I jolt awake from unconsciousness blindfolded and my arms bound tightly behind my back. I try to pull my arms free but the study cuffs hardly budge. I stop for a moment and rely on my remaining senses to piece together my surroundings. The floor vibrates softly to the rhythm of music below and the air is thick with the rich aroma of tobacco. I’ve smelled this peculiar blend of tobacco many times before, tracing its strong aroma to an expensive Earthen import.

I know where I am now.

Amongst the familiar sounds and smells I sense a noticeable presence lingering nearby. It huffs like a snarling bull. The air shifts and the odor of tobacco becomes increasingly stringent. Subtle footsteps draw closer, causing the hairs on the back of my neck and arms rise. The presence makes itself known and billows a plume of hot smoke on my face.

“Roy…”

“Righto, bucko,” he replies. “So this is what you’ve been doing since you’ve left? Petty government work? What happened to my ruthless bully who would rough up clients with just a glance?”

I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Instead, I silently brainstorm the many different ways I’d pummel Roy senseless once I found a way out of these restraints.

“Oh? You’re not gonna talk?” he asks with a wry whimper. Without warning, he spitefully sticks me in the neck with his lit cigar and I recoil from the searing pain. He chuckles deviously as I squirm helplessly in a last-ditch effort to break free from my bindings.

“To think a powerful Kinetic such as you can be brought down by just a single blindfold...” he removes the cigar from my neck but the stinging sensation lingers on my searing flesh.

“You’re fucking lucky you’re fucking alive, boy. I’d should’ve blown your brains out a long time ago for betraying me and then dumped your body in the marshlands for the bog gators to chew on your corpse!”

I hear him pace back and forth. He takes another drag of his cigar and blows the smoke into the air. He sucks his teeth, then spits.

“I was a fool letting you leave so abruptly. I knew the risks, but I pitied you and your pathetic little life… and now my generosity has come to bite me in the ass! So I’m going to have my people finish rounding up your little ABI buddies, then I’m going to kill them one by one in front of you and then after that I’m going to beat you into submission, and if you're a good boy I just might make you my new little puppy.”

He runs his thumb across my bottom lip sensually.

“Fuck you!” I snarl, anger consuming all my senses. Roy scoffs disapprovingly and delivers a devastating kick straight to my gut. The force of his blow is enough to sky-rocket my last meal up my esophagus like one of those high striker carnival games. As I buckle over in agony choking back the bitter fluid sitting at the back of my throat, I hear a commotion burst a door in my left. I whip my head in the direction of the scuffle in hopes it is my comrades coming to rescue me. But my hope falls flat as the next thing I hear is the sound of something heavy being dragged along the hardwood floor.

”Here’s the other one, boss! The bald chick!” says a young man proudly. Judging by the amount of devotion and youth in his voice, I easily deduce the stranger to be one of Roy’s newest lackeys. Likely another run of the mill angsty teenager with parental issues plucked directly from the Neon District streets.

“Secure her onto the other beam, I don’t want either of them trying anything,” Roy growls.

“Yes, boss,” the lackey complies eagerly before dragging her body further away. I let out a defeated sigh.

“What about the other two men from the security cams?” asks Roy, and that other woman.

The lackey stammers. “I dunno, boss. I uh, lost them a lil’ while ago. Carlos though… h-he’s looking out for them and will give me an update when—”

Roy interrupts the lackey’s poor excuse with a long, exaggerated groan.

“Go back out there and find them, y-you fucking over-sized bug zapper! And tell that pregnant bitch to get her ass in here, and those weird twins!” he exclaims, his voice almost cracking near the end. Fearing the wrath of his superior, the lackey scurries out of the room and slams the door behind him.

“Pyrrha, are you okay?” I whisper. She replies with a concerning whimper, but no audible words.

“Stop whispering!” Roy shouts at the top of his lungs. Something whizzes past my brow and shatters on the wall behind me.

“If I hear as much as a whimper from either of you, I’m collecting your fucking teeth!”

I hold my breath and keep my lips tightly pursed together. Satisfied by the level of silence in the room, Roy pours himself a drink and rattles the ice in his cup before slurping it obnoxiously in one go.

“You’re a piece of shit, Ayden. A real grade-A, cock-sucking piece of crap!” Roy mutters under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear it.

