Joon’s collar flashed back to green, and he snapped forward. He had the man by the hair, the long strands wrapped in his fist, as he swept out a leg and dropped him to his knees.
“Hello,Michael,” his voice was lethal. “Hate to break it to you, but this party’s being shut down.”
Jack coughed into his fist. “Now, now, Glitch. Where have you been? They’ve tampered with you again. Come, let me fix you up. We’ll take care of you.”
Joon whipped his head around, and there was a flash of purple that made my heart pick up. “Take care of me? That’s what you always called it, didn’t you? Keep me in that fuckingchamber,then take me out to twist me up, before putting me back again. Yeah, you fixed me up real well.”
My gaze went to those tubes, thosechambers,and I remembered what Dahlia had said. Every six months, his power spiked. For six months, Joon would be submerged—until he was needed again. Flames licked at my hands, my forearms. I wasn’t overheating; this was controlled chaos. Iwantedthem to see my rage. I wanted to burn.
Jack clucked his tongue. “Oh yes, there it is. Thatfire.You’re quite good at destroying things, aren’t you, Cinder? Luckily, we were around when you decided to kill your partner.”
Joon’s lips moved before he started to speak. “… It wasn’t his fault.”
His voice didn’t sound sure anymore, and the green light had gone orange again. Jack’s gaze was soft, almost charming. He’d do great in the public eye—snakes always had the best camouflage.
“Enough,” Alex snapped, her eyes flaring. “I know men like you.”
Alex stepped up beside me, and my fire pulled away from her, assuring it wouldn’t touch her skin. She glanced up at me from the corner of her eye with a mischievous smirk. Her face said,watch me. Alex had always been good, and she had never been weak. There was a reason why I was so anxious about the possibility of her becoming first class.
She IS first class.
“You like to manipulate, pulling everyone’s strings.” She walked to the side, rounding him.
Everybody turned toward her, on high alert, ready to guard against whatever she threw their way. Unfortunately for them, that’s exactly what she needed. Their faces, head on, theirdetails.She kept talking, kept soaking it all in, buying herself time.
“You chase science like it’s a religion, and twist nature, because you want to play God,” she paused, tilting her head. “Am I wrong, Jack?”
He smiled back. “You’re a bright woman, Daydream. But I think you have an incorrect bias against us—why don’t we chat? We’ve come up with some marvelous technology, I’d love to show you some results. Imagine what you could do, if we raised your output a bit. I’ll show you the way.”
Joon glanced between them before locking eyes with me, his brows raised as if he were pleading. Before we’d gone in, we picked his brain as much as we could. His memories were hazy, and whatever they’d done to his chip made everything… scrambled.
“I can’t remember what ability he has,” Joon had said, clenching his head in his hands. “It’s lost, a blank space. But, no one ever says no to Jack. They’re too scared.”
“Don’t worry,” Alex held his hands. “We’ll be right there; we’ll take them down. All I need is a close look, and I’ve got him.”
Michael yelped, and Joon was tugging on his hair as he watched the pair stare each other down. Reed’s shields went up around us, a barrier for whatever would come our way. Alex let out a light laugh, one that made my skin buzz.
“No,” she hummed. “I think I’m all set, thanks. We can chat when you’re in a cell, if you’d like, though.”
“No one ever says no to Jack.”
Is that what Joon had said?
Or was it…
“No one can say no to Jack.”
It was a single word; it didn’t change the meaning. But my stomach plummeted as he grinned, beaming with delight. From Jack’s expression, I knew. Itdidchange things—it changed the game entirely. Abilities that dealt with the mind were difficult,and tedious. Alex was lucky; all she had to do was look at someone to draw them in. But others had triggers,conditionsthat needed to be met for their power to take effect.
I’d met an intelligence Hero once, and his ability could only unlock with certain scents. Ages, times, places,words.They didn’t know why, but it was a different form of backlash. Jack had to have conditions, too.
No one can say no.
“Wait,” Joon startled, dropping Michael to the floor. “Alex, wait, you can’t say n?—”
“—Yes, Jack,” her voice was hollow.
She pivoted on her toes, facing us now. Alex cocked her head, that long ponytail swayed behind her, and her eyes looked… empty.
