Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
LEO
“VTech,” Joon mumbled, and his voice was a husk of itself. “They’re the head of it all. But there're more branches, places that could break off when they go down. This won’t be an easy fix.”
“We’re not expecting it to be,” Alex walked beside me, her hips swaying with determination as the horns on her head lit up the night. “This isn’t about saving anyone right now. This is payback.”
Nightmyre was silent, for once. Everyone within a five-block radius had been quietly evacuated.
We were working off the books tonight; it was ‘anything goes’ rules.
After Joon came back, Dahlia was there to fill us in.
His chip was still settled in his neck. Splinter had reattached it to his spinal cord—if they would have removed it, it would have killed him.
For now, we were working with a bandaid fix.
A collar hung around his throat; a small green light flickered on the metal contraption.
If it went red, that was our cue to run.
For now, the signal disrupted the one in his chip, surpassing it entirely.
The VIA wanted him contained for now, while we figured everything out.
But Dahlia did have a heart, after all. She left the badge to the lock on his cell on her desk, and took a six-hour lunch break after sending out an emergency evacuation notice for a gas leak.
The mission was given to Alex and me, but Reed and Joon tagged along. We were all furious and needed to release some energy.
“If you go berserk again, I’m electrocuting the shit out of you,” Reed scowled.
Joon let a small smirk slip. “Fair enough, I’ll do my best. It’ll be nice to stretch my legs a bit before going back into a cell again. Three years is a long time—I don’t think it helped the insanity, either.”
My palms sweat as I turned to him, an apology stuck in my throat.
But Joon only smiled beneath his new bandages—he preferred to keep the scars covered.
We knew we were taking a risk; he wasn’t quite whole again, not quite right.
But this mission had to be done together.
Alex wouldn’t have it any other way, and I didn’t think I’d ever say no to her again.
Her Hero suit fit tight against her, that blue mask framing her burning eyes.
“Cinder,” Alex rasped, her chin pointed up as she looked at the skyscraper made of endless windows, reflecting the city behind us. “You won’t burn us, you know that, right?”
I cracked my knuckles as shadows started to appear on the ground floor. “I know.”
It was true—I was certain now. Alex would never be in danger around me.
It was everyone else who needed to worry; whoever dared to touch her would be consumed.
All the anger I’d stockpiled in life, all the rage and fear and worry, built inside of me, preparing to burst out.
My watch beeped again, but it wasn’t a burnout alert.
My temperature had gone up only one hundred degrees.
I was in control.
“You did it,” Joon sighed, eyes lingering on my watch, before glancing back to Alex. “I knew you could. Cheap shot doing it while I was gone, though.”
“Yeah, well, I did wait three years,” I smirked.
He let out a raspy laugh, just as Variants started to pour through the doors. “Fair enough. Hey,” there was a tilt to his voice, reminiscent of the Glitch madness, “wanna play a game?”
“Fucking sicko,” Reed huffed, throwing up a shield around us. “You’re going straight back into that cell when we’re done.”
Joon rolled his shoulders, jumped on his toes, and shook out his hands. The madness was still there, just buried now. Tonight, I didn’t mind if it came out. They deserved it, after all.
“We’ll call it a date,” he drawled before he disappeared.
Black leather jackets, with the emblem of an S made of bones painted on the back, swarmed.
Variants with poison tipped fingers, with spiked tails and fanged teeth melded with those who had lightning crawling up their arms. Some made the air cold, pushing ice out around them in preparation.
But we didn’t flinch, didn’t give a single damn as we kept walking toward them.
Joon was already in the mix, glitching in and out, making their heads whip around as he smashed his fists and feet into them. He was angry—and so were we.
Alex raised her hands up at her sides, and the shadows around us started to crawl forward, stretching out as monstrous creatures appeared around us.
It was a fake-out, but good enough to make the Villains coming for us stop in their tracks.
To their eyes, it looked like we had a small army at our backs.
“Go ahead,” she said, and the permission was a lifeline. “Burn.”
By the time we zeroed in on the lab Joon had guided us to, bodies were littered behind us.
Alex had started to slow down, and so did I.
Everyone I’d touched had turned to embers on the ground, and the scent of cooked flesh surrounded us.
Smoke pushed through my mask, and coolant flushed into my heart.