He pours himself another drink, this time pouring a lot more than before. While he slurps his second cup I remember Roy only drinks for two reasons: After successfully closing a deal with a client or when he is extremely nervous. Considering this is the second cup in the last few seconds, it is safe to assume it’s for the latter reason. I speculate in my head if our breach possibly put Roy on edge but he has handled many breaches before with more composure than this. Something else is bothering him. Something far greater than the ABI. Something powerful enough to make this hardened crime lord quake at the knees. Then it hits me.

Veronica. She has all the power she needs to turn all of Roy’s men loyal to her. It’s likely Roy is no longer calling the shots and is not taking too kindly with the shift in power.

In the same moment of clarity, I hear the door open. An unnaturally cool breeze follows after, sending a chill down my spine. Gentle footsteps creep into the room accompanied by the soft hum of a lullaby. The tune is evocative and faintly reminiscent to a song I’ve once heard but before I can put a name to it, the humming ceases.

“Hello, little lamb…” Veronica whispers, projecting her voice telepathically. “The song is, The Flower Duet...”

My soul departs from my body, taking any hope of escape along with it.

“Lupo,” Roy says unenthusiastically. “Tell me what the fuck is going on. Why are there undercover ABI operatives in my club?!”

“It seems my former associate blabbed about this place. The ABI is forming a perimeter around the club as we speak and it’s only a matter of time before they swoop in to try and capture me.”

Roy bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter. “You’re just going to abandon me with the ABI at my front door?”

Veronica doesn’t respond but it’s obvious that’s her intention. Roy cuts his laughter short and then bangs his fist against a hard surface like an ill-tempered child throwing a tantrum. Suddenly, I hear the electronic hum of a gun priming and heart jumps with excitement.

“You’ve walked over me for far too long!” Roy exclaims. “I’m reclaiming what is mine, starting now!”

There’s a bright flash of blue and then a loud crash and thud from where Roy was standing.

“Oh, shit… shit… SHIT!”

I struggle in my restraints. I know what’s going to happen next and it seems like a fate worse than death. Within seconds, I hear the familiar whispers of Veronica’s telepathic control invading my consciousness. I turn and twist my head in efforts to resist her influence, but struggling proves ineffective.

“Pacify,” Veronica whispers telepathically and instantly my body relaxes into a near catatonic state. My rapid breaths slow into an even rhythm and any sense of urgency or agitation melt away. Veronica removes the blindfold and stares deeply into my eyes. Her curly hair is tied delicately in a ponytail that cascades over her left shoulder. Following the ends of her golden locks lead to a tribal wolf tattoo on her naked bicep, similar to the one her companions had the day of the FNBC bombing. Glancing behind her, I see the body of Roy lying motionless in front of his desk. His blaster clutched in his fist and a baseball sized crater on the side of his head. Pyrrha lies unconscious next to his corpse with her hands cuffed behind her back and a blindfold over her eyes as well.

“Don’t worry about your friend. I’m only here for you. You will be my grand finale...” Veronica whispers telepathically. She unshackles me from my restraints. “Rise, little lamb…”

It’s impossible to resist her. Any thought of retaliation disappears from my mind as quickly as it came, putting me in an endless loop of oblivion. I quickly rise to my feet. She frowns for a moment then smiles her wicked smile. I want to wipe off her smug look off of her face but in an instant, the idea vanishes.

“Now, follow me,” she commands.

Like a puppet being tugged by the strings, I helplessly follow her. Lurking in the corridor outside Roy’s office is the Petrov twins, dressed in matching muscle shirts and dark skinny jeans. One of the twins, I cannot tell which, closely surveys me with his beady brown eyes.

“Isn’t this the same boy from EvGeni?” he asks, waving his open palm in front of my face.

“Step away from him. I need to concentrate,” hisses Veronica.

The twin takes a few steps back but not before stealthily groping my genital area and puckering his lips at me. I decide here and now that this one dies first if I ever catch him alone.

Then the thought poofs away.

The four of us advance further through the corridor which takes us to a flight of stairs that spirals down about three floors. The bottom of the stairwell leads into a wide, empty room. Installed on the far wall is a large, round vault door at least twice my size in diameter. I’ve heard about this place before. It was commonly referred to as the Rabbit Hole amongst Roy’s security detail and rumored to store all of Roy’s most prized collectibles and merchandise. As far as I know, this vault leads nowhere. Unless Veronica knows more.

“Get the door,” she barks impatiently.

