J A K E

It was the day we were to meet the new ONNT director that was taking Hunt's place, the woman who was supposedly so horrible that we needed to mind what we said and did around her.

Some of the others were angry and saddened by the fact Hunt was fired. Frankly, I didn't give a shit about it. As long as this new director gave us the same freedoms we already had, I couldn't care less about Hunt's departure.

If she didn't, I'd have a problem.

The one thing I was concerned about, however, was that Hunt had been easy to read and manipulate. I hoped this new woman would be as well. I hoped she was as morally good as Hunt. Honorable people were much easier to control. I'd said that once before to—

No. I would not think of her. I wouldn't remember the look on her face, wouldn't remember the mask they'd covered her face with. And I would never again think of what she'd said to me before leaving. Never. The small amount of comfort I had was in the fact that she certainly didn't feel that way anymore.

Delphinium was gone. The person she used to be was dead. I wasn't stupid enough to believe Kane's brother's lies about how Orion was going to kill her, not after they realized how valuable a piece she was in this war. No, they'd turned her into the very thing she feared most.

There was nothing more to be done about it. If there was some way for her to be back, I would have done it already, but...

She wasn't coming back. That was all there was to it. I didn't care. I didn't care. I would force myself not to care that she wasn't here anymore, though everything around me was connected to her in some way.

Why was I even having these goddamn thoughts? I should be focusing on this new issue. And Hundsen, who'd gone silent again.

I shoved away any thoughts of her as I trailed the rest of the crew into the ONNT building. We were ushered in by a comically large group of soldiers. Hunt had only sent a few to greet us, on the occasions he sent any at all. Shooting a few of the soldiers that made eye contact with me a flat glare, I made a silent promise that if any of them tried to touch me, they'd lose their hands.

That was the mindset this new director was evidently afraid of. Good. Fear was good. It meant I had something to work with.

We were led up the hallway, towards where Hunt's office had been a few days prior. No one dared to say a word with all the soldiers around us, as they were sworn to a new, unknown master. The same secretary watched us pass by her desk with wary eyes. I met her stare. She quickly looked away and found something very interesting in her paperwork.

The knock on the new director's door was loud in the midst of the screaming silence. Then, there came a call from inside. "Come in."

The office was completely different than how Hunt's had been. A large black desk sat under the floor-to-ceiling windows. I saw that it was almost completely bare except for a few potted plants—the only sight of something lively in this place. Everything was smooth, matching and completely sophisticated.

Marcella Krasowski herself stood behind the desk as she watched us file into her office. Standing relatively small under our towering heights, she scanned each of our faces, like she was trying to figure us out in only one glance. Her eyes were dark. They reminded me of Hundsen's, how something wasn't quite right in their depths. She wore a grey pantsuit with high heels so pointy they could be weapons. I instantly hated her.

"Welcome," she said, brushing back a strand of her red hair that was out of place. Nothing about this place felt welcome. A few of the soldiers had filed in after us, standing behind our group. If any of us stepped out of line, it was clear she'd say the word and they'd deal with us accordingly.

When no one made a single comment, she continued, not seeming to care that no one was taking to her. "I've learned about you all from my predecessor, Damien Hunt."

"Yes," Jaxon spoke, not holding his tongue as the others were. "Hunt knew us well, as he was a good boss." As he spoke, he stared directly into her eyes. An unsaid challenge.

But Krasowski wasn't moved. The smile on her face was even faker than Jaxon's. "I'm sure we will grow to be close friends."

I highly doubted that.

"Of course, just as long as you do what you're told. As long as we respect each other, we will have a very amicable relationship." It was obvious she only meant for us to respect her, not the other way around. "That brings me to the changes that will be put in place now that I am the ONNT director."

She folded her hands before her and addressed us all, eyes flicking from person to person. "Damien Hunt—while he was a respected member of our government—was...lacking in some ways. Especially concerning your team. He let you have complete free rein, often never meeting with the council and letting you make deductions on your own. He clearly couldn't keep you in line. You all are known criminals, after all. Because of it, there must be better regulation of what you are and are not permitted to do."

My eyes narrowed on the new director. This was what I'd been concerned about earlier. She was trying to take away our freedom to heighten her own power.

"So," she said, spreading her hands out wide, "First, you will always request to leave the compound before you exit the gates. Second, you will always address both me and the council with respect, as we are your superiors. Third, you will always, always, seek our confirmation before making a rash decision on your own." I knew she was referencing the most recent incident—when Riley had infiltrated the fortress after a snap decision. "Fourth, you will leave your weapons here. I will allow you to have them during any missions. Lastly, your powers must be kept in check." So she must have heard about the fight at the airport. "If you are caught misusing them, there will be consequences—as there will be for breaking any of these rules."

Riley folded her arms over her chest. "I don't know if you heard, but the compound was broken into by a hired killer. Without our weapons or powers, Finn and I would have died. Is that what you want if it happens again?"

"It will not happen again. The compound will be even more secure than before. And there will be no chances for you to have rivalries with other criminals, so no one will attack the compound." The only thing keeping me from giving her hypothermia was the reminder that I'd be arrested and thrown into jail if I did. Then I would have to go through the pesky business of breaking out, wasting my precious time.

"I will not be as lenient as Hunt was. He seemed to have forgotten we were dealing with eight, now six, dangerous criminals. I haven't." I nearly snarled at the reminder that there was one less of us now before I caught myself.

"Speaking of which, two of your teammates are gone. One has gone rogue, the other has joined our enemy." She shook her head. "All I can say is, if I were your director from the beginning, all eight of you would be here now. I will not be as irresponsible as our last director was."

