R I L E Y

The worst part of my day began when the phone suddenly rang in my room. On the first ring, I jumped, having been startled by the sudden sound. I got up from where I'd been feeding my lizards live crickets and went to answer it.

"Hello? Who is this?" I wondered if it was perhaps one of my four teammates that had gone to Romania.

"I think you already know who it is, dear Riley." I almost chucked my phone onto my bed when I recognized the voice on the other end of the line. For a moment I stood there, clutching the phone in shocked silence.

When I didn't make any answer, he said, "I know you're there. I can hear your breathing. You have to talk eventually."

"Benny, how are you even..."

"They allowed me one phone call when I told them that it would be to you. Don't worry though, no one is listening in on our conversation. I have a job for you."

I should have hung up the phone there and simply dealt with the consequences later.

Instead, I sneered, "Like hell you do. You're truly insane if you think I'm doing a job for you."

"I think you'll want to hear the terms of this agreement first, before you hang up."

"I don't think I will."

I was about to slam the phone down on my dresser when he said, "You lived in New Haven Orphanage your whole life, the one on 45 South Avenue in Pennsylvania, did you not?" He paused "It was the only home you knew, wasn't it?"

My blood chilled. How did he know that?

"I'll take your silence as an answer. You see, I know things about you. Now I need you to find out some things for me."

"Like what?" My voice was barely there.

"Find out as much as you can about your teammates: their fears, traumas, secrets. Even my unfortunate brother. They're all hiding things. I want to know it all."

I shook my head as I spoke. "No. I won't do it."

"Riley, I know the address of that orphanage you lived at. I have ways of communicating with Imperium. One word from me and my superiors will reduce your old home to rubble, along with everyone inside it. Do we understand each other?"

My blood chilled. The words felt stale in my mouth. "Yes, we do." I couldn't risk the lives of the hundreds of children that lived within those walls.

"Do what I asked. Be ready to tell me everything by the next time I see you. Do not tell anyone of our conversation."

"How do you know when I'm-"

There was a click on the other end. He'd hung up on me.

What was I going to do? Depending on the information I found out about my teammates, I could hand Benny the power to destroy us from the inside out. But if I didn't, my old orphanage and everyone in it would be destroyed. I had no love for those cold walls I'd spent the first eighteen years of my life in, but that didn't mean the people inside deserved to die.

Or, because Benny needed me for this job, I could work the information I found to my advantage. I looked off into the distance out my window, trying to decide what my next move would be. Would Benny know if I lied to him?

I decided that I would start with Kane. It was true that I already knew many things about him, but Benny had urged me to speak with his brother. Plus, his calming presence would be refreshing, especially now.

Knocking on his closed door, I half-wished he wouldn't answer so I wouldn't have to dredge him for information. But he opened the door and looked down at me, wondering what I wanted.

"Can we talk?" I asked, ignoring the way my heart fluttered at the sight of his captivating looks.

He was taken aback by my request. "Of course." Stepping aside, he allowed me to enter.

I'd never been in his room before. It was decorated with a color palette of dark brown and navy blue, the coordinating colors on his curtains, bed covers and the trinkets on his desk. The room was very characteristic of him: not flashy, collected and masculine. There was something intimate about being in the place someone dwelled, where they laid their heads to sleep and looked out the window while daydreaming.

I sat down on the corner of his bed. Kane sat in a chair opposite me, looking wary for what I was about to say. But I wasn't here to flirt this time. I had a job to do.

I did my best to look nervous and meek. "I...I just have something I want to get off my chest," I said, looking at him through lowered lashes.

He was watching me closely, his brows lowered in a frown. "Okay." Clearly, he didn't know where I was going with this conversation.

Preparing myself to spill my soul to him, I took a deep breath. It was necessary for me to open up to him in order for him to open up to me. I normally hated admitting these things about myself, but I knew that he wouldn't judge.

"I never knew my parents," I began, knowing that it was a dramatic way to start. "All my life, I lived in an orphanage in Pennsylvania. I never had a real home."

He was looking at me with pity shining in those brown eyes, but I continued on. "All I really wanted was a family, to be a normal kid. But I never got it. Along the way...along the way, I started stealing. Nothing major, just little things. But it was a twisted escape mechanism for me, taking things from people to avoid the sadness in my own life that came from things being taken from me."

"Eventually, I was taken out of the orphanage by Hunt and began a new life here." I chuckled, shaking my head. "Even through all the things that have happened to us here, it's infinitely better than it was at the orphanage. Now I have friends and people who care about me."

He was still looking at me intensely. My gaze traveled to the floor. My fake-meekness was beginning to turn real. "I'm telling you all of this because I want you to know that you're not alone. I was alone for the first eighteen years of my life and now I finally don't feel like I can only rely on myself. The same goes for you. I'm here for you."

I wrapped my arms around my legs. "I just needed to get that off my chest. I never told anyone any of that before." I surveyed him for a quiet moment. "I never had anyone to tell before."

