D E L P H I N I U M

I adjusted the curly reddish-brown wig on my head. My normal white hair would catch too many eyes; it was one of my most outstanding features. If anyone in the bar knew who I was, now they wouldn't be able to identify me so easily.

According to the plan, I'd walk in with Hunt and Jaxon. If anything happened immediately, I'd be their best bet for protection. Five minutes later, Riley and Kane would come in and sit at a table. Jake, who was too well-known among the criminal underworld, would be planted outside the bar with Gigi, who'd just returned from her mother's funeral. The two of them were armed with guns in case anything went wrong or got out of hand. Finn and Arlo were sitting outside at a restaurant across the street, keeping an eye out for the assassin if he wasn't already inside the bar.

I strode shoulder-to-shoulder with Jaxon and Hunt down the sidewalk. Apparently, Jaxon had told the bartender that he'd be there by eight. Looking down at the watch I wore, I saw that our arrival time was two minutes away. I shook the sleeve of my thick coat back down and kept walking.

"This is it," Jaxon muttered quietly as he held the door open for me. We went into the busy establishment right on time. People barely gave us a second glance as we made our way to the stools at the counter. I didn't recognize anyone. I wasn't sure whether I should be happy or worried that I didn't see Benny's face.

"Sit here," Jaxon directed Hunt to a stool around the curve of the counter. From there, he would be mostly out of sight through the front windows. Therefore, the assassin would be forced to come inside if he wanted to get to him.

I took the stool next to Hunt, which happened to have a perfect view of the rest of the place. As of now, I could only see groups of friends and couples enjoying a happy night out. But who knew what I could catch as the night went on? I needed to be faster than anyone who'd come to kill the ONNT director.

As we waited for the busy bartender to make her way over to us, I glanced towards the door, where Kane and Riley were entering. She was laughing at something he'd said and for once, he didn't look as sullen as he usually did. One might even think that they weren't just pretending for the plan.

They took a table near the entrance. When they sat, I saw Riley scoping the place out for us. Her dark eyes met mine and I gave her a small nod to signal that everything was going well so far.

"Hey," Jaxon called from next to me and I turned back around. The bartender, who was wearing a shy smile on her face, seemed to know him already. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hi," she said, turning her eyes with uncertainty towards Hunt.

"So, as you can see, I pulled through on my promise. This is Damien Hunt, director of the ONNt," Jaxon introduced, gesturing toward Hunt, who stood up and held out his hand.

"Hi," she responded, shaking his hand. "I'm Angelica Dunn. It's nice to meet you."

He gave her a smile and sat back down. Because Gigi had used her powers to help heal Hunt, he was looking much better than before. "Good to see you too, Angelica."

"I was talking to your colleague yesterday," she said, waving a hand at Jaxon, "And when he told me that he'd introduce me to you, I wasn't sure if I believed him. But now that you're actually here, I just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done for our country."

"It's my pleasure," Hunt replied, perfectly composed, as usual. "It's always been an honor to serve the people."

The bartender smiled, clearly happy with their amicable conversation. "Well, can I get you any drinks?"

Hunt ordered and Jaxon threw out a random drink order as well. I passed, knowing that I'd need to be perfectly alert later on.

I glanced over at Riley and Kane again. She had a flippant look on her face, like she was making fun of him. Kane was staring at her with a dry expression that could rival one of Jake's. They didn't appear to have seen anything yet.

The woman placed the alcoholic beverages in front of Hunt and Jaxon. "If you need anything else, just let me know."

We sat at the bar for a while, making small talk for show. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, though I still surveyed the whole bar, waiting for something to take place. I hated not knowing where the assassin was.

Then, a horrible thought occurred to me: what if the assassin wasn't going to go after Hunt tonight? What if it was me? Or any of the others? We'd fallen into the same trap during the senator's speech; what if it happened again?

I wouldn't let that happen. If they did come for me, now or in the future, they wouldn't take me alive. I'd go down fighting before I would let myself be their slave again.

My head snapped up when a middle-aged man approached us. My knives were hidden under my thick jacket. I could get to them in seconds and the man would be no more.

But he held out his hand to Jaxon who said, "Hey, man," and shook it. He turned to Hunt and stated, "I told my friend here that I'd introduce you two."

I introduced myself as Hunt's assistant to the man and the three of them spoke for a while. Jaxon's friend eventually sat at the counter and ordered himself a drink. I tried to force myself to relax, or at least look like I was at ease.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Riley and Kane approaching. I gave them a curious glance, but Riley's face gave nothing away. Kane just shrugged.

Riley tapped on Hunt's shoulder. "Are you Damien Hunt?"

He turned to look at her, not giving any indication that he knew her. "Indeed, I am."

