I subtly eyed the police officers in the room. Four. None of them looked my way. Three more were in the adjacent room, and two should be by the lobby. How many were in the rest of the building? How many were outside?

The answer: not enough.

I could kill all of them. They couldn’t do anything to stop me. No one here could. They didn’t even know what I was capable of. Blanchette wasn’t needed; transforming would only delay me.

My eyes flicked to the clock.

This was taking too long. Should I just kill them? Kill all the cops in my way, escape from the building, and— Were Deen and Myra outside? Where was Mom? Fuck Deen for leaving me behind here. If we had gone together, I wouldn’t have gotten separated, now surrounded by cops.

My plan was excellent and all, except for two problems.

One, Mom was somewhere in this building. She’d see me running amok, squeezing people’s heads—my new hobby.

And two, if I killed the cops…

…no one would process my certificates that I had cleared the tests.

“Fuuuudge caked,” I muttered under my breath.

Mom was tested first. Then she pranced around the police station, being Ms. Congeniality. She pulled me aside to introduce me to cops working in the ComExo unit of the station—some were former Greaves employees. I lost my place in the line right after Deen.

Because of the boring chat session, a buttload of people arrived for the test—high schoolers who had a field trip at the Tech Fair yesterday morning—lengthening the line. Understandably but annoyingly, their school admin wanted them tested even if they missed the parasite party in the evening.

It was mayhem a couple of hours ago, mostly the parents of the kids drumming up a fuss. I half-hoped the police would put all of them in jail. They shouldn’t be allowed to raise children with that immaturity. I had to wait until all of the kids and parents—many of the latter insisted to join—to get tested before my turn.

“I should’ve pretended to be their schoolmate and cut the line.” I tutted at the missed opportunity.

Rechecking the clock, I noted that two and a half hours had passed since I drank the Suppressor Myra provided. We didn’t have to call her for help. She was already on the way to Las Vegas when she saw shit going down at the Tech Fair on the news and arrived two hours past midnight. Her instincts prodded her that I had something to do with it.

Myra was wrong. I didn’t have a connection with the Tea Party’s plans.

But for future reference, it should be assumed that if there were an Adumbrae-related mess, I’d be inadvertently around as if fate pushed me there. Maybe SpookyErind. Who knows?

“Um, excuse me, officer,” I timidly said, raising my voice a pitch higher. I slumped my shoulders down and hunched a bit to appear even smaller. “Are my test results out?” This was the third time I had approached the Walrus.

“Not yet, miss,” said the muscular but plump officer behind the desk.

“Um, can you check?” I asked. They should finish assessing my tests first because I was actually there when the attack happened. Well, not exactly.

Our official story was that when the Tea Party goons started piling into the Greaves convention center, the Mother Core, by Her Infinite Grace, guided us to hide and escape. We weren’t there when the parasite crap started. Our story was a proper mess, and Mom didn’t stick to the nitty gritty details we agreed on. She sucked at lying, which made both of us more believable.

I gambled that the Tea Party had destroyed or taken over the security cameras, so nothing would contradict my tale.

But even if the police eventually unearthed evidence exposing our lie—there were other buildings with cams nearby—I’d be on the run soon, anyway. Too many jackasses after me.

Not run away. Run to them.

I just wanted Mom to get her clearance and fly back to job Europe as soon as possible while I cleaned up this mess like a good daughter, unlike what Auntie Dora said. It wasn’t even my mess—I just slipped on it and dived head-first splat on the dirty floor. When Mom would return someday, I’d have already reclaimed my everyday life.

If that was possible.

Or I could be dead.

The Walrus wiggled his wry whiskers while looking at the small TV on the wall. “Just sit and wait,” he mumbled behind his mustache. “It’ll be out before you know it.” He didn’t bother to check the pile of papers on his desk.

Of course, it’ll be out before I know, I mentally grumbled as I returned to my chair. That’s why I was asking.

I examined my right hand. A fingerless glove made of stretchy cotton wrapped it—Deen’s gift. It was supposed to be a stylish way to cover my hand. Not sure about fashion, but it was comfy as a soft sweater.

The crystals on my right palm had grown more. Strands of metal threads radiated from them, weaving into my skin. My entire palm would look inhuman as fuck if I didn’t drink the Suppressor. Eventually, SpookyErind’s clawed gauntlet might materialize in the real world—what else could this be turning to?

Materialize in my world, anyway. There were multiple worlds from how SpookyErind spoke.

I dug the nail of my index finger into my thumb.

Painful. A small reddish indent remained on my skin.

I could also feel how weak I was—the Suppressor was still in effect. Puny, frail, squishy human. Must be why I was cranky and antsy. Annoying to be weak. I didn’t want to say it out loud—not that this was a good place for it—but I had less and less intention to become a normal human again as time passed.

If that’s even possible.

