K A N E

Being sure not to make a single noise, we snuck around the side of the warehouse in an attempt to find a way inside. The element of surprise would give us an edge on whoever was here to stop us.

The place definitely wasn't abandoned. There was light visibly streaming through the high-up windows, amplified by the darkness of midnight. We'd wasted no time in getting here in the jet Delphinium's grandmother supplied us with. A day wasted meant another round of fuel shipped out to power Imperium's operation.

Little steps, Benny had said. That was how we'd destroy Imperium.

Little steps, I thought, as my thoughts returned to the dark haired girl in front of me. They always did. I wondered what she thought of me now. The other day when we'd spent the day together, she'd been her normal lewd self, forcing me into the room with her as she undressed. I had then to remind myself that she didn't want me like that anymore. She probably wouldn't have objected if I made any advances for her—not that I would have—but it wouldn't have meant anything to her.

We turned a corner, where the moonlight hit the side of the building, casting our shadows against the metal wall. I'd stay away. I'd keep myself away from her, just as I did in the beginning. I knew her; she could flirt all she wanted, but got wary when anyone got too close. So I'd stay away. For her.

I shook my head as we walked on, hoping the thoughts of her would stop. Deep down, I knew no matter how much time or denial I went through, they never would.

But from now on, I'd hide it. Perhaps it would help me contain the unfortunate feelings I'd developed.

Looking back at the rest of us, Arlo gestured animatedly at a side door and leaned his head up against it to listen for inhabitants. Whatever he heard was enough to make him pull gingerly on the door handle to see if it would open. To my suspicion, it did.

To be frank, as we walked in, I didn't know what to expect from this encounter. We were here now for an investigation, but would we later simply destroy the entire place? Imperium was so powerful now, would it even help?

The place was not what I expected. The ceilings were high enough, but the inside was much, much smaller than I'd been imagining and there was not as much machinery as I'd thought would take to make Hydrocarbon Petromensium.

My brother caught my eye. "You think something about this doesn't seem right." I shrugged, unsure of what to think yet. "I'll scout the area," he said loud enough for everyone to hear, drawing his switchblade and disappearing into the shadows.

As it turned out, the light was emitting from an office in the center of the place. The door was closed and blinds were drawn, but a shadowy figure was visible through them.

Without a question, Jaxon went forward and wrenched the door open. As soon as he got inside, there was a thud of him throwing someone to the ground. I stood at the back of the group, meaning I couldn't see inside until everyone else filed in. And as soon as I closed the door behind us, I saw I'd been right—Jaxon indeed was holding down a squirming man—Tybalt Brimsey. My eyes locked onto a small knife that had fallen onto the floor. Normal overseers didn't carry weapons with them.

"The bastard tried to stab me," Jaxon snarled to the rest of us as the man tried to get free. Pulling the man's head up by his graying hair, he mirrored my own thoughts, asking, "Now what would make a normal factory manager do that?"

"Get...off me," was the only thing Brimsey said.

"You work for Imperium," Jaxon told him. "Excuse me if I don't let you go to warn your leaders."

"This doesn't seem like the right place," I said, voice soft. "Where are we?"

His eyes flashing, the man hissed to me, "You're right where you want to be. The Hydrocarbon Petromensium supplier. Someone sold us out."

But something still didn't feel right. Jake seemed to sense it too, as he approached the man. "If you have any sense of self-preservation, you'll answer my questions truthfully."

The man gave him no answer, just stared up at him reproachfully. So Jake began, "Do you create and supply Hydrocarbon Petromensium to Imperium here?"

The answer was fast. "Yes."

But Jake said a bit too calmly. "That was a lie. Tell me, was this a setup?"

"No. I didn't know you were coming until too late."

"Another lie." He took another step closer and Jaxon held the overseer down as he began struggled again. "Perhaps you'll need some incentive to tell the truth." To Jaxon, he said, "Hold out his hand."

Hands clasped in excitement, Arlo commented cheerfully, "I love this part." Riley's mouth pulled up into a smirk and Finn's curled in disgust.

"I don't care how much they're paying you." There was a chop of Jake's small knife and Brimsey was down to nine fingers. "I don't care if you believe in their purpose." Another swing of the blade. "I don't care if Orion gave you orders himself." The man was howling now, the stumps of his knuckles bleeding everywhere. "Tell me what you're hiding here or you lose the entire hand."

The door opened suddenly and I jumped to attack whoever it was. It was only Benny, clearly having not found anything in his rounds of the place. "You remember I can read thoughts, right Evans?"

