K A N E

We'd been driving in a stolen car for nearly half an hour. The ONNT soldiers hadn't been fast enough to catch us after we broke through their gates and ran into the city. But they'd be hot on our trail until we found somewhere to lie low.

"Am I right to assume we aren't going back to that place you live?" Riley asked and my heart sank when she said 'you' and not 'we'. Sometimes I forgot she wasn't herself and each reminder was as devastating as the last.

Jaxon scoffed. "Not unless we have a death wish. No, we're all wanted now; we need to go somewhere they won't think to look."

"There's nowhere to go. Nowhere they won't find us," Finn said. He was right.

I heard Arlo tell Finn smugly, "Look at you, sunken to our depths."

"There's somewhere," Jaxon's voice was soft. "My parent's home a bit upstate."

"You have parents?" Arlo asked, sounding genuinely shocked. I supposed he had a point in his own strange way; Jaxon and my brother and I were the only ones here who still had parents.

"I do." It was flat, leading me to believe his relationship with them wasn't amicable. "And their house will be large enough for all of us to lie low in." He then gave me directions to get there. No one asked any more questions, knowing we had no other options.

"Now you," Arlo said suddenly as I knew he was pointing at my brother. "How do we know we didn't make a mistake bringing your traitorous ass with us?"

"I'll save myself from all your irritating questions and simply say I'm myself again. I hate Orion. I hate Imperium. I want to see them burn as badly as you all do," Benny stated flatly as if he was delivering the evening news.

"You could be lying," Finn pointed out.

But Arlo said, "His heart and breathing are normal. Either he's a damn good liar or it's the truth."

"I could have killed you a hundred times already," my brother said, to which Jaxon and Arlo both loudly disagreed. "And yet I've let you live." That normally wouldn't be comforting, but he'd always been too cocky. If there was any response his normal self would give, it was that one.

"Because your thought-reading is mildly helpful, we'll keep you around," Jaxon said with ice in his tone. "But the second we suspect you of anything—"

"You'll eviscerate me, I get it. Evans is practically screaming it in his thoughts."

"Read my thoughts again and I'll throw you out of this moving car," Jake hissed, glaring at Benny.

"Is this their street?" Riley asked Jaxon as I turned off the main road, remembering the address. My heart skipped a beat at the sound of her voice.

"Yes." The ice hadn't dropped from Jaxon's voice. "And that's the house." He nodded to a cul-de-sac that was entirely taken up by one massive home.

I pulled the car onto the side of the street and parked it. We all got out and stared at the beautiful mansion before us. It was still strange to think Jaxon's family lived here. He'd only mentioned them a few times and frankly, I'd forgotten he used to have a normal life.

Very reluctantly, Jaxon led the way up the front walk. It made me wonder how bad his parents were if this was how he was acting after not seeing them for so long.

As we traveled behind him, Riley walked near me—silent, for once. There were many times in the past I'd wished she'd stop talking, mostly when she was flirting incessantly with me. But now, I wished more than anything that she'd say something. Anything. Even if it was something horribly flirtatious.

Jaxon uncovered a hidden key under a rock by the front garden and let himself in with it. He didn't bother to announce his arrival and simply strode inside, leaving the rest of us to enter unsurely after him.

A short woman with chestnut hair and a necklace of pearls rounded the corner to see who'd arrived. When she caught sight of her son, she simply stood and stared for a moment, like she wasn't sure if he was really there. Under all of our gazes, she stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. It was clear she didn't know how to react now that he was here.

No one said anything as she enveloped him in a stiff embrace, tiny against his height. Her eyes were closed, but Jaxon's weren't. I'd been right to assume his relationship with his parents was strained.

I heard the footsteps of Jaxon's father before I actually saw him rounding the corner of one of the bright sitting rooms. As soon as I caught sight of him, I saw his striking resemblance to Jaxon. While his wife didn't look as much like their son, he and Jaxon had the same narrowed blue eyes, the same strong jaw and muscular build. The only thing that set them apart was Aaron Williams' obvious older age and graying hair.

"Your arm," was the first thing he said, narrowed eyes on his son's missing limb. "What happened?"

At the realization that her son had only one arm, Jaxon's mother immediately began to pepper him with questions, her eyes wide. "It's gone," he told them flatly. "My arm's gone but at least I lived, right?"

"You didn't think to call us when you were in the hospital?" His father asked accusingly, gaze still on the spot where Jaxon's arm was supposed to be.

"I figured it would be better if you weren't there," was Jaxon's curt response.

Only then did Aaron Williams' eyes travel over to the seven of us. "What is this?"

"It's a long story, but we're being followed by some bad people. My team needs somewhere to stay for a few days."

"You want us to harbor fugitives," Jaxon's father corrected and even his mother cringed at the bluntness of it. "In fact, I can even recognize some of your faces."

"They're good people," Jaxon insisted, looking as though he'd rather be doing anything else than try to reason with his father. "They've been through a lot that they don't deserve."

