Was I hallucinating?

I gaped at the person towering above me. All my exhaustion was driven out by shock. I took every inch of him in, trying to understand what I was seeing.

There was a boy standing before me. An Outworlder boy. Tall with broad shoulders. Vibrant black Marks curled up his neck and cheeks, as well as spread out on the back of both his hands. Familiar dark intense eyes met mine.

"Taehyung..."

"Jiyeon." His voice was deep, exactly as I remembered.

My mouth fell open. "Y-you're alive?"

A tiny smile quirked the corner of his lips. "Surprise."

And then I was hugging him. Tightly. A little trickle of emotion escaped between the crack of my wall. Simultaneously a few tears ran down my eyes as I embraced him. "They declared you missing in action. They said you were dead!"

He released a short laugh, patting my back. "Sorry to disappoint them, but not dead quite yet."

I pulled back to gaze at Taehyung again. He definitely looked like he'd lost a lot of weight since I'd also saw him and there were shadows under his eyes. But all in all he looked okay.

I exhaled. "Jimin is going to be so happy. You have no idea."

Taehyung nodded. "I can't imagine what he and the others must have gone through when I went missing."

"But how are you...?" I gasped.

A shadow passed his eyes. "It's a long story that I'd rather not go into right now," he said in a low voice. "But first, what the hell happened here?" Taehyung stepped back and his wide eyes swept over the ragged trainees. "I knew something was wrong the moment I saw the fence of the base had been deactivated and torn down."

Ah. So that was how the Pure Reformists had come in.

Behind him I caught glimpse of another Outworlder with cornflower blue Marks behind him. I recalled that Taehyung as well as two others had gone missing in action. Something, perhaps a gut feeling, told me that the third person might not have made it like Taehyung and the other Outworlder had.

As simply as possible, I gave Taehyung the run down of everything that had happened. I refused to go into detail as the memories threatened to overcome me with pristine clarity, like a crystal dagger waiting to tear through my skull.

When I finished Taehyung's face was grave. "Damn," he murmured. "You guys... goddamn. Of all the ways your first battle had to go."

Surprisingly Krystal spoke up. "Yes we suffered a real kick to the ass. But now we need to figure out how to get out of here." She glanced at me. "We have two Outworlders with us now, unbeknownst to the Reformists. We might stand a chance now."

"Yeah." A different trainee piped up behind us, skepticism written all over his face. "We have two Outworlders. Two. We're still basically helpless. They're not enough to get us out of here."

A new, dangerous glint entered Taehyung's expression. I now remembered why I'd always found him intimidating. There was just something that screamed killer from his features. Or maybe that was just his visuals.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself to some of you." Taehyung spun slowly in a circle to meet every trainee's eyes. "My name is Kim Taehyung. I'm the spymaster for the Infinity Council. My buddy right here?" He reached out to pat the blue Marked Outworlder. "His name Choi Hansol. He's also an adept spy. You know what that means? It means we both know every little cranny and secret exits thenceforth of everyplace. Including the base."

"So you know how to get us out?" A trainee girl asked faintly. There was a nasty cut slashed right down her cheek.

"If I managed to get in without detection I have some pretty good ideas on how to get out," said Taehyung. There was no arrogance in his voice for eluding the high tech radars, just a straight matter-of-fact tone. "So those of you who are able and willing to try to fight back against the Purists one last time here, gather around."

Several people were stationed by the door to keep their ears peeled for any signs that someone might come in. However, we were left alone through the entire twenty minute or so rundown that Taehyung outlined a plan for everyone.

When we were done there was a new energy spreading through the different trainees. My own weariness had disappeared and I felt steel determination coursing through me.

"Are you sure you want to be the main person, Jiyeon?" Taehyung asked me quietly, handing me a gun from his belt. "If things go wrong, you're gonna be the first person the Purists are going to put a bullet through."

I nodded, accepting the gun and putting it through the waistband of my pants—which were technically my pajamas since everyone had been attacked while we were sleeping. "I'm sure. Let's do this."

Krystal grabbed my arm. "You be careful. When I see you again you better still be up and fighting, okay?"

I quickly pulled her into an embrace. "See you," I murmured. The 'soon' lingered as an uncertain prayer in the air, unspoken. My hands tightened around her and I clung to her for a few moments, not daring to even imagine an alternative of not reuniting.

When we pulled back she fixed Suho with her gaze next, as he was the other main player in this plan. "You both be careful."

Taehyung swiveled to Hansol who was watching with smooth features, as if carved from crystal. Beautiful, but with a cutting edge. I briefly wondered if having beautiful but intimidating features was a requirement of being a spy.

Taehyung spoke one word. "Go."

Hansol wordlessly morphed into a tiny insect and flew off to carry out his part of the mission. The trainees all around me took up their positions around the front door; and Taehyung turned to me, hand extended.

I grabbed it. Taehyung inhaled, and morphed into a massive black bird.

The hand I clutched turned into a large talon. His wingspan was magnificent and instantly caused a breeze to rush around the room as he lifted off, pulling me up towards the ceiling... towards the small hole that lead to the ventilation system that ran along the entire building.

Taehyung pivoted me towards the gap in the ceiling enough to allow me reach and grab the edge of it, and pull myself up into the dark hole.

The ventilation system was massive, needing to carry sufficient amount of air through the structure constantly. It was surprisingly chilly in the dark tunnel and I had to feel my way around.

Moments later Suho pulled himself up beside me, grunting under his breath from the exertion.

Finally, Taehyung-bat below morphed into a large black bee, buzzing loudly before darting down the tunnel.

Suho and I exchanged looked before we began crawling after the bee, following the loud buzz.

Despite the chilly air, I was soon gasping for breath and sweat dripped down my skin. We followed the buzzing down different turns of the ventilation system and even had to climb up when the tunnels rose to the next level in steep inclined chutes. Some parts I could feel the floor was weak beneath me and I tensed as I cautiously crawled over such spots.

Other times large grates were in the floor, allowing us to peek into the rooms below us.

It was at one of these grates after we'd been crawling for almost ten minutes that the bee hovered over. The bee released three loud buzzes, flitting above the grate.

Heart thudding in my chest, Suho and I peered down through the holes of the grate into the room below.

My sight first landed on a man, bound to a chair. I realized with a little jolt that it was no other than General Konu. But his crimson Marks had been covered in Moonsbane and his head was bent and hunched— a position never in my life had I thought the Council member would ever be in.

Several white-uniformed people prowled the floor below. Armed.

I exchanged looks with Suho. The boy nodded and slowly pulled out his own single gun that Hansol had given him.

I glanced at the bee.

The bee did a flip— and abruptly morphed into a large boulder, slamming down onto the grate with grinding force. The metal grate immediately broke free from the ceiling, leaving a yawning hole to leap through.

Taking a deep breath, Suho and I jumped into the room below with wild battle cries, guns up.

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