Helma shut her eyes, inhaling deeply. "They've got their escape perfectly executed. We're not going to catch them if we keep playing catch-up. We need to outsmart them, get ahead."While talking, Helma wobbled, nearly losing her balance.The relentless pace of recent events had worn her thin, and to
She mulled it over, realizing the first time she felt something was off was when Andy got into trouble.The enemy had shifted their focus, no longer just after the Kings, but targeting those close to her.Even when Smiley was taken, Cole had assured her that they had not intended to kill him. Smiley
Helma's heart warmed as she descended the stairs. Cole was there in the living room, lounging on the couch with his legs stretched out, a bag of Helma's beloved kettle corn at his side.She could not help but smile. "You're back."Cole rose from the couch as she walked in. "How are you feeling?"She
A photo suddenly made her stop dead in her tracks. She downloaded it and zoomed in, her heart pounding. It was a shot of an old, abandoned car shed, walls crumbled, smoke hanging in the air. There, among the rubble, was a glint of something. She zoomed in, and there it was, clear as day—a mask. The
Guller Mansion was a stone's throw from Forest Park, a mere half-hour drive. The staff had been tipped off, and with one look at Helma, they waved her through and tipped off the villa's occupants.Helma pulled up to the villa's entrance and parked. Stepping out, she was met not by the usual butler b
Rana was not like Ximena; she was a Greenville native, her ears always to the ground, picking up whispers and rumors that others missed.Even if her brother Cole tried to keep secrets, Rana could feel the tension crackling in the air of Greenville like a gathering storm.Helma turned to face her, "R
While they chatted, they were left undisturbed.Upstairs in the cozy side hall, Madam Guller was cradling Smiley, gently rocking him, as Rana watched with a gleam of excitement."Mom, do you think Helma and my brother are close to making up?"Madam Guller's face was lit with a contented smile. "I th
"Artemis, that's quite a lovely name."She glanced over and saw Old Madam Guller's face unchanged, then turned to Cole.Cole's face was unreadable as he mused, "Yeah, it has a nice ring to it. Maybe the next kid can be a Guller."Helma's eyes widened. Next kid? What was he talking about?After dinne
With everyone else keeping mum, Silver Obsidian cut to the chase, "We'll go with Helma's plan."For six months straight, Serena had practically lived in the lab. At first, Starlight Blossom did not seem to do much. Everyone was on edge, wondering if it would make any difference at all. Then, in the
During her month off, Helma took a break from the daily preschool runs and whisked her kids away on a travel spree.The trip was not without its scares—Serena had a severe bout of illness.Helma was prepared, yet the sudden severity of the attack caught her off guard.Without a second thought, she r
Under the questioning eyes of the crowd, Helma fired up her laptop and plugged in a USB stick.The video started playing on the massive screen.The timestamp in the corner showed it was from two nights ago.Usually, the lab was locked up tight after hours, and by eight or nine, the research center w
Hort watched her walk away, a storm of emotions on his face.Ever since she joined the research center, he had seen Wendy as this super-capable girl with a heart of gold.Whenever the team hit a wall with the experiments or the data just would not play nice, Wendy was the one who would spark up the
The poor thing's symptoms were straight out of a horror flick: muscles clenching like crazy, nerves on fire, bleeding inside, gasping for air, and foaming at the mouth. Some of them even had their hearts stop cold turkey.According to the timeline, the rat had been juiced up with three rounds of Sta
With the report out of the way, the experiment team kicked things into high gear to wrap up their project.The meticulously calculated data was in, and the verdict was clear: Starlight Blossom's effects were rock-solid stable. The only thing left for the lab mice was one final shot.The brain trust
"Come on, you think the boss is scatterbrained like you? Someone totally did this on purpose!" "Who would do something that evil?!" "Guess we're gonna have to push back the presentation." Everyone looked like they had lost their best friend, except Wendy. She had this worried frown, but her eyes w
After pulling two all-nighters, Helma had the report materials ready to go.The research center was deserted.She stretched, yawned, and glanced at the clock. One AM.She powered down her computer and left, still yawning.Once she was gone, a sneaky figure slipped into the office...Deputy Commander
Helma had tried to get the scoop from Leon, but the guy was like Fort Knox—nothing useful ever slipped out. Therefore, she backed off from the matchmaking game. Still, she was not blind to Wendy's little crush, especially with errands like these document deliveries. "You got it, boss," Wendy replied