"Mr. Hunt had nothing to do with Gigi and Delphinium leaving," Finn said softly. Even he was visibly angry, though he veiled it with a thin layer of politeness.

"His loose leash on your team caused Ms. Henderson to have the ability to engage you all in combat. Ms. Tesla was taken by a prisoner that was meant to have the upmost security here, and yet he escaped."

"Where were you when Benton Shires and Gigi escaped?" Jaxon asked, jaw set.

She gave him a hard look, clearly not liking the disrespect in his tone. "Not that it's any of your concern, but I was upstairs, having a meeting with a few of the council members. I was not in charge of the operations then."

I could tell Jaxon wanted to give another snappy retort, but she cut in before he could open his mouth. "If that's all cleared up, we must discuss our primary issue. Though the Russian Imperium fortress was indeed destroyed, they took something of ours back: Delphinium Tesla. She is on their side now and there is no doubt that she now supports their cause. Because of this, she is our most wanted criminal at the moment. Any actions of hers could be catastrophic for us."

"What are you implying?" Riley fixed a level stare on Krasowski. She opened and closed her fists slowly, like she was only seconds away from clawing into our new director with those long nails of hers.

"I am telling you that we need to take extreme measures concerning her. If she is sent out by her leader and is encountered by anyone in the ONNT—or even anyone in law enforcement, they have permission to shoot. And if they must, they will kill her."

Everyone in the room had a reaction to that news. Some of them even made protests, to which Krasowski ignored. They were all visibly outraged. Everyone but me.

"You're not going to kill her," I said, leaning against the wall with crossed arms.

She turned to me. To her credit, she held my gaze without flinching away. "My soldiers have permission to kill her, if necessary. If not, they will take her alive for questioning, just as Benton Shires was." At the mention of Benny, she glanced at Kane, who was glaring at her with that quiet intensity of his.

"Your soldiers will not kill Delphinium Tesla," I drawled, wondering how foolish she could be. "I warned Hunt similarly about going after Hundsen. It won't work. She won't be caught. Even if she was, she'd kill herself before giving us any information."

"How can you be so sure about the mind of a hardened criminal, Evans? Oh, right," she gestured with her hands in mock realization, "That's because you're one as well. I suppose it shouldn't come as a shock that you're defending her."

"Any of us would," Riley said, fire burning in her eyes. "She was our teammate. Our friend."

"She is not your teammate any longer. Before, she was a dangerous assassin, but now she's something else entirely. I will not hesitate to treat her as such."

"She's a problem, I agree with you on that much." I spoke matter-of-factly. "But the way you've decided to deal with her will fail miserably."

"Then what's your plan?" She was mocking me, thinking I didn't have one. For once, I didn't have an entire plan; I didn't know exactly what to do about Delphinium Tesla. But I knew what wasn't going to happen.

"Do I have your permission to speak?" Jaxon snorted and Kane coughed into his fist, masking a laugh.

Krasowski's dark eyes narrowed at me. She already didn't like me and I couldn't care less. "Yes."

"She's a trained assassin. Fighting in combat with her will be instant death to your soldiers. The second they shoot at her, she'll come swinging for their heads. No, we'll need our wits to outsmart her somehow." I gave Krasowski a long look. "Though I'll have to take care of the wit, I see."

She stared at me for a long time. "I will not have this impudence, Evans. When I want your assistance, I'll ask." I decided not to waste breath by telling her she had asked. She wasn't worth it.

Under his breath, Arlo muttered, "I'll give you my assistance by sending you back to the hole you crawled from."

She turned back to look at the others, trying to decipher who'd said that comment with narrowed eyes. "Until then, all of you stay at the compound. Keep in mind the rules I put into place. I will assign you your newest mission shortly." Then, she added right before we all filed out, "Oh, and leave your weapons with the soldiers."

My teammates laid their weapons loudly and reluctantly on her desk. Arlo unloaded a ridiculous amount of weaponry. Jaxon pretended he didn't see that his backpack had knocked a flowerpot on the ground and caused a mess.

I was last to unload my weapons. The dagger I kept strapped to my side. The gun that hung on my belt. I held cold eye contact with Krasowski as I set them on the desk and stepped away. She didn't know I still had a gun hidden on me, the same gun I'd nearly killed Delphinium with.

We left without another word, the soldiers she'd sent for us now accompanying us to the cars that would take us back to the compound. Driving ourselves places was another thing she'd taken away, probably thinking that we'd purposely crash into the ONNT headquarters and destroy it the first chance we got. As soon as Hunt was fired, the cars we'd used had been confiscated.

As soon as we were left by the soldiers and stepping into the parking lot, it was safe to talk. "God, she's horrible," Arlo remarked. "Like evil in human form."

Finn nodded. "She's just as bad as Mr. Hunt warned she'd be."

"We need to be careful around her soldiers now," Kane said softly.

"Why didn't you murder her on the spot?" Riley asked me, the remnants of her anger from before still worn on her face. "You looked like you might. I wouldn't have stopped you if you did."

Finn glanced over his shoulder. "Don't let the soldiers hear you saying that."

"I would have encouraged her murder," Jaxon said, falling into step beside me. "Would have maybe even joined in."

"I thought about it."

He waved his hand in the air dismissively. "There will be other chances." That was inevitable. From this rocky start, I knew that this was only the beginning of the problems we'd have with Marcella Krasowski. But if she tried to cross me directly, she'd suffer my wrath like the rest of my enemies.