The twin who had felt me up moments ago nods and quickly morphs his facial complexion to match Roy’s rugged profile. He steps up to the access panel and a shimmering blue light scans his facial illusion. The panel audibly pings in approval and the locks churn loudly as they disengage. He steps back from the vault entrance then restores his identity. His brother races to his side and affectionately wraps his arms around his waist before kissing him on the cheek.

“Ugh, I hated that face on you,” he says, his voice more falsetto in contrast to his sibling.

It then becomes evident which twin is which. The dossier on the Petrovs mentioned the younger twin, Luke, having an unhealthy obsession with his slightly older sibling Connor. But something tells me their relationship with one another is a little more than what the documents shared.

My suspicion is almost immediately proven correct as Connor reciprocates his younger brother’s gesture with a more, passionate kiss on the lips. I look away in horror but Veronica interprets my sudden head movement as retaliation then quickly forces my eyes forward. I shudder with revulsion as the twins continue to intimately swap spit with one another like hormonal teenagers on prom night. Connor glances over to me and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. My stomach twists into a knot and I glare at him menacingly until the faint glow from my cybernetic grabs our attention.

Veronica’s nostrils flare up and her eyes widen twice their size. She silently instructs the twins to flee and the two of them swiftly enter the vault arm in arm.

“Answer it,” Veronica hisses. I do as I’m told and tap the little green accept button on my holographic display.

“Ayden, I haven’t heard anything from you or Pyrrha. I need a sitrep,” she says.

“Tell her everything is fine,” Veronica whispers telepathically.

“Everything is fine,” I repeat.

There is a long, silent pause. I want to scream at the top of my lungs but Veronica viciously suppresses the thought.

“Have you found the targets?” the Captain continues.

“Negative,” I reply. There is another long pause and her silence begins to speak a thousand words. She knows something is terribly wrong. I can sense it.

“I’ll find you,” she casually says before ending the transmission.

“Remove your cybernetic!” Veronica growls. She knows the Captain saw through the ruse but there’s nothing she can do now. I do as instructed and my arm falls to the floor with a loud and expensive crash.

“She didn’t buy it,” I say mockingly.

“SHUT UP!” Veronica screams. A debilitating pain surges through my head and pulsates rapidly behind my eyes. The ravaging torment is like nothing I have ever felt before. My vision strains and I begin to feel the sensation of pins and needles poking at my fingertips. After a few seconds of the worst feeling in my life, Veronica staggers and the pain vanishes instantly. I blink a few times to restore my vision and when it does, I see Veronica hunched over and grasping the sides of her head in pain.

“Give it up, Lupo!” I say breathlessly. “You’re in no condition to be doing this anymore! The ABI is going to arrest you and you’re going to be locked up for everything you’ve done!”

She glances upwards, but something is oddly different about her. Her usual icy stare seems to suddenly glisten with sorrow and exhaustion, and her lips quiver as a stream of tears flow down her cheeks. I hardly recognize her anymore. For the first time she looks... human.

“I’m so sorry…” Veronica sobs. “Lupo is too strong and I’m so tired. They want to use you for another attack… I don’t want to hurt you, but I-I can’t fight it anymore...”

“What are you even talking about?”

Veronica shakes her head slowly and bursts into a river of tears. My instincts scream not to trust her but I find her sudden change in personality captivating. It’s as if she’s possessed by some otherworldly spirit. Veronica buckles over and grabs her head again but quickly regains her composure. She takes one deep breath and with her collected strength implants an image of a windowless concrete room into my mind. Studying the setting reveals a single wire frame bed beside a powder blue bassinet and a latrine. The room is no bigger than twelve square feet and radiates a feeling of claustrophobia, loneliness and neglect.

“W-What is this place?” I ask, blinking a few times until the image disappears from my mind. Veronica doesn’t respond. Her face twitches uncontrollably as a stream of blood oozes from her nostrils. The sheen in her eyes vanish as well and the corners of her lips curl upwards sinisterly. Fearful, I make a conscious decision to take a step back.

Then it clicks.

Like old pistons firing up, I realize I’m no longer under her control. but so does Veronica, and she flares her nostrils and bares her teeth. Without much thought or aim, I throw a surge of telekinetic energy between us. The force knocks us both onto our backs but I quickly spring onto my feet. Unable to get back up fast enough, Veronica props herself halfway and furrows her brows in concentration.

I hear her whispers gradually penetrate my mind but I swiftly counter. In a split second, I focus on the arm she is propping herself with and telekinetically pull her elbow towards me. Her arm snaps like a twig under my might and she shrieks a bloodcurdling scream in agony. The whispers stop and I sigh a breath of relief.

