“Daydream,” Jack’s voice filtered through the air, and my watch started to beep, an alert incoming. “Don’t play with the boys too much. We need to be going soon. We’ve overstayed our welcome in Nightmyre.”
No.
He was planning to take her. Not only to use her against us, but to steal her away, and do what he did to Joon. My heart raced, my breath came short, and a ringing sounded in my ears.
“Yes, Jack.”
“I’ll kill him,” I hissed through my teeth.
“It won’t work,” Joon’s voice was hoarse. “I can’t—damnit,I can’t remember everything. Jack is special. I don’t… I don’t think his ability fades if he dies. I don’t know, I’m not sure, but?—”
I didn’t let him finish before Reed’s shield flickered, weakening, and I took my opportunity at a clear shot. My fire blazed out, a column of wrath, headed straight for Jack. Orange and yellow mixed with faint wisps of blue, a sign that burnout was coming. But I didn’t care—he’d fucked with Alex’s head, turned heragainstme.
He didn’t deserve mercy.
It was almost funny how slowly he moved when he went to dodge, and how none of his minions went to defend him. Mind control wasn’t dissimilar to Alex’s daydreams, or Reed’s shields. A strong mind meant a fragile body. No exceptions.
Jack caught fire and turned to ash within seconds. I almost wanted it to last longer; it didn’t feel like justice, it didn’t taste sweet. It was anticlimactic, but I breathed a sigh of relief.
Cut off the head of the snake, and the rest of the body dies.
Except, it didn’t. After the initial shock, his underlings went back to business, as if he’d never mattered to begin with.
“Ah, shit,” I scowled, turning to Joon. “Are you sure he was in charge?”
He shrugged. “These guys are global—Jack is a big fish in the pond, but not the only one. I tried to tell you.”
“This is bullshit.”
Blue and black flashed in the corner of my eye, and all my fire died out as Alex appeared again. She wrapped her arms aroundmy neck, pressed herself against me, and I pulled her closer on instinct.
“You good?” I breathed, the anxiety not subsiding yet.
Her eyes were still blank, and her implants started to glow again. A smile spread across her face, but it wasn’thersmile. It was something dead, devoid of emotion. My eyes got heavy, and my grip on her loosened.
Shit.
She had me; she was going to take me in. Killing Jack hadn’t helped anything, after all, aside from the small blip of satisfaction it’d given me.My body started to go numb, my lids went heavy. Joon appeared again; and he punched her,hard.Alex dropped to the ground as he grimaced. I wasn’t sure whether to be dumbfounded or absolutely furious.
My body decided on fury. Smoke poured from my nose as I gripped him by the collar, hauling him up, using every ounce of energy I had left not to burn him again. He hadn’t used his power on her; Alex would be more than unconscious if he had. Still, I seethed, and embers shot from my mouth.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Joon raised his hands up and gave me a sheepish look. “I told you to burn her, and you didn’t. I told you killing Jack wouldn’t work, and you did it anyway. You’ve changed, I appreciate that, but the refusal to listen thing? Still very much in play, and honestly, unproductive. We had to snap her out of it somehow. She’s tough; she’ll be alright.”
Lightning surrounded us, and three Variants I hadn’t even noticed before seized, then dropped to the ground. Joon flinched.
“Ihatethat shit,” he murmured. “It might be worse than fire.”
Reed trudged up beside us, his face red and his breath short. “First of all, foul play. That was fucked up, and I can’t wait foryou to get chewed out later. Second of all, there’s six left.Focusso we can get out of herealive,please. I’m tapping out now, by the way.”
Before I could blink, Reed collapsed, unconscious. Joon jumped out of my hold just in time to catch him before his head hit cement.
“Not much stamina on this one, huh?” he said, lowering Reed to the ground beside Alex. “I’m starting to feel it, too. We gotta end this before I lose it.”
The light on his collar had gone dark orange, nearly flickering to red. His eyes flashed, violet hovering behind the black. The new device was meant to disrupt his chip’s signal, but the more power he used, the more it would create a surge. Frequencies were tedious—easily disrupted when Variant abilities came into play.
Alex shifted, and I dropped down beside her. “Hey, you back with me?”