Still, the more calculating set of blue eyes roved over us. "You've been known to make bad judgement calls in the past." It was then that I remembered how Jaxon had spent time in prison and I wondered if this coldness between them had anything to do with that.

"This could perhaps be my best call. Staying here is the only option we have." He looked between his mother and father. "Please."

Surprisingly, Jaxon's mother put her hand on her husband's arm and I knew it was a silent statement to him. Aaron Williams took a long time to answer. Then, "You may stay the night. If there's anything I don't like, you're all kicked out."

To that, Jaxon gave a single nod. "Understood," he said in a strangely even voice. He'd do this so that we had a place to stay, but I could tell there was still tension between him and his father.

After his father had given us one final, sweeping glance, he turned and went back the way he'd come. "Follow me," Jaxon said to us as his mother watched silently. "I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Knowing Jaxon's mother was still in earshot, no one said anything as we climbed up the spiraling staircase. No one wanted to give her reason to believe we couldn't be trusted here. As we walked down the hallway, I saw pictures of Jaxon's family hanging on the wall. Many of them showed his parents and two older boys who must have been his brothers. Jaxon wasn't in as many pictures as the other two were—whether it was by choice or not, I wasn't sure.

"Delphinium, you can stay there," Jaxon said gently, gesturing to the first room on the right. "Jake, you're next door." I wondered if he did that so that someone could watch over her—she was not taking the adjustment well. "Riley, Finn and Arlo." He pointed to the three respective rooms.

I watched as Riley wandered into the room Jaxon had allotted. She didn't look back. She didn't even know about us, about me. It was like living with an empty shell of who she'd used to be and it was killing me. The worst part was that I had to see her face every day and know my own wasn't familiar to her.

"And as for you two," he said, turning to my brother and me, "You'll be down the hallway in the only room with two beds." He beckoned for us to follow him again and we did.

As we travelled past a view of downstairs and past a row of airy windows, I saw an elegant display case up ahead. Inside were trophies, plaques and certificates for academics, sports and various clubs. All of them had Jaxon's brothers' names on them. He didn't have any; he probably hadn't even bothered trying to live up to their obviously great achievements. Jaxon walked right past the case without a second look.

"Here." He stopped in front of an open room. It was as luxurious as the others. "Is this good with you?" He was asking me in particular, silently wondering if I'd be alright staying with my brother. I gave a nod, grateful we even had somewhere to stay tonight.

As for my brother...that was a problem I'd have to deal with on my own.

Benny stepped into the room without a second thought, leaving me to follow him unsurely inside. Jaxon disappeared, probably to his own room. I watched as Benny inspected the room, probably for things he could steal.

"This place is nice," he said, ruffling the curtains. I knew what he meant: it was nicer than our own run-down family home. I said nothing.

He gave me a sideways glance. "You're angry with me." Still, I didn't speak. I didn't know what to say to him. What did you say to someone who was completely different from five years ago?

"If you're angry with me for what I did while under that bastard's control, don't be. It wasn't me doing those things."

"I'm not angry with you for that. You're just an asshole."

Despite the insult, a slow smile spread over his face, twisting the long scars. "There's the brooding little brother I remember."

I rolled my eyes. If anything, he was more insufferable now.

After a moment of silence, he broke it. "You know, I do regret driving a wedge between you and Traversa." He meant that horrible day at the airport. What betrayal I'd felt after learning Riley had sided with Benny. But I hadn't known the whole story.

I turned away. "It's fine."

He didn't stop there. "I can't remember the last time someone broke through your hard, stoic exterior like this. And a girl, no less. I didn't think I'd live to see the day you let anyone else in." I could hear the wicked smile in his voice.

"I didn't."

"The way you act around her tells me the opposite." His voice dropped dramatically. "You want to know a secret? She thinks about you too."

I turned to face him again. "Don't read her thoughts like that," I commanded, knowing she probably had no idea he even had such a power.

He let out a dramatic sigh. "You all will never understand. Reading your and your teammates' thoughts is like reading a good book. Highly entertaining."

After giving him a long look, I said, "They already doubt your true allegiance. Don't give them any more reason to."

"And what do you believe, brother?"

I chose my words carefully. "I believe you're acting a bit too okay with the fact that you were enslaved to a madman for nearly five years."

His eyes and smile held a strange weight when he replied, "We all react differently to tragedy."

A moment went by in which neither of us said anything. I absorbed what he'd said. Then, he brightened a bit. "Speaking of tragedy, have you told anyone I'm not dead?" He meant our family. Our mother and sisters. "No, you haven't...I can see it on your face."

"It might be better for our mother not to know yet," I said slowly. "I don't want to get her hopes up."

Benny scoffed. "You think I'm going to die soon, especially after what I just went through. No, I just started living."

"That's not what I meant."

It was his turn to roll his dark eyes at me. "For the last time, I'm not going to betray you." He shook his head. "All of you have so many issues."

There was silence between the two of us again. As I looked at him sitting on his bed, I wondered if we could ever truly go back to how we were. And if that was even what I wanted anymore.