"You were taking too long," Jaxon shot back, making a face of disgust at my brother.

"And you know how Jake loves to torture people," Arlo reminded him, seeming even more at ease than Jake. "We let him have his fun."

Benton didn't answer as he stared at the whimpering man, clearly reading his train of thought. Whatever he saw made his eyes go wide. "Kill him. He's one of them. And then we leave."

For once, Jaxon was happy to obey him. Once the body had fallen back over the desk, we hurried to get out, still unaware of what the danger was.

"Hurry," Benny urged as we bustled out the door we'd come through. "This isn't what we thought—what Rong thought. They'll be here any moment now."

His comment made my heart pound hard. No one needed to clarify who we were running from now. Did that mean this was a setup, after all? Was Rong trying to get us killed—

"We're too late," Arlo whispered as we rounded the corner and saw what he'd sensed.

There—between the parking lot and the dark road we'd came from—was a large group of Imperium soldiers, the gold on their uniforms glinting in the street lamps' light. They were blocking our way out.

As soon as we rounded the corner, they opened fire. We immediately ducked back around the corner, shocked that they'd somehow found us again. "How many small armies of theirs are we going to have to fight alone?" Finn asked, head bent up against the wall behind him.

"As many as we have to," Benny said, flicking out his knife. He ran out into the open, followed by a very-willing Jaxon. With icicles already growing in his hands, Jake stalked after them.

"After you," Arlo said with a smirk, gesturing for Finn to go next. Scoffing, Finn wreathed his hands in flames and swept past him to join the fight.

That left Riley, Delphinium and me alone, with the steady sounds of gunfire rolling out around the corner. The assassin was behind Riley, eyes closed against the raging battle as we both turned to check on her. She clearly wouldn't be fighting tonight and I didn't blame her.

Riley looked less terrified, but still unsure. So I said, "I'm going. You don't have to."

"No." It was more determined than I'd expected. "I want to fight too."

I pulled a knife off my belt and held it out to her. "Then take this and aim for the throat."

A devilish smile spreading, she took it. I knew fighting hand-to-hand had never been her forte, so I'd keep an eye on her. No one would touch Riley. I glanced back at Delphinium, who was still looking like she was on the verge of breaking. No one would touch her either.

But we had to help our teammates fight the soldiers off, so I stepped smoothly around the corner and drew my spears. I was overly aware of Riley's presence behind me as we joined the battlefield. Immediately, we were in the thick of battle, with bullets whizzing past and Finn's fire raging everywhere.

Three soldiers flocked to me. I dodged two bullets and took all their lives with one fluid slice. Wearing a crazy grin, Jaxon met my eyes for a split second before he took out another soldier with his new arm. Now he was just showing off.

Amidst the chaos, I saw a soldier lunging for Riley, their knives out. She was ready, the blade I'd given her already prepared to swing. As I handled the soldiers surrounding me, I kept an eye on her, making sure she wasn't overpowered.

Bodies hit the ground in a circle around me. Pure adrenaline flowed through my veins. I didn't feel any of the wounds the soldiers hit me with; I barely even noticed how my nose covered my face with blood until I wiped my mouth and my hand came away glistening red.

I turned just in time to see Riley take the opportunity to stab the Imperium soldier in the chest. As she yanked the knife out with a surprising amount of strength, she met my eyes and gave me a grin nearly as crazy as Jaxon's. To her, this was her first real fight. And the first person she remembered killing.

A commotion at the other side of the parking lot drew my attention away. And what I saw made my blood turn to ice. They were wheeling out a Scorpion, the massive barrel aimed for us. Then I saw how the soldiers were circling around to envelop us on both sides. We backed away, getting closer in our little group.

The Scorpion was getting nearer and the soldiers were too close. There were too many to fight off without dealing significant damage to ourselves. We were trapped.

Through the lines of enemies surrounding us, aiming their guns at our faces, I saw Delphinium lurking in the shadows, her face pale as moonlight. She saw what I did: that the Imperium soldiers were willing to kill themselves in the fire of the Scorpion as long as we died with them.

I took a deep breath. The center of the Scorpion's barrel was beginning to glow. The others readied themselves to fight, but we knew there was no way we would fight through this.

The Scorpion's center was glowing near-white, preparing to fire a stream of burning plasma into us, killing everyone in its path—

At the last second, Finn threw out his hands and spewed out white-hot flames. Our group was enveloped with their fiery rage at once and we were blinded to the outcome.