Didn’t that little shit tell me there was no way someone else could be at Citrine rank like me yet? That I had to be some kind of outlier. I was going to kick the little shit into next year if we got through this.

For now, I was faced with a more serious problem.

“Hello,” I said simply. I waited for him to speak first. In any kind of negotiation, the person to speak first loses. The man finally did.

“I’m Marco Regis,” the man said. “I came looking for survivors.”

“That’s kind of you. As you can see, there’s no trouble here, but if you all need something, we might be able to help.”

“Actually, I have a compound not too far from here,” the man said. “I was hoping you would be willing to join me. Strength in numbers, as it is.”

“Strength in numbers,” I said. “Seems like numbers also have a way of attracting more trouble too. Maybe we’d be better off on our own.”

“Look,” Marco said. “I would be more than happy to talk about this. May I come inside? We can sit down and have a discussion like civilized men.”

“Just you?”

“My men will remain outside.”

I nodded in agreement. “I don’t know about sitting down, but you are welcome inside.” As he approached, I spoke to Andy in a lowered voice. “If those two so much as make a move toward us, you put a bullet between their eyes. Then grab their guns and ammo. They won’t be valuable forever, but for now, might do some damage.”

Andy nodded but didn’t verbalize his response.

Marco Regis made his way up the front steps and gingerly stepped through the revolving door, the glass crunching with every fall of his shiny, black shoes. I pulled a dining room chair from where it rested on top of the pile. One leg was wedged into a gap between the other furniture and the windowsill, but the whole chair came free when I added a little more force. I set it down and offered it to the man.

“Thank you,” he said and sat in it. Even though it was a simple wooden piece, he made it seem like a throne, and we were his subjects. “I didn’t catch your name,” he said with a smile as I grabbed a chair for myself.

“Forrest Ward.”

“Well, Mr. Ward, you have quite the party here.” He looked at my group standing by the windows. “Military?”

“Some of us,” I said with a noncommittal shrug.

“You aren’t carrying a gun,” he noted, though his eyes lingered on my sword. With it still in its sheath, he couldn’t see the density of the metal mana in the weapon.

“Neither are you,” I said.

“I will give it to you straight, then,” Regis said. “I want you to come be my right-hand man at my compound. Bring your team. You can take them out on missions to find more survivors and kill the humans who’ve turned savage.”

“Wights,” I said. “They’re called wights.”

“Whatever. They’re dangerous, but I believe you are dangerous too. That’s why I want you.”

“You just met me.”

“Yes, but you and I both know that we’re a cut above the rest of the people here. Come with me, and we can save these people. As I said, you can go out and kill as many of these creatures as you want.”

“The dungeons are the real problem.”

“What?”

“The dungeons,” I said. The man looked blankly at me. “You must have seen the mana funnels swirling out of the sky to touch the ground.”

“Yes.”

“Well, at the center of those mana funnels is a dungeon, a being that can control the surrounding mana to create an environment to raise dangerous creatures and kill us, humans.”

“I’ve seen those areas, but they are so overrun by monsters that there is nothing we can do.”

“You don’t understand,” I said. “They will only grow stronger with time. You need to stop them now before they become too powerful.”

“How do you know this?” He asked, uncertain. “And why would you tell me?”

“Look, Regis, I don’t know you from Adam, but if you’re telling the truth, then the dungeons are the enemy of humanity. If you want to save more humans, it won’t mean jack shit if you kill all the humans already corrupted, but let the dungeons grow stronger.”

“Again, how do you know this?”

“Because I’ve killed two of them.” Not technically true. I only killed the second one. I’d captured Corey.

“If you are the expert, then join me, and we can destroy them together!” His eyes lit with eagerness.

“No,” I said simply. “I can’t stay.”

Regis looked into my face for a long time before he nodded.

“Family?”

“Yes.”

“Then I won’t try to stop you.”

I blinked, having not expected that response.

“I may not be a good man,” Regis said. “I gave that up a long time ago. But I do know how people work. Even if I could force you to stay, you would fight me every step of the way. I would have to chain you up to do something I wanted, and it would cause needless bloodshed to wage a war on you.”

“We are leaving tomorrow morning at first light,” I said, “so I likely won’t see you again.”

“Probably not,” he chuckled. He stood and offered me his hand. “Life is odd that way, though. If any of your people change their minds, you know where to find me.”

“I do?” I wondered aloud.

“I’ll be here. I have a family as well.”

“Thank you,” I nodded to him. “I’ll speak to everyone else about joining you. I plan to travel fast and light, so anyone who will slow me down gets left behind.”

“Good,” Regis said. “I can give them a better life than what they have out here. And I can protect them.”

“If you want to protect your people, you need to take out that dungeon,” I said.

Regis nodded, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked, offering him my hand. He took it, his grip tightening on my hand.

For the first time, I let my eyes flick down to his core. The mana in his core was mostly blue, with splashes of white and red. But there was almost no sign of green and gray, like in my core. I had a far more balanced distribution of mana in my core, with silver being the mana with the smallest share.

Regis was strong, far stronger than his slight build would suggest. But his eyes widened in horror as I began to squeeze in return. I Willed some gray and silver mana in my core into my hand, and it followed my will. My grip tightened as Regis looked down at my core in horror.

I leaned in toward him. “Bit of advice,” I said. “Learn how to pick your fights better.” I looked down at his hand and squeezed a bit harder until I could see tiny fractures begin to form along the gray mana that surrounded his bones. Then I released his hand, which he pulled back to his side. To his credit, Regis didn’t cradle the hand. He did hold it stiffly at his side as he turned his back on me and walked out the front doors.