Veronica, still screaming, rolls onto her back, gripping her inverted elbow joint. It’s an unpleasant sight that leaves me questioning my own moral code. For weeks I’ve dreamt of this moment—the day I subdue Lupo and watch her suffer like I have since she took Petyr away from me. But that moment has come and as I watch her writhe and whimper helplessly on the floor. I cannot help but feel sympathy for her for some unknown reason. But I shake my head and quickly bury my personal feelings. Veronica needed to be stopped.

I pick up my cybernetic from the floor but before I get a chance to latch it into my shoulder socket, an unseen force strikes me behind the knee. I crumple like a tin can and in my moment of vulnerability my cybernetic arm is violently snatched from my hands. It floats carelessly in midair and then hurls straight for my head. I raise my remaining arm to cover my face but it is not quick enough. The mass of steel connects with my temple and my head whips to the side. The world goes black for a moment but then slowly returns blurry and speckled with little black dots.

It’s the twins, but before I can dwell on the thought anymore another blow is shot straight to my gut, knocking all the wind from within my lungs. The same invisible hand then clutches a fist full of my hair and forces my head up. I reach for the air until my fingers coil around a soft yet firm appendage. I dig into the flesh with my nails until the affected area breaks and trickles of blood seep from under my fingertips. Whomever has my hair in their clutches stifles a pained grunt then delivers a series of punches to my head to get me to release them. I roll with each blow and dig deeper until my knuckles turn a pale white. The twin shrieks again and blindsides me with an uppercut to the jaw. I pull back but not before running my nails and leaving visibly inflamed stripes down the length of his arm. The twin sucks their teeth and retracts their scratched arm. I roll back to gain some distance and then observe the area around me cautiously.

But my perception is cut in half as my left eye rapidly swells shut. I wipe the sweat with my brow quickly as to not leave myself open for an attack. Even though the scratches marked him, the petty wound is too small to spot from afar in this dim lighting. The room is mostly quiet. I swing blindly into the air, eager for my closed fist to connect with something, anything.

I hear a soft, stifled chuckle from afar. My blood boils. He’s toying with me. I let out a pained grunt and throw a telekinetic surge. The large section of wall directly in front of me caves inward violently, launching particles of concrete into the air. I turn over the other way and repeat the action several times, leaving no surface smooth. The room is thick with concrete particles that flutter to the ground, coating the floor with a delicate layer of dust. I observe my surroundings thoroughly once more, looking for any human-shaped disturbance in the gray cloud.

Finding nothing out of the ordinary I turn over to check my flank. Suddenly, a heavy pressure constricts my windpipe and forces me into a chokehold. He hoists me up and my feet dangle centimeters from the floor. My vision dampens and air draws thinner with each wheezy breath. The twin only tightens his lock. I desperately claw at his arm to pry myself free but my senses dim.

“I thought you’d put up more of a fight...” says the twin, who I quickly deduce to be Connor based on his tone of voice. With a strained grunt, he squeezes his biceps tighter and tighter. Just as I’m about to pass out, there’s a strange blue glow in the corner of my eye. In a split second, the glow intensifies and then explodes into a blinding flash followed by a thunderous roar.

Connor yelps loudly, releasing me from his grasp. I stagger back onto my feet, wondering who or what had saved me. As I catch my breath, I turn towards the source of the mysterious light and see a young man standing atop the stairwell with arcs of electricity sprouting from his palms like some sort of human Tesla coil. It’s Roy’s lackey from before, the “oversized bug zapper”. A title I’m starting to feel is undeserving now witnessing his might first hand. I decide maybe it’s best I sit this fight out. There’s no telling what the lackey’s full intentions are, though it’s clear for the moment he has a bone to pick with Connor.

I distance myself from Connor only to now realize he is completely stark naked from head to toe. My attention regretfully gravitates below his waist.

“You little fucker!” shouts Connor. “Whose side are you on?”

“Where is she going?” asks the lackey sternly.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Connor replies with mocking grin.

The lackey amplifies his electrical power. The arcs shoot more erratically from his palm, zapping nearby surfaces with malicious fervor.

“Don’t play stupid, I found Roy’s body in his office, killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Where is she going?!”

“Like I’ll tell you, limp dick,” Connor replies snidely.

