D E L P H I N I U M

I didn't know how long I had been chained to the ground for. All I knew was that I was in a cell at the ONNT headquarters and that I was in deep, deep trouble.

From what I surmised, it had been hours since I'd been locked in here and no one had come by for me. The ONNT leaders, Hunt included, were probably trying to figure out what to do with me, I realized. After all, I had destroyed two entire underground maximum-security prison cells and almost brought down the roof on everybody. I was just lucky that Benny's glass enclosure hadn't been broken during the fight. Had that occurred, we'd be in even worse circumstances than we were already in.

My blood chilled when I questioned what would happen to me next. The ONNT officials already regarded me as a dangerous liability and now I'd shown just how capable of destruction I still was. I'd be lucky if they didn't decide to keep me locked up like this for a long time.

I knew I'd acted rashly. It was something I rarely ever did, and this time, the one time I acted without thinking, could have had catastrophic consequences. My body was still humming with power. I curled my hands into fists. I'd always thought that it wasn't fair that the ONNT had kept us sanctioned in the compound. Now, I was seeing why they'd chose to do it. Now, I was wondering if it was enough.

I hadn't seen what they had: eight deadly people. For a long while, we'd lived and worked in harmony. Sure, there had been small disagreements but there was nothing that affected the grand scheme of things. But that was before all these secrets hidden from our pasts resurfaced. When we began to collectively reveal who we really were, things began to get ugly.

When I'd first been brought in by Hunt, I'd been suspicious of the newcomers. I wasn't sure who they were, and therefore, who to trust. Because of the deep grasp Imperium still had on me, I wasn't sure who would be the first to try to slit my throat, so I stayed on guard day and night around them.

Once I got to know them and slowly befriend them, one by one, I realized how stupid I'd been to think they were all out to kill me. Not everyone in this world was bad.

But now I was realizing that they were more dangerous than I'd thought. Benny had said it himself: everyone was hiding things. This latest fight with Gigi proved that no one was safe. No one had wanted to hurt me before. What would happen when they actually did?

I pushed the bad thoughts from my brain. It was bad enough that I was going to be stuck in here for a prolonged amount of time, I didn't want to make it worse.

I sat there on the floor for an unknown amount of time, barely able to move because of the chains restricting me, trying not to remember how similar this situation with the chains and bag over my head was to some in the Imperium fortress.

Then, I heard the door unlock and swing open. I stayed perfectly still, unsure of what would be happening next. My instincts told me to fight, to scream, to unleash my fury on this place. But those instincts were set in place by Orion so I simply waited.

The bag was pulled off of my head. I blinked a few times, staring into the light. The air in my lungs felt cool and light after having my face covered for so long.

Hunt himself loomed over me, regarding me with a sharp gaze. Behind him, two armed soldiers stood alert.

"I didn't kill Gigi's mother. I wouldn't do that," I told him, hoping that he would know I was telling the truth and not just desperate to escape a lie.

He let out a long breath through his nose before answering, "I think I believe you, Delphinium."

"You...do?" I had to admit, it was not the response I'd been expecting.

"Yes. You've fought too hard against Imperium and your old training to simply revert back to killing innocent people. I think more happened that night than you're saying."

I nodded, having nothing else to say. He was close to gaining some newfound respect from me.

"What's going to happen to me?"

"That," he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "Is a bit more unclear. You did cause a great amount of destruction downstairs, which the council isn't taking lightly. You've been a wild card to us for as long as we've known you, Delphinium, and they're unsure how to approach this issue, especially now that Gigi is concerned."

"I didn't really want to kill her, but...I had to protect myself. Did you know about those powers she kept hidden?"

"Somewhat. She had an incident when she was eleven years old that led us to have suspicions that she could do more than she was letting on. Now we know for sure."

"An incident? What happened?"

He shook his head. "Now isn't the time or the place."

"Where is she? Are you letting her go?"

"Heavens, no. Not after what she did downstairs. No, you'll probably be released later on today but she'll be staying with us for a longer while, once she's calmed down and regained her wits."

