J A K E

The car was quiet on the ride to the ONNT headquarters. I didn't mind. The silence gave me room to think.

I thought about how Hundsen hadn't made any moves since placing the dead body in my room. Granted, I hadn't been home then, but now that I was? I had to be on high alert, day and night. He was planning something, I knew he was. But it was something that he was waiting to unleash, something bad enough that he was willing to wait until the perfect time to reveal it.

But I was ready. I had nothing to lose. He could not take a single thing from me.

And when he did inevitably get his men to take me to him, I'd be prepared to turn it around on him. He'd go into it thinking that I was the victim. But he would always be the prey now that I was the predator.

"What are you thinking about?" Tesla's voice brought me back to reality.

I gave her a quick inquiring look, wondering where exactly she was going with that question. "You just had on that face that you wear when you're angry and wondering how many ways you can gut your opponent," she elaborated with a non-committal gesture of her hand.

"I'm often wondering that very thing."

"Oh, I'm sure. You haven't gotten that murderous reputation for nothing."

I pulled the car before the gate. An ONNT soldier walked out of the small guard's building and came to the window. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Jake Evans and Delphinium Tesla. We're here to see your boss."

The guard's eyes widened. Apparently, he knew exactly who we were. I wasn't surprised. He gestured to where the gate was creaking open.

When we got out of the car, several of Hunt's soldiers flanked us. I wasn't sure if they were to protect us or keep us in check. Either way, they were unneeded. The soldiers led us through the main entrance which was—as usual—full of bustling people hard at work.

As the two of us were led into the elevator to Hunt's office, I then remembered what I'd been planning ever since meeting with Benny the other day. I knew something that could change everything for us.

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"Is that all?" Hunt asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes." The assassin remained motionless beside me. "It went smoothly."

"And the facility?"

"Completely destroyed. Nothing inside survived."

"Good work."

After a moment's pause, she asked, "What is happening to the groups you sent to take out Imperium's supplies and soldiers?"

Hunt's expression turned grim. "It's not looking good. Half of my men have been killed. However, the ones that are still alive are doing as much as they can to weaken Imperium."

He stood up, planting his palms on the desk. "Well, if that's everything, I suppose I can arrange for your transport back to the compound."

"Not yet," I spoke for the first time. "I need to see Benny again."

Eyes narrowing, the director asked suspiciously, "Why?"

"I believe I finally have something to hold over him."

"What is it?"

I tapped two fingers on his desk. "Wouldn't you like to know? I need to see him. No soldiers, no guards. Just him and us."

"The last time your team requested that, there was a fight to the death and thousands of dollars worth of damage."

"Don't you trust me?" It was a mockery. Of course he didn't.

"Nothing like that will happen," Tesla spoke beside me. I knew she'd be wanting an explanation as soon as we got out of here. "I'll make sure of it."

Hunt's dark eyes flickered between the two of us. "Twenty minutes. I trust you can find your way." I could do what I had to do in that time and gave a curt nod of agreement.

The assassin followed me out of the office. As soon as we were back in the busy hallways of the building, she asked quietly enough that we wouldn't haven't eavesdroppers, "What are you planning? Why do we have to see Benny again?"

"I finally realized how to make him talk after discovering something about him that he doesn't want us to know."

Her brows pulled down in a narrow-eyed frown. "What is it?"

I didn't waste words or time. "I believe Benny has some sort of mind-reading power. He can see into people's thoughts and feelings."

The shock was clear on her face. It took her a few seconds to form words. "What? How can you be sure?"

"He let something slip about me that no one knows. It's possible Hundsen told him, but..." I trailed off, deep in thought.

The more I turned the idea over in my head, the more it made sense. We captured Benny, but he was able to turn it around on us because he could read our thoughts, find out our deepest secrets. That was why he was here, why he wasn't trying to escape. He needed us to kill each other so that Imperium's greatest enemy would be gone. Or, at least, he was distracting us long enough for Imperium to rise without our opposition. He was able to know things that no one else knew about us and was using that fact to rip us apart. With each painful truth, the threads that held our crew together were slowly breaking.

"He never had any sort of power when I knew him in the fortress. I know that he didn't." The elevator doors closed around us.

"Imperium wouldn't have enslaved him there for no reason. Was he ever gone from his cell?"

"Very rarely. But I was usually out...I was barely ever in my own cell when Orion had jobs for me. It's possible that Benny was with him when I was away."

"There's something going on here," I said, trying to piece the clues together. "It's just a guess, but I think I'm right."

She wore a look of amusement. "You always think you're right."

"Now, more than ever."

"Well," she said as we stepped out of the elevator that took us deep underground, "There's only one way to find out."

There was a soldier waiting for us as we approached Benny's cell. Apparently, Hunt had called him here. He placed his hand on the fingerprint scanner and the metal door slid open.

As soon as it shut behind us and we were crossing the platform, I commanded, "Tesla, kill the lights." Giving me a quick glance, she snapped her fingers. Every light in the large room went off, save for the one directly over Benny. If Benny's powers were anything like the assassin's, then he couldn't perform them if he couldn't see his victim. And due to the lights overhead blinding him, he wouldn't be able to see us through the darkness.

