Lewis Manetti woke up in a cold sweat.

“Honey?” Dora mumbled. “What’s wrong?”

Lewis gently shifted her hand from across his chest. “Nothing. I had a nightmare.”

“Oh. Okay. You want to…”

“No, it’s all right. Go back to sleep.” Lewis sat up and reached for his drawer.

The box with his ‘special’ cigarettes was still there.

“If you’re lighting up,” muttered Dora, “share.”

Wordlessly, he passed her a second joint.

After a few puffs, his heart rate returned to normal. It would all be fine, he told himself. Grumman had gone underground; Agni had disappeared after the mess at the stadium. And as for the Phoenix Company... there was no way those girls could find him.

He still had nightmares of black-armored figures breaking down the door and dragging him off to…. parts unknown.

Illogical, of course. He’d hidden his tracks well, and limited his visits to the mansion; it was unlikely the girls would remember him.

No, he was safe here, with Dora. All he needed to do was lay low for a while. Let things calm down. Yes. Then he could change his name and vanish.

Gravitic had been the cruel one, Grumman was just …. practical. He wouldn’t hunt Lewis. Not when there were bigger fish to fry.

In the light of the glowing joint, he reflected that there was a good chance he could survive this.

… Wait. Was the joint glowing brighter?

“You’re a hard man to find,” a woman’s voice said.

He froze.

“Come now, don’t be shy. Look up.”

Besides him, he could hear Dora gasp. He slowly raised his eyes, praying silently that he was wrong.

She sat on the sofa, her leather biker jacket and denims almost hidden in the dark. Her motorcycle helmet was a plain black, adorned with only one decal - a tiny flame.

“It’s nice to meet you again, Bail,” said Agni. “Or should I say Lewis? ‘Bail’ didn’t sound right to me the first time, either. Can I call you Lewis, Bail? Or should I call you Bail, Lewis?”

“I.. I’m sorry,” mumbled Lewis.

“Oh, don’t worry. Fake names are fine with me. Used enough of them myself. Mind if I light up?”

“S-sure.”

A tiny flame lit the ultrahuman’s finger.

For a moment, Lewis thought it was a lighter. Then the flame expanded, and he could see the flame wrapped around her hand.

“Ah, that’s better. I like to see who I’m talking to. Lewis, right? And you are?”

“D-dora.”

“Hello, D-dora. How long have you been a Grunter?”

“Leave her out of this.” Lewis swallowed as Agni’s attention focused on him. “Please.”

“You know, I’ve been talking to some of the girls who… stayed at your ‘mansion’.” The flame twirled around Agni’s hand. “Funny thing, really. A place like that, run entirely by men, and… well… not one goof-up, they never ran out of contraceptives, or tampons, or a dozen other things that a man wouldn’t really consider. Which made me think, who knew? Somebody had to manage the logistics. Was it you, Dora?”

Dora shook her head rapidly. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Then who, I wonder? Surely you know a name. A small organization like the Grunters?”

“We aren’t small,” said Manetti.

“You weren’t small,” corrected Agni. “You most certainly are now. How many of your footsoldiers got arrested by the police last week? Sixty, seventy? Now that your ultras are gone, the cops are getting their hands dirty.”

“I don’t know who it was,” Dora whispered. “There were secretaries, maybe they knew something.”

“How many secretaries, and where did they sit?”

“Uh… I think there was one on the second floor. Grumman’s office was there.”

“And Gravitic? Did he have a secretary?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s all right. Lewis, you know how to get in touch with Grumman?”

“He’s not reachable.”

“Oh, come on. The man convinces you to spin an elaborate plot to mislead me. The fake parents, the mind control allegations… that kind of resourcing isn’t something you palm off to a lackey. You’re a man of influence within the Grunters, aren’t you?”

“I’m just an ordinary guy. Wrong place, wrong time.”

“And you don’t know where Grumman is.”

“No.”

Dora screamed.

She jumped off the bed, batting furiously at the blaze that had suddenly erupted on her arm. Lewis quickly grabbed the water jug.

Only to stare, as the flame vanished from Dora’s hand.

The woman stared at Agni, terrified.

“It takes time for flesh to burn,” remarked Agni. “The human body can handle the heat for a few seconds. Of course, it’s not good for the nerve endings. Real painful, I’m told.”

“Please,” Lewis begged. “We don’t know anything.”

“Don’t you, now? How did Grumman give you your instructions?”

Lewis swallowed. “There was a chat room. We log in at a predetermined time, and they’re there. If they choose to be.”

“Show me.”

“I can’t. Grumman disabled it before he went dark… we’ve not heard from him for weeks.”

“And he’s just sitting by while his organization gets dismantled?”

“It was never his organization. Gravitic ran everything; Grumman was just a supplier. We had to pay him rent for the use of his suits.”

“You paid Grumman for using the suits.”

“Yeah. Thirty thousand per month, per suit, plus a deposit. More for the big ones.”

“And now you’re not paying him because you … have no suits?”

“We still owe him for the ones Belessar destroyed. He’s cut ties.”

“So no way to find him, then. Whose idea was the mansion?”

“Gravitic wanted it.”

“Gravitic was gay.”

“He sort of swung both ways…”

“I see. And Grumman?”

“The same. He used to be Gravitic’s boy, if you know what I mean.” Lewis had heard the rumour, dismissed it out of hand, but he needed something to keep this monster at bay.

“Fascinating. Who knew so much happened behind the closed doors of the Grunter mansion? Well, if you can’t help me find Grumman, then there’s nothing more to discuss.” She stood up. “Just one thing, though. I owe some folks a favour, and need your help getting it done.”

“Anything you want.”

“I’m so glad you said that.” Agni snapped her fingers.

This time, Dora’s scream almost shattered his eardrums.

Flames erupted across her body, sizzling and filling the room with the smell of burnt meat.

Lewis wanted to help her, to douse the fire with water, to swathe her in blankets.

He stood rooted to the spot.

“Jacinda mentioned a woman,” Agni remarked casually, “who her friend Betty went to for help. A woman with some influence, who could get a message out, right? Somebody who’d hear out a teenager trapped in that hell. A frequent visitor, too. So Betty went to her and asked. The next day, they took Betty away.”

Dora collapsed on the ground, writhing in flames.

“You learn something in this business,” Agni continued. “You learn that people have friends, family, lovers. That doesn’t make them any less evil, of course. Even the Nazis doted on their grandchildren.”

Heat crept up Lewis’ legs.

“I owe Maria Esperanza for setting me on the right track. And I owe you something special, Lewis, for fooling me for so long.”