Tonight, I was fine with playing the Villain.
Reed panted as he raced behind us, with Joon flitting ahead. A mad cackle filled the air, and it made me heat up again.
Joon never enjoyed fighting, not like this. Now? He was practically jumping for joy.
“I dunno, guys,” Reed wheezed as we slowed. “I’m just feeling like you need to pick better friends. Less, uh, how should I put it… evil?”
A steel door met us, and I started to melt it down as Joon hopped beside me.
“Evil?” he snickered. “Nah, I’m just thoroughly pissed off. Catch me on a good day, and I’ll sweep you off your feet in no time.”
“Yeah, no, he’s definitely back,” Alex stepped back from my heat, covering her mouth with her elbow as I made the air acrid and black. “A bit more feisty, but hey, I’ll take it.”
“Agreed,” Joon shrugged. “Less dead, less test-subject-y. I’m content with it for now.”
“Can we focus, please?” I sneered as the rest of the door disappeared, creating an opening.
Instead of rushing in, Joon actually paused. His brows knit together, and his lips parted as he leaned back. Alex and I exchanged a look, and his chest started to expand with faster breaths.
Of course he wouldn’t be ready, I thought. We made the wrong call; he shouldn’t have to—
“Hey,” Reed slapped him on the back, pushing Joon forward. “All that crazy you built up? These are the guys who did it, right? Make ‘em hurt. Don’t worry—we’ve got your back.”
And your cuffs, is what he likely wanted to say.
Joon glanced to the side; to Reed, to Alex, and finally, to me. He held my gaze, and I nodded, firm. It wasn’t going to be like last time. No one was being left behind. We followed our own orders; we would make the final call.
We all get out, or none of us do.
That’s what Alex and I had decided before we’d set out on this mission. Live together, or die together. No more grief, or being trapped in the past. The only way was forward now.
What was inside that melted door made my stomach drop, and Alex let out a small whimper behind me. Even Reed shut his mouth, while Joon took the first step forward.
“Honey,” he said, though his voice cracked, “I’m home.”
Dozens of large cylinders spanned out in front of us, over twelve feet tall and filled with purple, bubbling liquid. Inside some of them were floating bodies connected to tubes. Bile rose to the back of my throat as I recognized the Heroes inside.
“AngelDust,” Alex murmured, her eyes set on a cylinder to our right. “She really is alive.”
The woman floated unconscious and naked, with white hair that went down to her back. When we’d gone on that mission, when the building collapsed, it had been cut to her chin, and red. She’d been tanner then, too.
My temper flared as footsteps approached, heavy and purposeful.
A group appeared, all fitted with tailored jackets that had small S pins on the lapels.
They didn’t scowl, or flinch away from the sight of us, like their grunts had.
The men in front of us were stone faced—they reminded me of the higher ups at the VIA.
My fists erupted into flames as one stepped ahead of the pack. He had slicked back, grayed hair and a wrinkled face. But there was an energy to him, one that made my hair stand on end, and inch myself in front of Alex.
Jack.
That’s what Joon had called him — the leader of the pack.
“I suggest you back down, Cinder,” he warned before flitting his eyes to Alex. “You too, Daydream. We don’t intend to start a fight if we don’t have to. I prefer to talk, like gentlemen.”
Joon froze, his eyes wide, and the green light on his collar flickered, turning orange.
Shit.
Another walked forward, with long hair that draped perfectly over his shoulders, not a strand out of place. He was younger—fresh eyes to their operation, most likely.
“You must be WildGuard,” he nodded to Reed, who bared his teeth. “Impressive stuff at the Crowns Club. I’ve had my eye on you. I always love to scout new talent.”
Joon’s collar flashed back to green, and he snapped forward. He had the man by the hair, the long strands wrapped in his fist, as he swept out a leg and dropped him to his knees.
“Hello, Michael,” his voice was lethal. “Hate to break it to you, but this party’s being shut down.”
Jack coughed into his fist. “Now, now, Glitch. Where have you been? They’ve tampered with you again. Come, let me fix you up. We’ll take care of you.”
Joon whipped his head around, and there was a flash of purple that made my heart pick up. “Take care of me? That’s what you always called it, didn’t you? Keep me in that fucking chamber, then take me out to twist me up, before putting me back again. Yeah, you fixed me up real well.”