"I was the first one you told?" His voice was soft, gentle.

"Yes. I didn't feel comfortable telling anyone else. I knew that you wouldn't think any less of me."

"I don't."

I pointed at him. "My point proven."

"I'm serious." He eyed me. "You're stronger than everyone gives you credit for." I knew what he meant. My impudent, sometimes rebellious nature gave off the idea that I simply had a cold heart. But no one knew why it was that way.

I felt sick to my stomach. "You are too. I can't imagine what your childhood was like for you." I began my manipulation, pushing the conversation into the way that would give me the most new information. I'd just spilled my secrets to him. Now he'd feel even more obligated to tell me his.

He shrugged, not liking to talk about himself. "It could have been worse."

"I mean, after Benny simply vanished out of nowhere, your family must have been so devastated." I hated myself for what I was doing, especially when we were talking about something so painful.

Kane sighed and my heart broke at the sound. I wished that I could have taken back what I said. "My family took it very hard. When he went missing, they kind of fell apart. My father left." I uttered a hum of sympathy. "I had to work two jobs after school. But..." He trailed off for a moment, "At least I have a family. I used to be so angry that I was brought here against my will, but now I'm seeing that it isn't as bad as it could be." He gave me a meaningful look and my heart skipped, wondering exactly what he meant. Ever since he'd learned about his brother's fate, he'd been changing. Nothing too major, it was in the little things. He now spoke more, he was bolder. And darker now. I wasn't sure ether to be proud of him or scared for him.

I heard Finn call me from downstairs and was thankful. I couldn't bear to do this to him any longer, especially not if I was going to have to relay this information back to his brother. "Well," I said, standing up, "I should go."

"Yeah." We stared at each other for a second too long. I didn't want to leave. But I did. I went to find Finn before I could do any more damage. He was downstairs in the kitchen, leaning against the granite counter while talking on the phone to someone.

When he saw me enter the room, he leaned the phone away from his face and said, "Mr. Hunt says that Benny called you earlier and he wants to know what Benny was trying to tell you."

Freezing for a second, I knew I couldn't tell Hunt what had actually been spoken about. Benny's threats echoed in my ears. He'd kill all the children I'd grown up with, all the children who had nothing but those walls of the orphanage. I would have to lie.

I took the phone from the blond boy and held up up to my ear. "Hello, Riley, I'm assuming Finn filled you in on why I'm calling?"

"Yes. Benny did call me earlier, but it was nothing that we didn't already know. He only told me that he was calling to warn me of Imperium's looming threat, that they're coming for us and nothing we do can stop them."

"Why did he call you in particular?" Hunt still sounded suspicious, which made me nervous.

"While we were speaking with him the other day, I told him that his boasts about Imperium meant nothing to us. I think he was just making sure that I knew the threat wasn't empty."

"Alright," he said. I heard voices in the background of the call on his end. "I have to go. We'll speak soon." And with that, he ended the call. I pulled the phone away from my ear and frowned at it; I'd been hung up on twice today.

"It's strange that Benny called you," Finn remarked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the counter. "I'm not quite sure what his plan is, but I don't doubt that he has one."

"Me neither. He's working on something and I have a feeling that we're about to find out what it is."

Finn shook his head. "I don't envy the ONNT soldiers that have to work with him. There's something off about Benny. Well, besides the obvious."

"Oh right," I said, gesturing to him. It was time to begin my manipulation yet again. "I forgot that you wanted to be an ONNT soldier before this team was formed." He'd told me about it one of the first days I'd known him, long ago.

"Yeah, I did. This is kind of the same thing, though. I still work for Hunt, after all."

"It's admirable, really. I was very against the idea of being kept here at first."

He laughed. "I noticed."

"You never were," I remembered, pushing further. "You were always optimistic about it."

Finn sobered up a bit, his smile fading. "I felt like I had to be."

"What do you mean?" I hoped that he wouldn't think I was prying and shut down.

"I don't know...I just never really had much in life before, so I didn't want to take this opportunity for granted."

Thinking of the children at my old orphanage, I pressed on, asking casually, "How did your parents take the news then?"

He had an uncomfortable expression and I knew that I'd hit a painful subject. "I'm not quite sure. They're...They were my foster parents. I haven't kept contact with them since I was brought here."

"Oh," I said, feeling his same pain. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't get me wrong," he said suddenly, holding up his hands, "They did so much for me. But I didn't really belong there."

I rested a hand on his shoulder. "You may not have fit in with them, but you do here with us. We need you."

Giving me a small, closed lipped smile, he replied, "Thanks, Riley. You're good to talk to." I did my best to return his smile. It was the least I could do after extracting his painful, and confidential, information.

I leaned against the counter, that sick feeling deep in my stomach remaining. Now all I had to do was wait for the others to return home. Once I got enough information from them, Benny would be satisfied.