Likelier that I was pissed because I’d have to abandon my normal life soon. After going through all that to save Mom and preserve my surface-level way of living, I’d end up overturning it myself. But I didn’t have a choice. This had to end on my own terms.

The TV caught my eye. A break from the nonstop news about the Tech Fair.

The reporter narrated that the missing college students from a few days ago had been confirmed to be the bodies found in the burned shack along the Mojave highway. She continued that the BID was on the case because it was suspected that an Adumbrae was involved, given the mangled state of the bodies.

Another cop stood beside Walrus’ desk, watching the TV. Shrugging, she said, “Positively not a mountain lion goin’ ‘round burning bodies.”

The TV screen flashed a picture of Action Hero with his movie star’s square jaw and brooding eyes. The next was Skull Tattoo Bro. I couldn’t forget his ugly mug, even though his parents provided a decent pic of him wearing a dress shirt to hide his tattoo. The following images must be the other dead frat guys. After that fun night… or day… I was ashamed to admit I couldn’t remember the rest of them.

“Poor lads,” Walrus said. “Eloyce students all… bright futures gone. I’d love my boys to get into such a prestigious university. Gonna set them for life.”

Poor lads? I raised a brow. They surrendered their bright futures when they bothered me. Rule #4 no longer protected them. I did egg them on a bit to bother us more, but that was ultimately on them.

“How do you reckon they got lured to that ancient gas stop?” the female cop wondered.

“They went in there for a dare, my guess,” someone said. “Some stupid game, for sure.”

“And then found an actual monster?”

“Right out of a friggin’ horror movie,” a passing cop gruffly said.

Precisely what I was going for, I cheerily piped in my head.

Was that pride I felt? My handiwork was on the news! Partially Deen’s too. Ugh. I didn’t want to share the glory with her.

The Tech Fair was a bigger thing, but that wasn't mine. As for wrecking the Tea Party base, while that was awesome, it'd probably be only known by government authorities. If they’d even find it.

I intently listened to the reporter describing the torn and burned bodies. Violence and fear sell. From the blood in different locations, it was apparent the victims were killed separately, she said. Then their corpses were brought to the old store and set on fire with their car.

The news switched to interviews of supposedly nearby residents—I didn’t know where the hell they lived in the empty desert—speculating there was some demonic ritual going on with the burning. Then there was another shot of a priest praying outside police lines with several onlookers behind him.

“Man, not a good way to die,” said another person waiting for his test three seats away from me.

I supposed he was talking to me, so I timidly nodded. If I recall correctly, the frat boys were attending the Tech Fair. Technically, they were going to most likely die there too. I just gave them a better death.

Arguably.

Wow, I’m a good person. I caught my grinning face reflecting off a computer screen. I lowered my head, willing my cheeks to go down. I kept smiling as the cops chatted about how awful the crime was, one of the worst Adumbrae-related incidents in recent years, they said. And it would’ve been top news if it wasn’t for the Tech Fair.

Fucking Tea Party, stealing my limelight. Served them right that their base was destroyed.

“Bet the Adumbrae that did this was at the Tech Fair,” the female cop said. “Stopped for a chow on the way. Had half a mind to burn evidence.”

Evidence?

My blood was there. Deen’s too. Not human blood. The investigators would confirm something inhuman did it but couldn’t trace it back to us.

What about cloth scraps? Fingerprints? Did the customers at the diner remember us? The police might track us for questioning in the days to come. My history of getting involved in way too much Adumbrae stuff was getting suspicious.

It’d be hard to do what I planned if government authorities were coming for me.

Should I accept Vanessa’s invitation? I scrolled through the contacts on my phone to the number she gave me. I snorted at the name—Roasted. I should change that.

She gave me a means of contacting her before we parted ways last night, saying I should meet with her ‘boss at work’ soon. Mom was listening, so Vanessa couldn’t say she meant Big Marcy.

Good thing Vanessa quickly left after we escaped the police ring with the powers of Deen’s Guardian Angel. While her pet was helpful, Deen was annoying as fuck, pestering Vanessa about the other people she had allegedly saved.

Why did Vanessa lie about that? Weird.

On the topic of weirdness, Vanessa said that another person wanted to see me—Ramon.

I played along that I knew the name, only remembering this morning while brushing my teeth that Ramon was the pizza delivery guy who had a crush on me.

He’s alive? A mini-surprise I didn’t care for.

Last I’d seen him, he was part monster. Or full monster. Can there even be a half-monster? Once part of a human turned into—anyway, what was he doing with the 2Ms? And why would he want to see me? Shouldn’t he hide because of what he had become?

Maybe Vanessa told her I was an Adumbrae, and he thought he had a chance.

Heh.

I’d have forgotten about Ramon if not for Vanessa bringing him up. Who else did I forget from the condo?

