I woke and smacked my lips, stretching out under the blankets that were heaped on top of me. A yawn made me crack my eyes open, and I winced at the sunlight coming through the window. Huh...I’d slept through the night. No awful night terrors or spirals dragging me down until I wanted to put a slug through my forehead. I’d just shut my eyes and drifted off.

  Rising from the couch, I stretched again, popping my back and groaning. Damn I felt good. My mouth was a little cottony, but it wasn’t like waking up with a hangover. Joy hadn’t even stayed the night, making it that much more surprising how good I felt. I wandered into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water, then sat at the table slowly sipping it.

  “Morning,” Papa greeted me, yawning as he entered the kitchen. “How you feeling, kid?”

  “Pretty good,” I said. “Sleep okay?”

  “Yeah, better than usual.” He gave me a smirk as he turned on the coffee machine. “Didn’t wake up to screaming and crying.”

  “Sorry,” I muttered into the glass, cheeks burning. I flinched as he reached out and ruffled my hair with his good arm.

  “Ain’t no thing,” Papa said gently. “Can put up with it for a shooter like you. You like the weed?”

  “It was...okay,” I hedged. I’d enjoyed it, but looking back I’d kind of been an idiot too. Although… “Probably better than liquor.”

  “Amen,” he chuckled, pouring coffee into a trio of mugs. “You take anything, cream or sugar?”

  “Both, thanks,” I replied. “Um, sorry about yesterday, I was pretty out of it.”

  “Didn’t bother me, I was whacked out on lean.” He adjusted his sling and stirred a mug before setting it on the table in front of me. “Gonna have to sort breakfast on your own, me being lame.”

  “That’s fine,” I replied, sipping the coffee as Zeke walked in with a yawn. “Thanks though, this is great. Morning Zeke.”

  “Morning Lia,” he replied, grabbing a mug of coffee and sitting across from me. “Damn, that shit KO’d me like Laffy.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, chuckling.

  “You thought about yesterday?” Zeke asked as Papa sat. “Who we hitting?”

  “Later,” I said, shaking my head.

  In truth, I hadn’t thought about it. That was mostly because I hadn’t been able to think for most of yesterday, but still. They were right about us needing to strike back, but how? I was sorely tempted to get a random address from Tattletale and do exactly what Werwolf had, but that didn’t seem too effective. No, we had to be precise.

  Precise, yes, but also had to show them what would happen if they fucked with us. It wouldn’t do to have a tit for tat slap fight, that would invite further retaliation. We had to hit back hard enough that they’d be reeling, something that would have them thinking twice about rolling up and shooting at us.

  Maybe targeting a cape, though that was dangerous stuff. As far as sending a message went, that seemed like it would do the trick. I didn’t really want to put my team’s lives on the line for this though, there had to be a better option.

  Well...maybe there was. It had been a while, and I’d been a little out of my mind at the time, but I’d gone for some pretty nasty plays against the Nazis when I was a Ward. They’d lost a tattoo parlour and I got out without a scratch. They were probably more on guard than before, but what did that matter walk through a hail of bullets to torch the place?

  I wasn’t working alone though, and my team was at least slightly less bulletproof than me. Should I just do this by myself? That was a pretty bad idea, especially since they might still be looking for me after I beat the shit out of their lookouts. God, what was I going to do… Well, I should probably get started at least.

  “That’s the look of someone stirring the pot,” Papa said dryly. “What you cooking up, shooter?”

  “Thinking about how to hit back,” I said. “You got any motor oil?”

  “Two parts gas, one part motor oil,” I explained as I filled the bottle. “Cap it, shake well, then tape a rag around the neck. Simple as that.”

  “Damn,” Zeke said appreciatively. “Didn’t know you could make a bomb in the garage.”

  “It’s hardly a bomb,” I countered. “It’s just...an arson charge you can throw.” Zeke chuckled as Joy glanced at me nervously.

  “You sure about this?” she asked. “I mean, it seems like a bit...much?”

  “Joy you literally stitched Papa up yesterday,” I said. “We’re doing less than them, not going to shoot anyone after all. Well, unless we have to.”

  “Where were you planning to go?” Joy said.

  “Toy shop we raided before Christmas,” I replied as I poured gas into another bottle. “We know for a fact it’s Nazi property, and it shouldn’t be occupied since the raid. Quickest job we’ve ever done. Stop a block away, burn it, sprint back to the car and go. Ten minutes tops.”