"Who's there?" He asked, dark eyes blinking. I was pleased to see the blisters on his skin from the last time I'd left him to get frostbite.

"I can't say I'm pleased to see you."

A triumphant smile found its way onto his face. "I see your power is increasing, dear Delphinium."

"I wouldn't be smiling about that if I was you. Imperium is my next target. So are you."

"You can't touch us," he sneered. "All your efforts to destroy Imperium will be futile. Our master is too powerful to be taken down, especially not by the likes of you."

"He's not my master," she hissed back through gritted teeth. "Not anymore. Soon, he'll be nothing but a broken body under the might of my power. So will you. So will everyone that dares ally themselves with that damned man."

"Your fear is disappearing," he remarked, guessing at her feelings despite not being able to see her. "You're angry now, rather than scared."

"Finally you're right about something. Now, we're going to ask you a few questions. I suggest you answer them."

Before he could sneer or make another argumentative comment, I said, "Tell us everything you know about Imperium, starting with what they're planning to do next."

"I thought I already told you before, Evans. I won't answer your questions if I don't want to."

"Well then, we'll have to make you want to talk, won't we?"

He had the audacity to laugh. "How do you expect to do that?"

"I know about your power, your ability to read minds." I paced in front of him even though he couldn't see me, hoping that my guess was accurate.

He didn't say anything. I knew I'd hit my mark. "I'm sure you don't want this information to get out," I purred, my voice mocking. "Especially not to the ONNT or the rest of the crew. It would interfere with your plans, wouldn't it?"

"Don't think you know my intentions, Evans. According to you, I'm the one with the mind-reading abilities. Not you."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I was you. So tell me, what is Imperium planning?"

His answer took a few moments. "They plan to slowly spread outward, expanding their power in the shadows." That's what they were doing now. "Once they have enough power to overtake the surrounding nations, they'll have them too. When the entire world is finally ours, when every person bows to my master, then our goal will be complete."

"World domination was always Orion's ambition," Tesla said somewhere to my right. "He never spared any details about why he wanted so much power or what he'd do once he had it."

"What man doesn't want the world at his feet? Orion will go where no one else has gone before. Not a single leader has had the world under his thumb. The Soviet Union, Caesar, Hitler, Alexander the Great, all the most feared powers in the past will be nothing compared to us. Empires have risen and fallen, but Imperium will be the last to rise before it lives on farther than you or I will ever live for."

"You will fall," Delphinium insisted, venom in her tone, "Even if I have to slit every throat that pledges allegiance to your master myself, you will fall."

Benny's smile turned crooked. "You can try."

"How do you plan to take over the surrounding nations?" I asked, crossing my arms. All his unnecessary talking was irritating me.

"When we have vastly superior numbers, weapons and machinery, we will strike. Orion will lead the countries, ridding them of corruption and bringing control and order to the people. Finally, when Imperium is regulating more and more nations, we will have the space to grow without significant opposition."

"You're still building now to get to that point, right?" Tesla asked. I knew that she was thinking that the best time to attack them would be now, rather than when several nations had already fallen to them. I supposed it was a reasonable idea.

Benny didn't say anything, which was our answer. "What kinds of weapons do you have?" I asked, wanting to know more about what they'd try to send at us.

"Countless types. The standard weapons: guns, knives, swords. But also things like electric mines, missiles, plasma cannons-"

"You mean the Scorpions," Delphinium said. "Don't worry about those; we destroyed them all."

Benny frowned but didn't say anything else, probably not wanting to reveal more than the bare minimum. "What kinds of numbers do you have in your ranks?" I asked.

"We have at least seventy thousand men in our army alone: assassins, warriors, soldiers. They've all joined us because they know which side will ultimately win." That was only their army. He hadn't even given the numbers of all their officials and trainers.

"Well," he said after a moment's pause, "At least those were our numbers when I was still free. They've undoubtedly grown even higher since I've been in here. It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." Her tone was biting. She was probably shocked by their large numbers and masking it with anger.

He said something to her in Romanian. "What did he say?" I asked, knowing that it must be something aimed at her if he was speaking in the language only they knew.

"He said," her voice hard, "That when he finally gets out of here, he's going to drag me back to Orion and let him do as he wishes with me." I knew she was afraid of that happening; Benny wouldn't have said it if he knew it wouldn't affect her.

Ice water flowing through my veins, I circled the glass cell. Though I knew he was doing his best to rile us, I was still furious from dealing with the Imperium operative. "We're leaving. If I ever see your sorry ass outside of this cage, I will make your life such a living hell that you'll be crying out for your master to save you from me. But he won't. No one will."

With that, I turned away and began walking back up towards the exit. I heard the assassin's footsteps behind me as she walked back up the platform. The heavy door opened and closed behind us.

We began to make our way back to the surface without much talking. But then Delphinium said, "Jake." I looked down at her. She barely ever referred to me using my first name.

"Now we know Benny has some sort of telepathy, how do we justify him getting captured in the first place? I mean, if he can read thoughts, then he knew that Riley was poisoning him. And yet he still drank the poison."

"He wants to be here," I realized suddenly. "He was only captured because he wanted to be. Benny came here of his own accord to destroy us."