R I L E Y

A week had passed since we got to Jaxon's home. I'd opted to spend most of it in the room he'd offered me rather than spend the long days with my unfamiliar teammates. And in those seven days, not much had happened. There had been no more altercations between Jaxon and his father. In fact, I hadn't seen much of Jaxon or Kane. According to Arlo, he heard them building something through all hours of the night. As for the assassin—Delphinium—I hadn't seen much of her either.

It was strange to live this way. One day, I was a normal child at the orphanage, slated to live a painfully boring life full of any university I could afford, marrying any man who could manage to tie me down and hopefully dying surrounded by family. There wasn't much more for me to do, it seemed.

But now, I was on the run with no memory of who I used to be and no idea what was really happening here. My pride had stopped me from asking exactly what we were running from—I didn't want to look like a fool—but my annoyance with being kept in the dark was beginning to win out.

The terrorist-boy—whose name I'd gathered was Benton—watched me intently, like he was trying to figure me out. "What?" I asked, meeting his gaze with my chin held high. He was good-looking, that was for sure, even with one side of his face carved with gruesome scars. I didn't have to ask to see that he and Kane were related.

"All of your memory really is gone. You're very different now," was all he said. Was that amusement in his tone?

"What makes you say that?" He hadn't been with the other six when I'd been introduced to them. That meant he wasn't on the team. So how did he know me?

"For one, if you remembered anything from the past months, you'd try to poison my food."

"Would you deserve it if I did?"

He shrugged. "Depends on how you look at it."

"Forget Jaxon, he's the team asshole," Arlo said to Finn just loudly that both Benny and I were able to hear.

"Look who's talking," Benton shot back smoothly, eyes still fixed on me.

My eyes narrowed. "What did you do to me?"

He turned to the other two boys, leaning back to cross his leg over the other. "One of you tell her everything. It's such a good story."

After giving Benton a pointed look, Finn started at the beginning: when we'd been formed into a team by Damien Hunt. He moved on to tell us of the downfall of Adiago Hundsen, a crime lord that Jake Evans was seeking to destroy and whom Benny used to work with. After that, they discovered the same organization that trained Delphinium to be an assassin was rising again to take control over a 'chaotic' world. Everything they'd—we'd—done after was to stop their rise. But the tide turned when Delphinium was taken back and restored to her old place. She and Benton had apparently only just returned to their normal selves and the latter was clearly taking the change much better out of the two.

"You forced me to spy in my own team for information?" I asked Benton incredulously when Finn was done with the long story. "Bastard."

"Didn't you hear the story? I was being controlled by Imperium's leader, Orion. And I prefer to be an asshole."

Deciding he'd be no help, I turned to Finn. "What are we doing to stop Imperium if we're here? Shouldn't we be tearing them apart for what they've done?"

"Yes," he answered solemnly. "We should. But their influence is growing even larger. And now that we've separated from the ONNT, it would be a suicide mission to fight them alone. There are forces put in place to retaliate against Imperium. And once we get back on our feet here, we'll join the effort."

"What about you, Evans?" Benton asked Jake, who'd just walked in the front door. It appeared he came and went as he pleased. "What are you doing to crush Hundsen?" I had to rack through the multitudes of new information Finn had dumped on me to recognize that name; Hundsen—the leader of one of the biggest gangs in this region and Jake's sworn enemy.

He turned to face Benton, who clearly enjoyed the reaction he got from the crime lord. Jake—who already looked plenty threatening with the ring in his nose and the scar carved over his eye—gave him a look that could freeze fire. "That's none of your concern."

Benton gave him a feline smile. "Are you sure you'll be able to take care of it? I've heard you have...other concerns at the moment." Arlo choked and fell into a coughing fit and I wondered what Benton meant.

The room was suddenly freezing. "You're dangerously close to getting your tongue cut out," was all Jake snarled before disappearing again. Benton leaned back in his seat, looking very pleased with himself.

"Why do you always insist on trifling with him?" Finn questioned Benton, sounding like a chiding mother hen. "I'm not looking to have another bloody fight within our group."

The smile dropped off Arlo's face. "Someone's coming."

"Is it them?" Finn asked, not needing to specify who.

"I think it's a military vehicle. In the driveway. And several different footsteps. There are..." He paused. "Five. Maybe six."

Benton jumped up from his chair. "Get up. There's no time to run. We need to hide." I obeyed, remembering how they'd treated us when we stood against them last time.

The four of us made our way to the stairs. When he heard us rushing over, Jake looked over to Benton icily and asked Finn and Arlo, "Did he do something?"

"No, I didn't do anything," Benton snapped. "They've found us."

The crime lord didn't need to be told a second time. Cursing under his breath, he led the way up the stairs. Delphinium was standing in the open doorway of her room when we came down the hall. "I heard a car door slam," she said, looking like a pale wraith. "Are they here?"

