“Is family legacy,”Alexeisaid.
“Not mine,” was Declan’s cool response. “I went a differentroute.”
“Which is helpful at times, but not always,” Adrian repliedsharply.
Sean sensed a little tension between the brothers, and he wondered what had brought it on. He knew a thing or two about arguments between brothers, but this felt a little more vicious than the ones he’d had with his own siblings. It didn’t ease hismindany.
“Is that why you’ve brought us here? To discuss business with both of you?” Seanasked.
Declan swiveled his seat a little from side to side, the picture of a man unconcerned with the situation at hand. “I think you both know why we’ve broughtyouhere.”
“I honestly don’t know, unless you’re asking for a consultation for Root Source, Inc.’sservices.”
“I’m not interested in what your company can do. I think you’ll find Adrian isn’t as enamored of your business as he usedtobe.”
Sean glanced at Adrian, whose poker face had returned, making it almost impossible to know what he wasthinking.
“Does he speak for you?” Seanasked.
“When it comes to security, yes,” was Adrian’s clippedreply.
“Not do much good in New Miami,” Alexei said with a challenging smirk directed atDeclan.
The younger brother ignored Alexei, but Sean caught a microexpression of anger on his face before it waswipedaway.
“New Miami was an outlier. Adrian didn’t listen to my warnings and nearly paid with his life. He’s not making the same mistake twice,” Declanshotback.
“What is it you want?” Seanasked.
“The truth,” Adrian said, looking right at him. “You think you’re the only one with friends in highplaces,Sean?”
Before his name was completely falling from Adrian’s mouth, Sean was already calling out a warning to the others over comms. “Covers areburned.”
Declan shot a murderous look at his brother as Sean scrambled to his feet. “I said not to use hisfuckingname!”
The room exploded in violence. Sean remembered Alexei’s constant refrain about ducking, and for once, he had no hesitation about doing just that—byphasing.
His comms and bioware went immediately dead. An arm swept through his throat in a chokehold that never happened, while across the table Alexei was on his feet and fighting with one of the bodyguards, exchanging quick, bruising blows. Declan yanked Adrian out of the line of fire while calling out orders over his own comms. Sean only half listened to him, intent on reaching Alexei. The computer in the table sparked and fried as Sean phasedthroughit.
Alexei grabbed the man he was tangling with by the front of his shirt and yanked him forward into a headbutt to momentarily stun him. Rather than toss him aside, Alexei wrapped an arm around the man’s throat and held him in front like a human shield against Declan’s too-accurate close-rangeshot.
The man in Alexei’s arms jerked and yelled from a possible hit, but Sean couldn’t see if Alexei had been wounded. The door to the office slid open and more men rushed inside, dressed in tactical gear and fully armed. Sean blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, the world wasonfire.
Tongues of fire snaked through the air, the scalding heat forcing everyone back. Sean was almost to Alexei when several bright streaks of energy cut through the air and fire, one bolt slamming harmlessly through Sean to hit theoppositewall.
Alexei wasn’t solucky.
The whine of a neuro-jammer gun being primed made Sean’s teeth ache even in his phased state. The man in Alexei’s arms elbowed him viciously in the side and Alexei uncharacteristically crumpled a bit. Alexei tried to move out of range, but the energy bolt clipped him onhisarm.
The nanotech-driven charge disrupted a human body’s central nervous system with crippling results. Humans suffered seizures or worse, while a metahuman’s power was short-circuited for a limited amount of time, leaving them disoriented. If Sean was phased, the bolt of energy couldn’t harm him. His power was also the only one on record that could disrupt a Faraday cage in use, but it took a lot of effort and the backlash wasexcruciating.
Sean’s phase power was the only good thing they had going for them right now. Without Alexei controlling his pyrokinesis, the fire he’d created didn’t fade away, it merely took on a life of its own. With a roar, the fire latched onto walls and furniture, growing rapidly. It didn’t stop the men from surgingforward.
It seemed like forever, but in reality was probably only seconds, before Sean managed to get his hands on Alexei. He reverted to solidity from his fingertips to wrist, just enough to get a good grip on Alexei and push his phase field through him. One of Declan’s men had him pressed to the tabletop, half out of it from the neuro-jammer hit. The second Sean phased Alexei, the bodyguard momentarily lost his balance. Sean solidified his hand and yanked a gun out of the man’s thigh holster while he was distracted before fully phasingagain.
An alarm blared in Sean’s ears as he held Alexei close and started to sink through the floor at a rapid rate. Artemis’ voice rang out of every speaker, crisp and calm, as the AI said, “This is not a drill. Please evacuate the premises. This is not a drill. Please evacuate thepremises.”
“Someone initiate the emergency overrides!” Declanbellowed.
