
She put
her ski mask on, and Apollo followed her example. Even with his face hidden,
the wideness of his eyes betrayed his tension.
He began
to pace, muttering to himself. Shannon could only make out the first two words.
The rest had the same syntax and syllable count, though, so she had a feeling
he was repeating himself.
“I’m
sorry.”
Another
lap of the second hand around the clock face, another suppressed twitch of the
minute hand. Another circuit around the room. Numerous more harried looks at
his watch.
“I’m
sorry.”
She
pressed her lips together and watched Apollo go. Her hands trembled, but she
did not feel sorry. She felt nothing at all.
Four
minutes had passed.
“I’m so
sorry.”
Without
thinking, she reached out to Apollo as he circled toward her again. Through her
gloves, she felt the hard muscle of his biceps.
For a
moment, he just stared at her with those beautiful, tortured eyes. Then he
murmured, “We don’t have to do this.”
A jolt
passed through her as his words shattered her calm. This wasn’t the Apollo she
knew. The pain and confusion in his soft, lulling voice was all wrong. It
didn’t belong.
“Why are
we doing this?” he asked. She thought he wanted to say more, but before he
could continue, the creak of the front door stole his words.
Footsteps
echoed down the hall.
He stared
at her, his face hidden, but his gaze filled with despair.
Her
throat clenched around a whimper. She wanted to comfort him, and that was
wrong. It was against her orders. Unwanted and unneeded.
Violence
is necessary, a voice whispered in her head. The
future is built on bloodshed.
She must
kill.
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