"Yes, Tesla, who else would it be?" Jake hissed and gestured for her to follow.

He pushed through the door that I assumed led to Jaxon's room. It smelled of oil and metal, like a garage. When he heard the commotion, Jaxon stepped out of a side room, grease stains covering his bare upper body. "What the—"

"Save your breath, Williams. Is Kane here?"

Kane emerged from the room after him, holding a wrench. He was equally dirty as Jaxon, though fully clothed. I might have openly admired him at a time like this if not for the urgent situation.

"Good. There's no chance for anyone to ruin our cover." Jake nodded to the room Jaxon and Kane were in. "This'll work. Get in."

Without a word of protest or question, Jaxon and Kane backed into the room and the rest of us followed. Once we were all inside, Jaxon locked the door. They'd have to break it down to get us out.

A doorbell rang throughout the house and everyone went still. There was a horrible moment in which nothing happened. And then there was the sound of the front doors being opened.

"Good morning." It was Jaxon's father's emotionless voice. Glancing up to the corner of the room, I saw a small window was open. It helped carry in the voices that spoke right underneath us at the front porch.

"Mr. Williams," a female voice said. "Your son and the rest of his crew have escaped from the ONNT. We have reason to believe he's hiding out here."

There was a scoff. "My son escaped the law again? I'm not surprised. But he's not here."

I glanced over at Jaxon and saw the strange look on his face. He hadn't been expecting his father to cover for us. And after what Jaxon had said about his father's treating him as the family disappointment for his whole life, I hadn't been expecting it either.

"We have a permit to search your house," they said, not impolite, but assertive enough. "If you'll excuse us, we'll just have a short look around to make sure you're telling the truth."

"You're more than welcome to. His bedroom is on the second story, third door to the left." Another lie. From what I could recall, that was one of his brothers' rooms.

No one made a sound in the room—which was apparently a workshop. I let my gaze roam as a distraction from what was happening outside. Tools were everywhere. Tiny inventions lay on the workbench. But the thing that caught my eye was a shiny object on a pedestal. Metal. Polished. Almost like a prosthetic arm.

My attention snapped back to the present when multiple footsteps sounded in the hallway. I had a horrible image of them finding us inside here and dragging us to wherever they'd taken Delphinium that first night.

Jaxon's bedroom door squeaked open and I heard clear voices from the hallway. A shadow blocked the crack of light under the door. The soldier was seconds away discovering us and probably didn't even know it. I didn't think I was breathing.

There was another call from the hallway. The footsteps stopped.

I let out the breath of air when the shadow disappeared as the soldier apparently figured the room was clear. There were footsteps down the staircase in the distance. Still, no one moved a muscle.

"Well?" Jaxon's father asked. "You found nothing, I see. Just as I said."

"Some of the bedrooms were disturbed. Almost like they've been used recently."

"My older sons stay at home from the university in the city most weekends."

There was a silence as the soldiers debated whether he was telling the truth. "This is one of the only places they have to go. And something here doesn't feel quite right. We'll be back tomorrow with an investigative officer to do an in-depth search of the house." There was a pause. "And remember, if you're caught harboring the eight fugitives, you're as much of a criminal as they are."

"You saw it for yourself; there were no fugitives in my house. But I hope you'll find them soon. My son needs to be taught a lesson."

The front door slammed. None of us moved to get out of the room until we heard the military vehicle driving away and retreating back down the street.

Jaxon was the first to speak. "That was too close." He'd pulled his gloves off and run his hands through his hair in distress. "We can't stay here anymore."

"The only place left for us to go is Hell," Arlo said matter-of-factly. "And I'm not ready to go yet." I gave him an odd look.

"We might have one more option," Finn said, distractedly staring down into the bright light of his phone. "Listen to this."

Holding his phone out, he pressed on an audio message he'd been sent. "This is Damien Hunt," the recording started, slightly garbled. "I don't have much time to say this. They're always watching. Maybe even now. I'll have to destroy this device after sending this, but before that, I have a message.

"Vladlena Tesla—Delphinium's grandmother—has sought the eight of you through me. Not only does she wish to see her granddaughter after the accident, but she has also provided you with the means to come to her and be under protection from Marcella Krasowski. I think the ONNT plans to capture you in a trap." I nearly snorted; he was a bit late to that realization. "Whatever your thoughts on her, I know she can be trusted to shelter you from whatever they have planned."

There was a quiet moment. "I don't know where you are or how many of you are left. But I advise you, no longer as your boss but as a friend—go to her. She may be able to protect you."

Finn's hand holding the phone dropped from midair when the message ended. All eyes went to Delphinium, who stood in the corner, clearly afraid of Benton. And now, with her normally pale face as bone-white as her hair, it was apparent she was afraid of what would come next.

We all were. Because we had no choice now.