I glance over to the vault door which is now sealed shut with no sign of Veronica or the other twin present. I silently curse to myself. How could I have become so blinded during the fight I forgot to keep tabs on Veronica? Rather than dwell on the negative, I focus on the positive. I have one of the Petrovs pinned to a corner against two powerful Kinetic variants. And I’ll be damned if I surface empty handed.

The lackey furrows his brow and his eyes gleam with vengeance in the form of crackling blue plasma. Connor cowers, he knows he doesn’t stand a chance. The lackey raises his arm forward and with a flick of his fingers, smites the naked twink with his godlike power. Connor shudders as the electrical current surges through his body. His limbs seize, and then he collapses to the floor as stiff as a board. I sigh a breath of overwhelming relief, but remain a tad bit wary of the new potential threat before me.

“I’m not here to fight you,” he says to my surprise. His eyes slowly fade back to normality.

“Oh, yeah?” I reply half-heartedly. “Then what are you here for?”

“I was hoping to find the pregnant woman before she escaped through the vault,” he replies.

“So there is some sort of escape route...” I comment, turning towards the vault door.

“Yeah, it was a well kept secret until she came into the picture and started using it for her own gain.”

“Any idea where it goes?”

He shrugs. “Hell if I know… are you after her too?”

“Yeah,” I reply half attentively, the other half actively looking for my cybernetic arm that seemingly vanished during my scrap with Connor.

“Maybe we can be of service to each other? It’s obvious you’re Gifted, and a powerful one too. We can take on Lupo together. Whaddya say?”

He cautiously steps down from the stairwell and into better lighting, revealing ash colored hair and a pair of sharp blue eyes. He’s young however. No older than seventeen or eighteen, almost the same age as when Roy took me in.

The lackey happens to find my severed cybernetic arm amongst the rubble near him. He picks it up and presents it to me with a nervous grin. Rather than approach him, I telekinetically take my arm from his hands and attach it to my socket, allowing it to re-sync with the rest of me.

I scoff. “Why should I help you? You attacked me and my friend and threw a wrench in our whole operation.”

“I know you have no reason to trust me but at least hear me out. I don’t know what kind of beef you and your crew has with her, but I want in. I just want the bitch to pay for killing Roy.”

My patience wears thin, and I sigh. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Dante.”

“Listen here, Dante,” I say. “I appreciate you bailing me out and I know you’re anxious to avenge the death of your boss but he isn’t worth the effort. Roy was an asshole and a bully and to be frank, is better off dead. Take it from me, his former right-hand man.”

Damian furrows his brow in an expression of half intrigue and half skepticism.

“Just who the hell are you exactly?” he asks.

I disregard his question with a huff. Instead, I direct my attention to my arm which has finally re-synced, and dial for the Captain. Almost immediately she responds, and a projection of her from the waist up illuminates from my display. Elnora grins widely.

“Ayden? Oh my god, are you alright?” she says in horror. “You look awful.”

“Yeah, I know. I got my ass handed to me by Connor,” I reply hastily. “But more importantly, Veronica escaped into a vault beneath the club along with Luke. She was also working directly with Roy, but she killed him in an attempt to cover her tracks. She was also planning on using me for something big, she called it her Grand Finale...”

“Shit. Alright, what about Connor?”

“Uhh…” I glance over to his nude body lying amongst the concrete shards. To my surprise, he moans softly and his arm twitches.

“I thought you killed him?” I ask Damian.

“No, I only hit him with a few milliamps. Just enough to knock him out,” he replies.

“Who’s that?” the Captain asks.

I hesitate briefly. “That’s Damian… He’s an Electrokinetic who worked under Roy and saved me from Connor’s attack.”

Elnora silently signals with her finger to rotate the camera towards him. I do so, and hold up my arm so she can get a better view of him. Damian chuckles anxiously as the two share a few short seconds of intimate eye contact.

“Dante Carter, a teenage runaway born on the space port, Yggdrasil. Your father was a miner on Freya but he was forced to quit his job after being diagnosed with ALS. When money became thin, your mother took what was left of the savings and tried to flee the lower wards of the space port but died when the bus transporting her crashed,” say the Captain stoically. “There’s several warrants out for your arrest in three different systems for multiple accounts of grand theft auto and battery charges. Quite impressive for someone who isn’t legally allowed to vote yet.”

Dante’s eyes widen twice their size, and his macho facade vanishes instantly.

“W-What are you guys?” he asks, quaking at the knees.