If I forgot, how could I remember? Duh.

Given that Ramon was still in the land of the living, Kelsey might be as well. Suppose Myra’s suspicion was correct that the Supplier kidnapped her sister. In that case, the best Myra could hope for was that the Supplier recruited Kelsey as an Adumbrae soldier, sort of like Ramon with the 2Ms.

My finger hovered over the message button next to Vanessa’s phone number. I was interested in what Big Marcy had to say about the Supplier and his connection to Dario. Now, I had to know… because I was coming for them.

Big Marcy might be able to protect me from the police and BID as I’d lose the Professor’s sinister hand wiping away evidence. So many enemies. Allies were also enemies. I would take them all out until no one bothered me anymore.

“Aunt Dora…” I muttered, noticing a cop with bionic eyes. Would she help me? She mentioned working for Corebrings, probably in return for her life.

Can I get a deal like that from Corebrings? Didn’t sound too bad.

The door of the adjacent office opened, interrupting my thoughts. A police officer holding a bunch of papers stepped out. Some of those had to be my certificates. She didn’t immediately go to the Walrus, stopping to watch the TV.

I couldn’t blame her. I was also interested in what was being reported—workers from the Corebring Hive had arrived in the city.

Humans employed by the Hive, not Corebrings themselves.

The mayor spoke on a pulpit about not letting Corebrings into the city because that was akin to a foreign military force coming in. He strongly supported the President and shared his views on rejecting Hive interference. But in this instance, the mayor allowed Hive researchers to lend their expertise in the investigations.

Then the news switched to a bunch of reporters crowding around a tall man in a crisp white uniform with blue and black borders. He had a smooth silver helmet fully covering his head. His identity was kept a secret for both the safety of the Hive and the relatives and friends he left. I should know. Even his voice was altered as he answered questions from the reporters.

In the background was a Corebring ship, its mouth open.

Do ships have mouths? I didn’t know what to call that door thingy under the ship’s belly that doubled as a ramp. The ship was hard to make out because the Hive spokesperson and shrubbery of microphones partially covered its view.

People in similar uniforms and helmets descended the ship, accompanied by sleek drones carrying heavy equipment.

Is that? My eyes widened. The outline and gait of the man third in line were familiar.

I shot up, almost toppling my chair. “Dad?”

“Ms. Hartwell?” The cop with the papers jolted in surprise at my sudden movement. She handed me an envelope. “These are yours. Apologies for the delay. Our labs are swamped.” She grinned. “Also, the director’s chatting with your mother, so she didn’t immediately sign these.”

“Yeah… Mom…” I checked the TV. Ads were playing. That was probably just my imagination.

“If you can follow me here, Ms. Hartwell,” said the cop. “We’ll need your signature on a few things.”

“So, we’re all agreed that we’re going to try recruiting Imani to our side?” I said after Myra had started the car. I sat by the passenger’s seat while Deen was behind me.

Mom was going to visit Aunt Mikaela, who taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Not an actual aunt, but a family friend who used to work with Mom. I had many ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ in the city, and Mom wanted to visit as many of them as possible before leaving. She knew I hated social nonsense and didn’t persuade me to accompany her.

“Worth a try,” Myra said. “But it’s really up to you guys ‘cause I haven’t met her. I can’t judge her character just from your story.”

“We’ll ask Imani,” Deen said, “and see her reaction.”

“What about this Jubjub person?”

“She’s the Dario of their group,” I said. “Totally an enemy.” I wanted to suggest that if we could kill Jubjub, we should do it before she’d regroup with the Professor.

“Maybe we don’t need to do this,” Deen said. “Maybe… maybe Dario still hadn’t found out that you’re an Adumbrae. That you’re Red Hood.”

“The Professor having us tailed is proof.” I looked eyes with Deen in the rearview mirror. “I was wrong to think that Jubjub’s group was tasked with protecting you. Maybe that’s what the Professor told them, but by tailing you, they’re tailing me. Or maybe it was to protect you from going rogue because of me. Whatever the truth was, it’s awfully sketchy how frantically they reacted with us leaving La Esperanza.”

“Dario’s acting suspicious as hell when I asked him for Suppressors,” Myra said. “He did give it to me. Then I exchanged it with Everett and Reo’s Suppressors to be safe.”

“Now that Jubjub’s team is down for the count, the Professor would send others,” I said. “To do what, I don’t know. Follow us? Get Deen away from me? Kill me? We should take the initiative and act first.”

“What if…” Deen leaned forward in between the two front seats. “What if Imani rejects us? We can’t have her telling Jubjub on us.”

I turned left to look at Deen, staring into her eyes to push her to answer it herself.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Deen said, “We-we’ll kill her.”

There’s the Deen I know and love. Scratch that last part. I nodded, echoing her. “We’ll kill her. And that’s a minus one for their team, too.”