Fury and Flame | 3

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J A X O N

      Riley arrived back at the compound in the nick of time. Soldiers had already arrived; we'd been given the new mission of going after Delphinium. The ONNT was sending us off very publicly—they'd even made a statement about it so that everyone would be alerted we were hunting the most notorious terrorists in the nation.

      And hopefully, word would reach Imperium. They'd been strangely silent ever since the attack a week ago, but if they knew exactly where we were, they'd send their best soldier again. Delphinium could be captured and we could figure out how to deal with her.

      At least, that was the ONNT's plan. I was skeptical of how well it would play out. The worst case scenario would be a total slaughter and from the looks on my teammates' faces, they knew it too.

     Under Kane's watchful gaze, Riley casually made her way to Jake. "I found it," I heard her mutter softly and narrowed my eyes. If the ONNT soldiers weren't here, I would have asked what she'd found and why. Jake seemed to realize the same thing and didn't give her any sign he'd heard her.

     No one said much as we were handed our weapons and led to the train of military vehicles parked outside. The ONNT was no longer safe for us to trust. We had to be very careful what we revealed around them, for the soldiers reported back to their director who seemed to be looking for every opportunity to lock us up.

      No one had disclosed where we would be going. None of us asked; we knew it was no use. The six of us were little more than the attack dogs of Marcella Krasowski, meant to do whatever we were asked without question, without fail.

      I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take before I snapped. And what would I do then? Perhaps wipe that superior look off Krasowski's face, no matter the cost.

      Maybe I really did have a problem with authority.

     "What are we going to do when we get there?" Finn asked in a whisper, more to himself than to anyone in particular. "This is a suicide mission." It was perhaps the first time I'd ever heard him be so...not optimistic.

     "Maybe then we'll be put out of our misery," Arlo said flamboyantly, to which Finn dealt him a sharp look.

     "We'll do what we always do," Riley told him. "Fight like hell."

"We won't kill her," Kane said, folding his hands before him. "But we will make everyone who comes with her pay the price."

"Aim for her eyes," Jake said suddenly. It was the first time he'd spoken this whole ride. "That's her weakness. As long as she's blind, she can't use her abilities."

I moved my arm up to feel the bandaged wound through my stomach. She'd stabbed me when I'd tried to incapacitate her. It was the first time I'd been injured like that in battle for a long, long time. "She's trying to kill us."

"We noticed." For that, I shot Riley a dirty look, not having an insult on my loose tongue, for once. Her red-painted lips split into a sharp smile, knowing she'd won.

"Your brother," I jerked my chin to Kane, "Said their lunatic leader wanted all of us alive. Something changed now that he's sent her to finish us off."

Everyone was staring at me now. "You think he wanted to put us all in those machines?"

I shrugged. "What else would he want us for? We're his enemies, and therefore, we're a liability. I just think it's strange that Orion changed his mind."

"Or they don't need our power anymore," Kane realized grimly, crossing his arms. The weight of his statement hit me in the chest.

"The question is: what could they possibly have to out-power us so significantly?"