When he was back between his pair of henchmen, he turned his confident smile back up at us. I could see beneath the mask now, though. I could practically hear his heart racing from here and smell his terror. Despite the moderate temperature and his Citrine-enhanced body, I could see a line of sweat roll down the side of his temple.

“I will see you tomorrow at sunrise,” he said, before turning around and leaving, flanked by his goons.

I waited another minute until they were out of sight before I started issuing orders.

“Pack up,” I said. “We’re leaving tonight.”

“In the middle of the night?” It was the boy who’d led me down the stairs. “That’s suicide.” His voice cracked as he spoke, though I couldn’t be sure if it was from puberty or fear.

“Hush, Brandon,” said a woman standing next to Carter. She looked as terrified as Brandon sounded. “I must agree with my son, Lieutenant Ward. Every time we have traveled at night, people have died.”

“If we don’t move, that man will have the building surrounded in the morning.”

“He won’t move in the darkness. It would be equally suicidal for them.”

I stepped toward her, keeping my eyes locked on hers. I saw courage in her look, and the will to survive. I also saw despair. She believed this was the end, and that she – and maybe her son – would never live long.

“When I look into your eyes, I see a mother who loves her son dearly, and who wants to fight for his survival and your own. When I looked into that man’s eyes, I also saw the drive to live, but I also saw a hunger for power. He came here, expecting to find a group of frightened people. Instead, he found us, and we didn’t fold to his demands immediately. I challenged him, and he will never live that down. If you and your son stay here, he will kill you just for seeing this. Everyone else upstairs is likely safe, but everyone in this room has to leave, and we must leave tonight because we don’t know how many people he has.”

“Why did you challenge him then?” She demanded.

“Didn’t you know what he would do?”

“You don’t understand. I am his target. I proved I’m stronger than he is, and he will come here tomorrow to kill me and my team. You are just collateral.”

“You can’t know that!” She shouted.

“Mom,” Brandon said as he came close.

“No, Brandon,” she insisted. She took his hand and pulled him behind her as if putting herself between us would solve the problem. “This is your fault, Lieutenant. You have to fix this.”

“I am trying to fix it.” I was done being polite. “You need to trust me.”

“Isn’t there another way?” she begged. Her anger had cooled, and I could see the pain surfacing.

“If there is, I am open to suggestions,” I said.

“You could kill him.” The words tumbled out of her in a rush, as if she could make it happen faster if she simply said the words more quickly.

“I probably could–“

“So do it! He’s obviously not a good man. He would probably deserve it.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” I said.

“Why not? You’ve killed before, haven’t you?” she demanded.

“But I only killed when we knew the ramifications of the kill!” I finally exploded, my own voice rising to match hers in pitch. “I killed bad men who represented ending a strategic threat. We have no idea what the ramifications of killing Regis would be. He represents power, a power that protects his people at the moment. What happens when that power disappears?”

She didn’t say anything.

“Do you know why we never killed Kim Jong-un?” I let my voice drop to a more reasonable tone, now that her fire had also died. “It wasn’t because we couldn’t. The logistics were a nightmare, but we had several options in place if necessary. It was because the downstream consequences of assassination were worse than keeping him around. That is the information we are missing here. How many people does he have with him? How strong are they? Who would replace Regis? One of those goons at his side? And who’s to say one of them isn’t just as bad as he is? I can’t kill him because it could hurt the people under him.”

She sank to her knees at my feet, sobbing. Her son held her as she went down, his arms around her. It wasn’t until that moment that I saw just how frail she was. The skin on her once sturdy frame was slack as if she’d rapidly lost weight in the last few days. I noted, too, the ring on her finger. Married, probably fifteen years, judging by her son’s age. Her hair had streaks of gray running through it, and lines of grief ran deeply across her face.

“Come on, mom,” Brandon said, as he tried to lift her. “We have to pack.” She continued sobbing but stood with his help, and they made their way into the dark stairwell.

“What’s next?” Andy said.

“Carter, Chavez, you go pack and let everyone else know that we’re coming up with a plan to move out tonight. Anyone who wants to come with us, can. Tell them that there will be men with —“ I paused to choose my words more carefully, “— questionable morality, coming tomorrow to offer them a place to stay.”

“We’ll be back down in thirty,” Carter said, and they moved off.

“What about us?” Andy asked.

“Regis left one of his men here to watch the place. I’m sure of it. Tonight, I’m going to find out where he is.”

“You want to scout around in the darkness for a man in a hidden, possibly entrenched position?” It was ludicrous the way Andy said it.

“No,” I answered. “I want to pretend to look for him. If I can get within a hundred feet of him now, I’ll see his mana aura. The cores on the two goons weren’t as strong as yours, but I would be able to identify them. I just have to pretend like I’m looking for him. Then we can make our way out the back exit.”

“There is no back exit, though,” Andy said. “There’s a side door for maintenance, right there.” Andy pointed to a large, metal door in the corner of the lobby.

“Then I will look for the spy on that side of the building, and we’ll go out the opposite side. We’ll just have to improvise.”

“You planning on doing some remodeling?” Bragg asked, glancing at the sword over my shoulder.

“This beauty is pretty good at cutting through just about anything,” I said.

“Careful,” Andy chuckled, “or when you get home, Penny might get jealous.”