  “Unless they have people guarding it,” she said, scratching her chin. “Or a cape on call, like Thurisaz.”

  “First, Thurisaz is going to be locked up for a long time,” I countered. “Second, the only cape that could catch us is Purity, and I bet she’s busy with more important stuff than guarding a raided shop.” For now at least…

  “Yeah, I guess,” she sighed. “Sorry I’m such a downer.”

  “You’re just being icy, checking our ass,” Zeke said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Need that around with Lia, you know?”

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  “It’s really fine,” I said, ignoring the dig. “As long as we aren’t outright fighting, I don’t mind you second guessing me. You’re smart, and you mostly know what you’re doing these days. Good to have someone to bounce stuff off.”

  “Oh, um, thanks Lia,” Joy said, a smile creeping on her face.

  “You’re welcome, and I mean it,” I replied, capping and shaking the second molotov. “We’re a solid team, I really believe that. Some wrinkles to iron out, but that’s fine. I like working with you guys, I think more than any other team I’ve fought beside.”

  “Damn, getting all sappy,” Zeke said lightly, ruffling my hair as I taped on the cloth. “I feel it though, you guys are cool as hell. You been lightening up Lia, and I like hanging out with you.”

  “It’s...it feels messed up to say,” Joy began hesitantly. “But there’s a weird part of me that’s happy I got powers. Is that fucked up?”

  “What happened to you was,” I said, grabbing her knee and squeezing gently. “I don’t think it’s weird to like...be happy you’re with us. That’s partly because of your powers, so yeah, I think that makes sense.”

  “Shit I’d kill for powers,” Zeke said.

  “No,” Joy and I said in unison. She stared at the floor as Zeke looked confused.

  “What was the worst day of your life Zeke?” I asked, then held up a hand when he opened his mouth. “I don’t need an answer, I don’t want an answer no offense. But I was there when Joy got powers and I’m willing to bet it doesn’t compare. Powers are the shittiest consolation prize in the universe.”

  “Amen,” Joy muttered bitterly.

  “I mean, still,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. “At least you got powers for your shittiest day, you know?”

  “Oh, it was only the shittiest so far,” I retorted. “And since getting them it’s been a fucking ski-hill into hell. Trust me Zeke, trust us, we’d be happier without them.”

  “Man, maybe it’d be different though,” Zeke sighed. “Like imagine if I could fly, that’d be sick as hell.”

  “I think you’re pretty cool without powers,” Joy said.

  “Yeah, hell of a driver,” I added. “And despite first impressions, not an idiot.”

  “The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That you’re smarter than you look,” I said with a shit-eating grin.

  The impromptu boxing match that ensued took up the rest of the afternoon, and I couldn’t be happier.

  “Fuck, fine, let’s give it a shot,” I said, massaging my temple. “He seemed...fine.”

  “Dunno, I think he was undressing me with his eyes,” Joy complained.

  “Until I gave you your gun,” I said, elbowing her. “Can’t be too bad if he can take a hint.”

  “I promise you guys, Jeep’s great,” Zeke said, phone in hand. “So can I call him?”

  I gave him a nod and leaned back on the couch. Both Joy and I were still a little iffy on bringing in more people but, well, the fact was we were badly outnumbered. If Jeep was as trustworthy as Zeke said, we couldn’t afford to turn him down. That was a big if, but at this point I was willing to give it a shot. Couldn’t be worse than just letting the Nazis do whatever the fuck they wanted.

  Jeep could probably be trusted, hell I was willing to buy that all of Zeke and Papa’s friends could be; they’d all trusted each other for years with literal criminal secrets. That didn’t automatically translate into keeping mine, but it was a good sign. Ultimately, if they couldn’t be trusted, I could take care of that too.

  Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that and we could all just get along and rid the city of its Nazi problem. I guess I’d soon find out if they were willing to work with me on that. There was a knock at the door and Zeke rose to answer it while Joy and I continued fiddling with our pistols. She’d been spending a lot of her day getting comfortable with the weapon, something that had me in high spirits.

  “Yo, how’s it going Lep?” Jeep said as he joined us in the living room, sitting next to Zeke on the loveseat.

  “Not bad, you doing okay after yesterday?” I asked, putting my pistol down on the coffee table. Joy followed suit a moment later.

