R I L E Y

As soon as we walked into the compound after talking with the investigators, I knew something wasn't right. Jake, Delphinium and Jaxon sat at the dining room table, looking like they were in the middle of a significant discussion.

"Hi guys," Finn drew out uncertainly. "What's going on?"

I frowned at the sight of only three of them. "Where's Kane?"

"That's actually what we were just talking about," Jaxon said, for once not wearing his careless grin. "When we were out interrogating Johnson, something happened."

Panic rose in my chest. "What happened? Is Kane okay?"

"He's not injured." He seemed like he was choosing his words carefully and it made me nervous. "But we made kind of a major discovery."

"Of course it was when I was out at the most boring interview ever," Arlo griped, not sounding worried in the slightest.

"Isn't that a good thing? What was it" Gigi asked confusedly.

"Well..." Jaxon glanced over to the other two. "Delphinium informed us of the masked assassin's name, Benny."

I narrowed my eyes. "Is that it?"

"No. Apparently...Benny is Kane's older brother who went missing a few years back."

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, making sure I heard him correctly.

"Kane's brother is now an Imperium agent."

The weight of this new information set in. My head felt like it was spinning. "That must have hit him hard. Where is he now?"

"That's the thing," Jaxon said, looking uncomfortable. "He's, uh..." Why was he hesitating?

Jake cut in impatiently. "He and Delphinium had a brawl on the street outside Johnson's house. Kane's tied up in the storage closet."

"He's what?" I demanded. "What did you do to him?"

Jake waved a dismissal hand. "He's alive. We just had to keep him downstairs while he calms down."

I put both hands on my hips. "I'm going to go see him and try to figure out what's happening here. All of you stay here before matters are made worse."

"Be careful he doesn't try to beat you too," Jake called as I retreated down the stairs. He was trying to get me upset too, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Not right now, at least.

I placed my hand on the cold metal door handle of the storage room, unsure of what exactly I'd find inside. Jake, Delphinium and Jaxon were a trio that could certainly cause a lot of damage.

The door creaked open, revealing Kane under a murky triangle of light coming down from the ceiling. His body was tied with such a comically large amount of ropes that, under any other circumstances, would have made me laugh at him.

"Hi," I said softly to him, closing the door behind me. His head was down, shoulders hunched; I couldn't see his face.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" I questioned the still boy. He didn't say anything.

Taking a few steps closer, I informed him, "I already know about your brother. The others filled me in upstairs. But I want to hear from you."

When he still failed to speak, I stood in front of him and gently pulled up his chin with my fingers. He met my gaze with bloodshot amber eyes. My heart skipped a beat when I saw his tortured face looking up at me; I could practically see the pain in his stare and my heart ached for him.

"Kane," I sighed, wanting more than anything to take his pain away. "What happened?"

"My brother..." He rasped, seeming to be struggling to put the words together. "He's alive. But...they made him into something horrible. He's an assassin now. My brother is a killer."

"I'm so sorry," I said, leaning down to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I can't imagine how painful that is for you."

Kane stared at the floor. "Part of me died the day my family woke up and Benny wasn't in his bed. We lived in a very bad neighborhood; my mother assumed that he'd been either kidnapped or murdered. Now, I'm wondering if it would have been better if he was dead."

I crouched in front of him. "Tell me about him."

He looked up at me. "You want to hear about Benny?" I nodded, giving him a sad smile.

"He was a good person," he began, shaking his head a bit as he remembered. "I know that might not sound like a lot, but his heart was truly gold. Even though my family had nothing, he still gave me a great childhood. Benny taught me how to play soccer." He smiled a bit as a memory resurfaced. "He'd always get cocky and tell me that I'd have no hope in beating him, but he'd still occasionally miss the ball on purpose so that I could get a goal."

His smile widened. "My mother always wanted his help making dinner because he was so good at everything, including cooking. I was jealous for a time, but I held pride in the fact that Benny was my brother. Benny, the boy who was talented in every way, was my older brother and chose to spend time with me."

Then, the light in his eyes vanished and the smile on his face was replaced with a frown. "But out of all the things he could have done with his life, Imperium chose for him to be the best at killing."

I shook my head, my dark hair falling over my face. "No, you know that it wasn't his fault. Imperium took advantage of him, for whatever reasons, and now you and your family are paying the price."

"Yeah," he agreed suddenly, his deep voice stronger now. "Yeah, Imperium took advantage of him and mistreated him, but do you know what makes me the angriest about this whole situation?"

"What?" My voice was small.

"Delphinium knew him when she was still an Imperium agent. They were friends. She said that Benny was the only true ally she had there, and I believe it. But she left him behind when she escaped and now...he's different. Delphinium had the chance to save him and didn't take it."

"She said that she didn't know who the masked assassin was," I said slowly, confused.

"Exactly," Kane said, looking absolutely furious. "She lied. She knew about his identity far before the rest of us did. She knew that he was after us. And she knew that what she did to him was wrong, so she lied about it to us, hoping that it would stay hidden."

I took a deep breath and let it out. I knew that this situation was more complicated.

"What she did was wrong," I started, choosing my words wisely. "Lying about it was wrong too; she should have told us the truth right away. But Kane, this circumstance isn't just black and white. Where she was...I don't know how much of a choice she had to save your brother. Did you try to talk to her?"

"As much as I could at the time," he said, shrugging as much as the ropes admitted. "I was still in shock when I confronted her."

"And what did she say?"

"Not much...She knew that she was guilty so she didn't have much to say for herself. I also think that she might have been lying when she said she didn't know what happened to him there."

"Okay." I drew out the word. "So how did the actual fighting start?"

"I noticed that she had a knife pulled out as I walked closer," he remembered, his face darkening. "I wasn't going to do anything to her, but she was already prepared to fight me. So I lost control."

My frown deepened. "Are you injured?"

"No," he said and for that, I was immediately relieved. "She had the knife to my chest but Jake stopped the fight. They tied me up in the car so I wouldn't attack her."

"Yeah, about that," I said, pulling out a pocketknife from my back pocket, "I can help."

Sawing through the ropes with the small blade, I cut him free. The bundle of rope fell to the floor and he straightened out his arms but didn't get up.

"What are you going to do?" I questioned, knowing that he wasn't going to let something of this caliber go.

He held his face in his hands. "I don't know. But I need to make this right. She wronged my brother and now he's not the same. I need to avenge him."

"Kane, whatever you do, be very careful," I warned him. "Remember, she might be our friend, but she's also a very dangerous assassin. If you get in another fight and the two of you are actually trying to do damage to the other, you might not survive."

He raised his head to peer up at me. "You think I won't win?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly, not wanting to think about it. "You know how volatile and paranoid she can be because of what they did. I just don't want to see you injured or, God forbid, dead, if you two fight again."

"No, I don't think we'll fight again." He had a far-away look in his eyes and I didn't like it. "But she will pay."

"Please don't do anything stupid," I implored, scared for what he might do. I'd never seen him this hurt and angry before.

Suddenly, he got to his feet and towered over me once again. I had to force myself to stay calm; he was so close to me. I was never hesitant around anyone else, so why did I feel so nervous now as he looked down at me?

"Thank you, Riley."

I nearly forgot how to breathe. "Of course." It was the only thing I could manage to get out.

He went past me, his arm brushing mine. I didn't look at him as he left the closet, leaving me alone to wonder what was happening to me.