Giving him a warm smile, she replied, "Nice to meet you. My friend and I have seen you on TV before and we thought we'd just tell you how much we admire you." Riley snaked her arm under Kane's and pulled him closer.

As Kane shuffled reluctantly forward, I felt him push something covertly into my hand.

Next to me, Hunt said, "You admire me? What for?" I opened my hand under the counter to reveal that Kane had written a note to me on a napkin: Get up to get a napkin and look to your right.

So I excused myself from the counter and went to the front of the bar, where a stack of napkins was placed for customer use. Upon glancing to the right, like I'd been instructed, I saw a male figure sitting alone at a table in the corner. His back was turned to me as he hunched over his drink.

It was definitely strange. Almost everyone else was here with someone, and if they were alone, they were sitting at the counter.

Then, as if he'd sensed my eyes on him, the man turned in his seat. His eyes swept across the rest of the place before landing on me.

One look onto his face, even from across the bar, and I could tell that it wasn't the boy I'd been dreading. He was older and had none of the facial scarring that Benny did.

He stared at me for a second too long. When he stood abruptly up from the table, I was ready. To my horror, he began swiftly making his way around the back of the bar, towards where Hunt sat, still talking with Jaxon's acquaintances.

I glanced out the front windows for a split second. Jake and Gigi were out there watching us somewhere, but they were well hidden. Apparently, it was all up to me.

I matched the assassin's pace as he weaved between tables, gaining speed as he went. Shouting to Riley and Kane was out of the question; if the assassin found out that this was a trap, he could flee the scene before we got his hands on him.

He was practically jogging now as he rounded the corner, now about ten feet from Hunt. I saw the shiny glint of a knife up his sleeve; he was planning to stab Hunt and run. It would be a fast murder and easy to escape from.

Jaxon caught a glance of sudden movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look. When he saw the approaching man, he yanked Hunt to the side. The assassin's knife missed the director by mere inches. Jaxon pushes Hunt towards the exit, which he ran out of.

The bartender screamed as I whipped out a dagger and sent it flying into the assailant. As he righted himself again, I saw that it had struck his shoulder. He would be easier to imprison if he was injured, and, of course, I couldn't have him dead.

I reached the man and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back. Kane swung the stool he'd been sitting on and bludgeoned the assassin with it. In the background, people screamed and rushed out the door, not wanting to get in the middle of the fight.

Swinging out his legs, the assassin kicked Kane's feet, making him stumble. In that time, the man rose again and grabbed ahold of the screaming bartender. He steadied her, holding the knife to her throat.

"Drop your weapons," he demanded. The woman whimpered pitifully.

We paused. I didn't want the woman to die, but it was either her life or the lives of numerous others.

I pushed my dagger into Jaxon's hand as he stood behind me. Taking my cue, he turned invisible and materialized right behind the assassin.

"Let her go," Jaxon demanded, pressing the point of the knife into the assassin's back.

But the man snarled, "You won't kill me."

"No. But I will." Jake entered the emptying bar with Gigi by his side, an arrow nocked in her bow.

The gun in his hand went off and the bartender fell to the ground. When the assassin saw that his leverage was dead on the floor, he took a few steps back, only to run into Jaxon.

I turned to look at the entrance of the bar when a snarling Rottweiler came running in, dragging a leash behind it. Riley's face was set in grim determination and I knew that she'd called it here. The dog jumped up onto the Imperium agent, knocking him off of his feet. Jaxon simply stepped to the side, letting him fall.

With the dog's bared teeth inches from his face, the assassin finally gave in. "I surrender! I'll go with you. Just get this damn mutt off of me." The dog gave out a thunderous bark, making him flinch.

Riley called it to stand by her side, which it did obediently. We waited as assassin stood, raising his arms above his head. Arlo ran in to join the confrontation.

All the weapons in the empty bar were aimed at the assassin. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Did you shoot Mr. Hunt in Boston?" Gigi asked.

When the assassin didn't respond, I suspected that something wasn't right. Then, he lowered one hand, plunged it into his coat and popped something into his mouth.

"No!" Both Jake and Gigi shot at his hand, trying to make him drop it. But it was too late, all it did was bury both a bullet and an arrow into his arm after he'd already swallowed the pill.

Almost immediately, he dropped to the floor, a foam paste beginning to froth at his lips. A seizure rocked his body as his arms and legs twitched incessantly. A few of my teammates nervously stepped away from the seizing man, unsure of what would happen to him next.

Eventually, he stopped moving, his face a strange mottled red. His gasping breaths filled the room until they stopped coming.

"I can't hear his heartbeat," Arlo spoke suddenly. "He's dead."