If you take a life, do you know what you give?

It sounded logical. It sounded justified. But as Joyce was looking at her boss saying it, she knew that this speech had been well-prepared beforehand—and that it was a lie. She nodded uneasily. “All right.”

“Get to work.” M picked up a file from the corner of her desk and started making notes.

Joyce remained where she was, looking down on her superior. At that moment, she just needed to know. She needed to know if M was aware of the existence of The Circle, if she was consciously assisting them, or whether she was merely a pawn in their plans, like she had been herself. Working for MI6 had been hard enough having to lie to her superiors, but now she had to know if her superiors had been lying to her.

M looked up from her desk, surprised she hadn’t left yet. “009?”

“Can I ask you something?”

What’s the worst thing you can do…?

Betray your country?
Betray your lover?
Betray yourself?

Every British child is taught the Three Rs—Reading, ’Riting, ’Rithmetic. And now, with The Circle closing around them, it seems that every British agent has to learn three more…

Regret.

Retribution.

…Revenge.

And Joyce Carrington always was a quick learner.

In the second breathless part of The Circle Trilogy, 009 returns to a world already knocked off balance. And however fast she runs, however hard she tries, the past will always catch up. Especially when she has no idea that it is chasing her…

CBn proudly presents Fenna Geelhoed’s extraordinary Past Bearing, a thrilling tale of hard action, hard luck and the hard lessons they never taught at school—broken hearts, broken promises, broken bones. With The Circle determined to smash her, Joyce Carrington has to rely on all her resources and allies to struggle free. But how many of either are left…? And whose fault is that? After all, what goes around… comes around.

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To discuss this Past Bearing visit this thread on the CBn Forums.

Also from Fenna Geelhoed:

• Off Balance