"Oh," I said, remembering the way that she'd vowed to kill me. It didn't seem like she'd have her wits about her for a long time.

"I have to go," he told me, looking down at his watch. "The council is meeting again in ten minutes. I trust that you'll behave yourself in here?"

"Yes." What other choice did I have?

He nodded and left without putting the bag back over my head. The lock clicked behind him.

Exhaling, I tilted my head back until it rested against the wall behind me. I let my arms drop to my sides, making the chains clink together. Now all I could do was wait.

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The driver pulled onto the long driveway of the compound after punching the code into the gate keypad. I sat in the back with a soldier on each side of me. If they were letting me go, then why did I have to be escorted back with armed guards?

Hunt had come by my cell for a second time to unchain me and walk me upstairs to the exit. He'd told me that I was allowed to go back to the compound and resume my daily life there, but the counsel was going to be keeping a watchful eye over me. Apparently, they'd been easier on me due to the fact that Gigi had attacked me first and tried to kill me before I'd acted.

Hunt had also relayed the information that the counsel was divided on whether they believed I'd killed Gigi's mother or not. Because I hadn't denied being there that night, I certainly seemed guilty. I hadn't done myself any favors by fighting with her after instead of trying to tell her what had actually happened. It had all happened so fast and besides, what was the use? Benny had already perfectly twisted the events so that it was turned around on me. He had an almost-perfect conviction.

After the others had learned about what I'd done to Benny, I knew that most of them hadn't known what to think. Now that Gigi thought I'd murdered her mother in cold blood, I wasn't sure what my other teammates would believe.

I knew that everyone was becoming more suspicious and on edge after all that we'd been through. They weren't sure who they could trust after the council repeatedly sided against us and Benny began to pit us against each other. This was only going to make things much, much worse.

My body felt heavy when I walked up to the front door. One of the soldiers held the door open for me and I hoped they wouldn't come inside with them. The others would think the worst if they saw I had to be escorted inside by men with weapons. They'd think that I was still dangerous.

I stood in the doorway for a moment, not knowing what was going to happen once I walked inside. Whatever happened, I knew that things were going to be very different now.

Jaxon rounded the corner, curious to see who was at the door. Once he saw that it was me, however, he stopped in his tracks. He didn't joke or tease me like he usually did when we were together. Neither of us said a word.

Feeling like every footstep forward was a struggle, I stepped past him and strode into the main area. A few of my other teammates were there and they all turned to face me when I walked in the room. I knew that expression written on their faces: fear.

It could have been that they were scared for what this turn of events meant or what it would lead to. Or that they were scared of me. Just like in the entryway with Jaxon, no one said anything. They didn't know how to act around me.

I walked through the room, unsure of where exactly I was headed towards. As I began walking down the long tile-floored upstairs hallway, Kane came closer to me, walking the other way.

As we passed, he said nothing, but his steady glare told me what I needed to know. I'd ruined his brother's life, and it was apparent that he now knew that Benny hadn't been the only one I'd screwed over.

I only returned his stare with a quiet glare of my own. I had nothing to say because he was right. I'd made bad choices and kept them hidden, thinking that I was protecting myself, when in reality, I was just delaying the consequences and in therefore, making them greater.

My lungs felt tight. No one believed me. They thought I'd killed Gigi's mother.

Murderer. Murderer. Murderer. The word whispered in my ears even though no one was there. I'd been called that name many times but this time it hurt. This time was the only time I'd been called that name without having actually killed anyone. It seared me like a brand. I couldn't escape it, no matter what I did. That was who I was. Orion had fashioned me into the killing machine he wanted and now I couldn't turn back into who I was before. No matter what I did, it would always be there. The destructive capabilities just behind my fingertips. My fluid grace with a knife. The fact that I'd always just revert back to killing. It was all I knew how to do.

My legs felt like they might give out beneath me. I leaned against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut, doing my best to calm down. The guilt in my chest was so heavy I felt like I was being crushed. They didn't understand. No one could understand.

I looked all the way down the hallway to a certain door. It was only open a crack.

