R I L E Y

I felt as if I was living someone else's life as I stood in the compound with my alleged 'crew'. Having just been discharged from the hospital, I was driven straight here by a man in a uniform. To a house full of strangers.

As soon as I entered, I found five male figures standing around a sitting room while a single girl sat in a chair, spine strangely straight and face cast down in shadows. She was visibly shaking. Were these the people I'd been surrounded by for the past months?

They heard me approaching and turned from the other girl to face me. Normally, I liked attention. I knew my looks were striking and enjoyed the stares I got because of it. It was better to stand out then be mundane and forgotten.

But now, I had to force myself to be unmoved by their full attentions; they seemed different than most people. Dangerous. I could tell by the way they watched me that some of them were getting mixed emotions at my reappearance. It was strange to know they knew who I was more than I did.

The only person I recognized was the tall boy in the corner, the one who'd come to my hospital room and insisted I knew him. I let my eyes run over him, taking in his good-looking dark features and muscular build. The corner of my mouth quirked up.

"I'd introduce myself, but it appears you all know me already," I said smoothly, tossing my hair over my shoulder.

"I guess you'll need to be introduced to us," said a boy with golden brown hair. "Again." He gave me a charming smile. But it was always the charming ones you had to watch out for. And the quiet ones, I thought as I glanced at the boy in the corner.

"I'm Jaxon Williams, inventor extraordinaire." When he gestured to himself with a lazy hand, I realized he only had one arm.

"Asshole extraordinaire," the boy beside him corrected.

"That's Arlo Damari, a budding psychopath." He pointed to the boy to his right who wore a strangely sharp smile. I didn't like the look in his eyes. I'd seen it in many of the orphans: kids who'd grown up with nothing and learned to take what they could. An insatiable hunger.

"Not many people get the privilege of meeting me twice," he said, fixing silver eyes on me. "Lucky you."

"A pleasure," I drawled, though I wasn't sure if that was true.

Jaxon moved on to a handsome boy who gave a nod to me. "This is Finn Peterson, the only one here with any manners."

He then pointed to the boy I'd recognized. "Well, except for Kane Shires, our resident strongman." Kane gave no sign he'd heard Jaxon introduce him. He simply watched me with glittering eyes, still as a statue.

"This is the lovely Delphinium Tesla." The girl with the strange white hair. Her head raised as Jaxon jerked his chin toward her and steel-blue eyes met mine. I got a strange feeling as I looked into her face; she looked ready to collapse and still I got the intuition that she would rip my throat out if she wanted.

"And that," Jaxon said, gesturing to the last person, "Is crime lord Jake Evans." As I took Jake in, leaning against the wall and regarding me with a frozen-solid gaze, I knew if I had to narrow it down to one person to stay away from here—which wasn't easy—it was him. I'd done my fair share of thievery; I could recognize a hardened criminal when I saw one.

Though, as my eyes trailed over the six of them again, I realized they all were hardened criminals. Me included. All of them looked like they wouldn't be afraid to resort to law-breaking to get what they wanted. Perhaps we had more in common than I thought.

"And you all have abilities? Like me?"

Finn nodded as Jaxon described each of their unique abilities. Though I gave no indication of it, it was a comfort to know I was t the only one with these strange powers. All my life, I'd been taught to hide them, to never let that part of myself out. And I had. I'd even gone so far to think perhaps my superhuman abilities were the reason why I couldn't get adopted.

But I was past that now. I was.

"Once you're settled in, we'll catch you up on everything you've forgotten," Finn said and cringed after he'd said it, realizing how bad it sounded. But I didn't care.

For the first time, the boy named Kane spoke. "I'll take you to your room." I was pleasantly surprised to hear his deep voice again. A smile curved my lips in acceptance, though I was very unsure about...well, all of it.

I followed his large form out of the sitting room, leaving the others behind. Before I turned completely away, I caught one more glimpse of the white-haired girl. Her hands still shook. What was the matter with her?

"What's wrong with that girl?" I asked Kane when we were up the stairway.

It took him a moment to speak. "Delphinium's been through a lot recently," he said hesitantly, like he wasn't sure if he should even be saying that much.

"You don't talk very much, do you?"

He looked like he wanted to say something but stopped and simply shook his head, loose curls falling over his forehead.

"Did we..." I trailed off. Licked my lips. "Did we have some sort of connection before?" I felt strange about him, like I should remember him above all the others. If it was something deep, I wasn't sure I wanted it; I'd clearly been a different person before.

The strongman watched my face for a moment and must have seen something to make him say, "No. We didn't."

I could tell there was more he wasn't saying, but for once, I kept my mouth shut. He held his arm out to gesture to a door and I stepped inside.

It was alive with sounds and movement as soon as the door was opened. Cages and terrariums lined the walls of the room, which was large enough for someone to live comfortably in. A black cabinet on the far wall piqued my curiosity. It felt strange to be poking around, like I was going through someone else's things. Still, I opened the cabinet. Vials and bottles of strange colored liquids were inside, too many to count. Poisons, I guessed.

Who was I?

As I turned past the wall of windows, I laid my eyes on the many pets I'd apparently kept: tarantulas, snakes, lizards and a scorpion. A glass bowl was filled with water for a school of fish to swim in. I smiled at the animals. Finally, something familiar. Somewhere I could be comfortable.

