Fury and Flame | 3

2 | 1

J A K E

I stood at the kitchen counter, rifling through some paperwork and trying to block out the others' discussion.

      Ever since the incident in which Jaxon lost his arm, Hundsen had been silent. I wasn't sure if it was because he was rebuilding his numbers or if he was planning to strike again, but I did know that I would need to attack him soon. The next phase of my plan would move into action. Because of the events of the last weeks, I hadn't gotten to move through with it. But soon, I would make Hundsen feel the weight of my power again.

"You saw him wake up?" Arlo asked loudly from the other room. "What was he like?"

"I don't know." Kane's quiet voice. "I didn't see much before they took him."

"Then what makes you think he's turned back?" That was Jaxon's skeptical tone.

"I just...felt it. He called my name before they took him. Not in a mocking way, like usual. Like...he wanted me to know he was aware I was there."

      "It's been a week. You didn't think to tell us this before?" Jaxon again.

      "The soldiers told me to stay silent about him. But it's been a week with no information. It's too important to keep hidden," Kane explained.

      There was a silence heavy with the possibilities of what Kane had revealed.

Finn's voice broke the quiet. "Well, if he was turned, maybe Delphinium will be too."

"That's if she even wakes up."

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic?" Finn asked Kane. A snort from Arlo.

Kane went on. "I want her alive as much as anyone, but I know you're all thinking it too."

"If she doesn't wake up..." Finn trailed off when he saw me approach the doorway to the sitting room. They all turned to look.

"You said your brother might be turned," I addressed Kane.

A small incline of his head. "It was a theory, yes."

With that, the beginnings of a plan began to form in the back of my mind. If Benton wasn't simply pretending, he could potentially be on our side. And if he was, that meant his power could be mine to harness.

No one had time to say anything else before the phone rang. With a look shot to the rest of us, Finn picked it up and answered it. I watched him closely; the only possible caller would be the hospital. Perhaps they would finally tell us Delphinium and Benton's states.

      Whatever he was told made Finn's eyes go wide and skin whiten. "Are you positive?" He asked the person on the other end.

When he slowly hung up the phone, he turned back to the four of us. "We don't know how or why, but Delphinium's gone missing."

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"And they said the restraints on her bed were destroyed?" Jaxon asked Finn as we rode in the car to the hospital. "What if someone broke her out?"

"They had soldiers positioned before her door. They didn't see anyone get in or out the front way. The window was ajar, but it was on the third story. And the nurses said the metal of the handcuffs had been pried apart, almost as if with some superhuman ability." He gave us a pointed look. "She somehow did it herself."

That was meant to be impossible. The soldiers and nurses both had assured us that she would be watched with the upmost security. But she was a trained assassin. Her jobs had relied on her getting in and out without a trace. I'd never expected the security to do much against her.