Heart pounding in my chest, I pushed it open. Inside, Jake was at a desk writing on a spread of papers, probably something having to do with one of his schemes. He turned to look at me in the doorway, wondering what my purpose was. "I see they let you out of wherever they've been keeping you since yesterday."

I stepped in, shutting the door behind me. I wasn't particularly interested in having any of the others hearing this.

"They all think I murdered Gigi's mother," I told him, my voice coming out more ragged than I'd been expecting. "No one said a word, but I can see it in the way they look at me. Even the ONNT counsel is in a debate over whether I did or not."

"You didn't deny that you were there when she died."

"You think I did?" Somehow, my body felt even heavier. Jake too?

"You told me a long time ago that Hundsen forced you do do a job for him. Tell me exactly what happened."

Glad that he asked, I began my story. "He gave me a folder with all the information on Imani Henderson inside. I was being sent to kill her. If I didn't do it, he told me he'd take out his wrath on the rest of you. So I went to their home in Maryland and got a gun. She was in the perfect spot. I could have shot her and gotten away with it." I paused, unsure if I wanted to say the next part. "I almost did, to save the rest of you. One life for seven. But I hesitated. She was innocent and didn't deserve to die. Before I could walk away and go back to Hundsen empty-handed, another assassin shot her dead."

I shook my head. "Hundsen must have known that I'd refuse, so he sent Benny to kill her when I wouldn't. I tried to catch him but he got away. The masked assassin was the only one who knew I was there that night, and he used that knowledge to frame me for the murder he committed."

Jake's chartreuse eyes stayed on me the entire time I spoke. When I finished, he was silent for a moment as he processed what had been revealed. Dragging a hand through his onyx hair, he looked away for a moment, deep in thought.

Then, quietly, "I believe you."

"Why? I doubt the others do."

"Because if I were Benny, I would have done the exact same thing. I'd pin it on the person who couldn't deny being at the scene of the crime. That way, he's pitting us against each other to make us destroy ourselves without having to lift a finger himself."

I dropped my head down. "Thank you. You're one of the only ones who thinks I'm telling the truth."

Suddenly getting to his feet, he stated, "I have a question. That name he was calling you, what does it mean?"

Even though I was tall, he towered over me. Very aware of how the soft light was hitting his face and specifically how it highlighted the sharp angles of his features, I took a moment to answer. "Orion called me Secerător when I was his right hand. It means Reaper."

"Reaper." He ran the name over his tongue. I hated the sound, especially in his mouth.

"He needed a name that his enemies and insubordinates would fear, a name that fit me."

He had a strange look in his eyes. "Do you think it fits you?"

"I wish it didn't." My heart was pounding. It was hard to form words when he was staring at me like that.

"Why don't you use your power like you did the other day? It's greater than you let on."

"I don't know," I said slowly. Of course he, with his observant ways, had noticed. "I just prefer to fight with my fists and daggers." I didn't mention how using it also made me feel like more of a killing machine than I already was.

"They taught you to make your gifts into weapons, so that's all you see them as," he remarked, reading deeper into my soul than I'd have liked for him to. "But that's not all they can be."

I looked to the ground, not liking where this conversation was going. I did not enjoy how easily he could see through me at times like this. It made me feel raw and vulnerable.

For a moment, I simply watched him, hoping he wouldn't say any more and partially wishing he would. In his silence, I took in the disheveled hair, his straight nose and lowered brows, the cruel mouth so accustomed to barking out orders. In all the time I'd known him, I'd never let myself admire his dark beauty, no matter how obvious it was. I hated myself for doing it now.

As if snapping out of a reverie, he took a few steps back and, looking back at his papers, said, "What are you planning next for Imperium?"

This was easier. "I thought you were the one with the plans."

He gave me a flat look. "Must I do everything around here?"

"Well, I think we should begin by taking out their weapon supply. They have a steady stream coming into the fortress and it supports all of their endeavors. Cut it off, and they'll be weakened."

"Then we'll start with that." He stayed turned away from me. "Find out where to strike and we'll go there."

I nodded even though he wasn't looking. "I will." And with that, I exited his room, that strange fluttery feeling still in the pit of my stomach.