Small animals like birds and rats were my only friends at the orphanage; they were the only ones I knew I could trust. For practically my whole life, I'd been nursing baby birds back to health and feeding the small critters on the sidewalk. But I had to keep them a secret from the rest of the children, for fear they might suspect my power. Plus, if they knew I cared about them, my reputation for being a delinquent would be ruined and the older bullies wouldn't steer clear of me anymore.

Holding out my hand, I let a snake thread through my fingers and curl upwards toward my elbow. It would be so easy to control its small mind, but I let it be free. The forked tongue flicked out to taste the air.

After slipping the snake back where it belonged, I turned to the bed. It was large; I'd only ever had a twin bed in the orphanage, covered in two thin blankets. This one was luxurious and swathed in blankets of a rich maroon color, offsetting the black theme of the furniture. When I dared to sit on it, I found it was like nothing I'd ever owned before. If we were going somewhere soon, they'd have to pry me from it.

I let my eyes slip over the place in awe. I'd never had my own room before. Now, I wouldn't have to find sleep while listening to the rustling bodies and loud breathing of other children.

The doorway was empty. Kane had gone, though I wasn't sure when.

I wasn't sure how long I stayed up there. It could have been hours. This place still felt like it wasn't quite mine, as if this room belonged to a completely different person. But it was my own. All mine. I couldn't remember the last time I had something to myself.

After some time passed, my attention was drawn back downstairs. A commotion. Something was happening and it didn't sound good.

I slipped down the stairs, doing my best to navigate this massive place. The closer I got to the bottom story, the louder the shouting became. I wondered if we were in danger. What would I do if we were? I wasn't good at physical fighting.

As I turned into one of the sitting rooms, I saw what was happening. Many soldiers—from something called the ONNT, as their uniforms read—had arrived, along with a red-haired older woman. They stood in a group opposite the team.

"You were meant to bring her to me," the red-haired woman said. Something in the sound of her voice grated on my ears. "Not back here where she can easily cause more damage."

They were talking about Delphinium, the only other girl here. And I could see by the terrified expression on her face that she didn't want to comply to the woman's commands. But why? What was so bad about this situation?

"Look at her." That was Jaxon. "She's not in a state fit for questioning. She broke her neck just days ago. She woke up only today."

"And yet she's healed at a remarkable rate. So remarkable, in fact, that she had the ability to escape her hospital room. If she has the capability to do that, who knows what else she can do?" She took an encroaching step closer. "Now, as I said before, hand her over. She must be questioned about Orion's plans."

At that name, Delphinium cringed. Surprisingly, Kane came to her aid, speaking in a low voice, "She's not your property."

"No, she most certainly isn't. She's an international terrorist who must tell us the information she learned while working for our enemy. It's the least she can do after murdering our soldiers." My eyes narrowed as I tried to follow along. This was much, much worse than I'd expected when I was told I was in a governmental alliance with six other enhanced individuals by the soldier who'd driven me here.

The woman beckoned the soldiers forward. "She will not be mistreated or injured. But she will need to come with us, as a notorious criminal."

The soldiers came closer to her, their hands reaching for her arms, anything to gently pull her forward. "No, no, no," the terrorist-girl muttered, eyes wide. It was the first time I ever heard her speak. When the soldiers were too close, she shrank back toward the crime lord, Jake. He didn't touch her, but the weight of his fury-filled gaze alone could have been enough to keep the soldiers at bay.

"You're mistreating her now," the bright boy—Finn—said loudly to the woman.

Everyone saw how she flinched when they took her arms in their hands and pulled her forward. "No, don't touch me!" She screamed, looking more manic than ever. "Don't take me back there!"

Random objects flew around the room, orbiting around her. When a vase nearly missed the red-haired woman, she hissed to the men, "She's unstable. Sedate her. Now."

"No!" Delphinium screamed when she realized what they were going to do to her. A needle was stuck in her arm as the soldiers did their best to hold her writhing body still. Only after her head slumped forward and her body crumpled into the soldier's arms did she stop screaming. All the flying objects clattered to the floor.

Her teammates all watched her be carried away with fury burning in their eyes. I'd only been here for a few hours and even I felt shaken. Was this what it was like here? What was I getting myself into?

All the soldiers were gone but two that flanked the ONNT woman, whoever she was. And they pressed forward, hands on their weapons when Jake took a threatening step closer to the woman. Even to me, who didn't balk from intimidation, the look on his cruel face was chilling.

"Evans," the woman said, not sounding shaken by his intimidating stature. "You forget your place."

"I am not the one who's forgotten their place," he snarled. "You may hold the power of the ONNT. These soldiers may answer to you. But I do not. You forget the power we hold is greater than yours."

He took a step closer. Frost began to spread over the ends of the ONNT woman's hair and clothing. "We can make your life a living hell. Is that what you want?"

Behind him, Kane crossed his arms and Jaxon gave a snarling smile. They would clearly love nothing more than to make this woman's life a living hell.

"I could freeze your insides. I could make your blood turn to ice and watch as you turn blue. Frankly, I would like for nothing more. The only reason I haven't done it yet it because you have the information we need." Somehow, his tone went even colder as he said, "But if you cross us again, I will not hesitate to do what I promised. And worse."

"The next time you show your face here will be the first and last time I'll hit a woman," Jaxon finished, a sneer marring his features.

"Get out," was all Kane said, his face a mask of immovable stone.

Though she looked like she very much wanted to, the woman said nothing. Beckoning to the soldiers behind her, she turned and left.