“To keep things short, we’re with the ABI and we’re tasked with bringing a deranged terrorist into custody,” The Captain replies assertively. “We have reason to believe your boss was supplying weapons to push her agenda. With him being dead now I can guarantee the feds will turn to you for answers, and if you know Director York as well as I do. You’ll know he won’t hesitate to break the legs of one teenager if it could potentially save the lives of a hundred citizens later.”

Dante’s lips quiver with fear and his eyes well up. I hide my grin behind my palm. If she keeps it up, she’s going to make this kid piss his pants.

“...So the way I see it, you have two choices,” she continues. “Confess everything you know, and I can arrange leniency, or don’t and become branded as a terrorist affiliate and remain the rest of your sorry life in the Kuiper Belt detention facility. The choice is yours.”

Dante takes a shaky breath before gulping nervously. He then nods his head. “I-I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“Good,” The Captain says cheerfully. She rotates her index finger and I switch her back around.

“Ayden, I know you’re seriously injured but do you think you can make it up to regroup with Dawud and Jorge? I lost contact with Pyrrha a while ago and I’m beginning to worry something might have happened.”

“Don’t worry, she was with me,” I reply, glaring towards Damian who frowns regretfully.

“Is she alright?” The Captain asks.

“I believe so, I’ll get her and then meet up with the rest of the team. But what about Lupo? We need to get into the vault.”

“We’ll get to her, my priority right now is the team’s safety. Director York has dispatched ABI special forces units. In the next few minutes this club is going to be a war zone.”

“So why don’t we stay and fight and then go after her?”

“Because the team is broken up and you’re in no condition to be fighting any further,” she replies. I bite my tongue and then glance over to the vault.

“Meet me at the corridor where we entered the club,” orders the Captain. “Be patient, Ayden. Connor is the key. He’ll take us right to her.”

With a huff I snap my fingers to get Dante’s attention. “Pick up him, you’re carrying him out of this joint.”

Damian complies without hesitation at first. When he approaches Connor’s body, he stops to analyze a way to pick him up without having to touch him all that much. After a second of careful thought, he hoists him over his shoulder with Connor’s backside tragically near Damian’s mortified face. We return to the service corridor using the freight elevator where I pass off Dante and Connor to the Captain.

“Go and get Pyrrha and the others, I’ll radio the Director to order the siege,” she says. I nod, then high tail it to Roy’s office. I remove the blindfold from her eyes then try to wake her with gentle taps on her face. She murmurs weakly in response, forcing her eyes open for a few seconds before closing them once more. I tap the sides of her face again then reach around to break the restraints open. After a solid telekinetic blow to the center, the restraint crumbles like a cookie.

“Ayden?” whimpers Pyrrha. “What happened to your face?”

“No time for that, we need to get you out of here,” I say. Pyrrha glances past me and gasps in horror as she notices the Roy’s bloody corpse.

“Oh god! What happened?” she shrieks.

“Again, not much time,” I say once more. I help her up to her feet, carrying the majority of her dead weight on my shoulders and ignoring the achiness that gripped every bit of my body. Suddenly, a peculiar ripple of vibration rattles the office. At the same time a gentle pressure envelops around me, squeezing me. Feeling the same sensation, Pyrrha looks to me with perplexity. My attention however focuses on the two-way window overlooking the club dance floor. Though I can’t hear it, the patrons below are in a state of chaos. Their silhouettes climbing on top of one another in desperation. The office window warps, and then cracks shoot across the surface. The soft pressure intensifies and without warning bursts. The fleeing patrons below are tossed into the air. The window explodes inwards. I drop to the ground along with Pyrrha just before glass and chunks of drywall reach our faces.

Panicked screams of men and women alike follow shortly after and I ponder the possibility of another bombing orchestrated by Veronica. Was this her finale she was mentioning?

“What the hell was that?” asks Pyrrha. I rise to my feet and assess the aftermath through the newly formed hole in the wall. The wooden dance floor is shredded into splinters and the veranda overlooking it is completely collapsed from the blast. Bodies, dead or half-alive litter the floor mangled and disfigured.

But standing unscathed in the center of it all, his hands balled into fists is Dawud. Unflinching, he surveys the room menacingly with his chest puffed proudly. His eyes seek me amongst the rubble and they glow with a particular primal rage that sends chills to my bones. He huffs and snarls like a rabid animal. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulls out a familiar white bottle and knocks it back before discarding it.