Fury and Flame | 3

4 | 8

D E L P H I N I U M

    As well-hidden as I was, fire burned so brightly I closed my eyes against it.

      At first, I'd been ready to throw up just thinking about approaching the Imperium soldiers—the very people who'd stolen me away and made me into one of them. I wanted to be anywhere else, just far away from my abusers. My hands still shook and my throat was still tight with fear.

      Finn's sudden waves of fire burned all the Imperium soldiers alive. They ran screaming, flames covering their bodies, until they eventually fell and didn't rise again. I hadn't thought he had it in him, especially not after burning one of our own soldiers alive, as I'd heard from the others. But he'd let his power loose for the good of our friends.

      And I hadn't.

      When the soldiers began cornering them with the Scorpion, I'd remembered the dream I had—the one in which my team had been slaughtered like animals and my family had blamed me. Would that finally come true today, as I stood back and watched them burn alive under the Scorpion's power?

      I'd failed them. Finn shouldn't have had to bear the weight of his mental trauma just to save their lives. Especially not while I stood far out of danger, physically stronger than ever.

      Panicking or cowardice? Which was worse?

Most of the Imperium soldiers were dead, their corpses still smoldering. But a few near the Scorpion were recovering. As long as they stood, the Scorpion was still a present threat.

I wouldn't give my dead family any more reason to be disgusted with me. And I wouldn't give my new family my weakness.

The ground beneath the Scorpion began to shake and crack in outward spiderwebbed crevices. The remaining soldiers didn't even have time to look down before the asphalt completely split apart, swallowing them and the cannon whole.

My friends couldn't die because I was too weak to defend them. I owed them more than that.

      I wouldn't pretend it didn't cost me; even as I dropped the Scorpion to the depths, I remembered my instructor blindfolding me and forcing me to expand my power. I remembered wire tightening around our prospective client's throat. I remembered my own disgust of myself. But it wasn't as great as my desire to not have any regrets. I couldn't have any more.

      The adrenaline began to leave my blood and I leaned against the side of the building. As the others approached, I saw they were all still in one piece, although Kane's nose gushed red and Arlo flexed a hurt hand. A minuscule breath of relief exited my chest when I saw Jake was unharmed—it was bad enough the other two were hurt. He noticed me seizing him up and then promptly looked away.

      As we convened in one place, Jaxon wiped his bloody mouth and asked Benton, "What the hell was that? In your rounds of the place you forgot to check for an entire army?"

      Giving him a look of distain, Benton said, "They weren't there before. That man you were torturing was stalling for time for them to arrive. Of course, not one of you noticed until I warned you."

      "What else did you see in his head?" Riley asked, fiddling with a small knife.

      "He was thinking about the setup. I'd say that Rong led us astray, but she didn't know about the false information. Apparently, Imperium planted it to several new recruits to make sure they didn't have any traitors."

      "So Imperium doesn't know about Rong yet." Finn ran a hand over his face. "But they'll be suspicious now that we were here." He sounded weary from the power he'd exerted. And the toll it had taken on his conscience.