  “Just fine, didn’t even get grazed,” he replied easily. “Pissed though. You know who did it? That what this is about?” I gave Zeke a look, but he shook his head.

  “What makes you ask that?” I said, getting a grin.

  “Shit, I knew it,” he said, chuckling. “C’mon, you gotta let me in on getting payback for Papa. Who was it, probably Seventh Street GDs, right? They been gunning for him for years, ever since he renamed their block.” I gave Zeke a look, but he just shrugged.

  “No, we’re pretty sure it was Werwolf,” I said. “Successor to Empire Eighty-Eight and a bunch of rotten, Nazi fucks.”

  “Ah shit, why’s a cape gang targeting us?” Jeep asked, looking more than a little afraid. I took a deep breath.

  “Well, yesterday it was because I was there being white,” I said slowly. “But before I give you the actual reason we’re doing this, I need to know you’re going to keep your mouth shut.”

  “On god,” Jeep said gravely, leaning forward and lowering his voice. “If it means revenge, I’ll be quiet as the grave.” I glanced at Joy and got a minute nod.

  “There’s a reason I didn’t take a bullet yesterday,” I began, crossing my arms. “I’m a cape, go by Amaranth in-mask. Me, Joy, and Zeke have been going after the Empire’s remnants for months. Couple days ago, we raided one of their places, might be why they were looking for trouble.” Jeep blinked, staring blankly at me.

  “You’re a cape?” he asked incredulously. When I nodded he chuckled, scratching his chin. “Damn, well...that does explain why you ain’t full of holes. So what about you Joy? I know Zeke ain’t got shit.”

  “I...yeah, I have powers too,” Joy said flatly. “And like Lia said, you’d better keep your mouth shut or else.”

  “Hey I’m cool, I’m cool,” Jeep said quickly, raising his hands. He glanced between us nervously. “So...what you got planned, come on. You wouldn’t bring me in unless you got an idea, right?”

  “We’re going out tonight,” I explained. “How do you feel about bonfires, by the way?”

  Jeep grinned.

  “Looks clear to me,” Zeke said quietly, peeking out from the alley we were hidden down. “They got police tape over the front of it, but nobody actually there.”

  “Okay, then we’re going,” I said, passing a firebomb each to Nadir, Zeke, and Jeep; all now masked up and ready for a hit. I took out a can of spray paint I’d borrowed from Papa as well. No better way to send a message than sending a message. “Remember, as soon as we get there we all light and throw, then run back here. Don’t even give them a chance to respond.”

  Everyone nodded in approval, so I led the from the alley and started running the half block to the toy store. My heart was pounding, but true to Zeke’s word the way was clear. The storefront was still smashed up, and the windows were covered with yellow tape. Pretty obvious it wasn’t actively being used right now, but that just meant we weren’t at risk of anyone getting hurt.

  We halted outside the shop, and I passed a lighter around, making sure everyone was on the same page. As one, we cocked our arms back, then threw the molotovs into the store. Fire exploded out, spreading rapidly across the floor and shelves. I ordered the rest of my team to book it, then quickly shook my can of paint and left Werwolf a message on the pavement that they would die for.

  ‘No More Nazis’.

  I tossed the can into the fire, then sprinted back to the alley and joined my team. We wasted no time, running through the alleys back to the car we’d hidden several blocks away. I kept an eye out, pistol in hand while they got in and turned the engine over, only then getting in the passenger seat next to Zeke.

  “God damn!” Jeep exclaimed as he pulled off his mask, grinning widely. “We showed those bitches right!”

  “Hell yeah,” Zeke crowed as he sped down the street, engine roaring.

  “Don’t celebrate yet,” I warned them, gun still in hand. “Not til we’re home and asleep. Even then…” I shrugged, staring out the window.

  “Lia’s right,” Nadir said, taking off her own mask. “This is serious work. We’re not just fighting a gang, we’re trying to get rid of monsters.”

  “Should only celebrate when we take down one of their capes,” I said. “Or make a big bust or something.”

  “Come on man, that was cool as hell,” Jeep groaned. “Zeke, we gotta roll up for that, right?”

  “Do whatever,” I said with a shrug. “As long as you keep quiet about this, I don’t really care.”

  “Yeah, yeah no prob,” he said. “So, what’re we doing next, chief?”

  I sighed and shook my head. That could wait til the morning, at least.