I took a sharp breath of painfully warm air, more a wheeze than a gasp. A shiver wracked my body, but arms entwined my waist and a blanket lay over me. I sighed despite my hammering heart, basking in the beatific warmth I could never have dreamed of. A yawn escaped my mouth, ending in a slight whine. I was so tired…

  “Lia?” a sleepy groan sounded behind me, lightly accented with a twang that made my heart ache and stomach sink. “Morning. You okay?”

  “Fine,” I whispered, licking my lips. “Just a bad dream, that’s all.”

  “Aww, chérie.” Paroxysm kissed the back of my neck. “It’s alright, I’ve got you.”

  “I’m okay, really,” I said, shaking my head. “I um, I’m going to go for a walk okay? Just got to...settle down.”

  “Alright,” she said with a sigh, letting me go. “Don’t go to far, okay?”

  “Sure thing,” I said, throat tightening as I rose from bed. Yeah, not far, just New York…

  I kissed her cheek before I left, unwilling to leave her feeling I didn’t care. Maybe it wasn’t love, maybe she was just using me...but it didn’t matter. Paroxysm had been there for me the whole time I’d been in the Birdcage, helping me navigate the nasty politics of the block and offering more...physical comfort. Hopefully, if I got through this time around, I could get her out as a favour.

  For now, I had work to do.

  I followed the same route as before, heading towards the elevator room I’d been whisked away from before. Contessa had warned me not to be so hasty spilling Cauldron’s secrets, but what the fuck else was I going to do? She hadn’t exactly given me a pass phrase that would get them here in a hurry.

  Well whatever, she’d be pissed but she wasn’t going to kill me, I knew that at least. And now I knew where the Nine were going. New York, god, if they actually made it to the city proper things would turn from ugly to catastrophic. They’d managed to cause an insane amount of chaos in a city like Brockton Bay with a literal thousandth of the forces; a place that concentrated wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “Dragon,” I spoke into the room the moment I arrived. The lights were still dark, but I knew she could hear me. “The Slaughterhouse Nine are out again. They’ve attacked the village of Killington and have a bunch of clones,” I recalled my recent death and shivered, “and hybrids. I know you won’t get me out of here, but I’ll see you soon.

  “Contessa,” I continued. “Get me out of here. You and Cauldron need me if you want to—” A light glowed from behind me and I ducked, spinning on one foot and flinching as a hand clamped around my wrist. I couldn’t help but grin at her glare. “Hi. Nice hat.” She let me go and went through the portal without a word. Spoilsport. I followed through and winced as my ears popped, as they always did when I entered Cauldron’s base.

  “You should not speak of us in such places,” Contessa warned me. “There are too many people listening.”

  “Yeah, well, give me a password then,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t exactly have a better way to get in contact with you.” She studied me quietly for a moment, then nodded.

  “If you require contact,” she said. “Then you can say ‘Eden’s gate’.”

  “Okay, cool.” Cryptic, but whatever, as long as it made her happy. “Let’s hurry up, Jack Slash is early and heading to New York with a shitload of clones. We need to gather forces and get moving yesterday.”

  “I see.” Contessa pursed her lips, then turned on her heel. “Follow me.”

  Of course I did, where else was I supposed to go? Eden’s gate...was that what they called this place? That would make sense, considering what was underneath it. At least I was pretty sure that’s where they were keeping the corpse of the Entity. It was fuzzy, but I vaguely remembered some kind of scene on a staircase going down to it. Doctor Mother was there and she was going to drink a vial but it spilled? Broke? Whatever, probably unimportant; I was hoping we could avert ever needing to fight Scion.

  “In here,” Contessa said, leading me through a door. Probably the same as last time, but it was unmarked so god only knew.

  “Good, everyone’s here,” I said, looking around the room. My gaze fell on Skitter, or rather… “Hey Weaver.” In the silence of the room, there was the faintest hum of insect wings, and I had to suppress a grin; wouldn’t do to be too much like Tattletale.

  “Your precognitive aspect seems to have changed,” Doctor Mother said, folding her fingers together. “Unless you were fed her identity by someone.”

  “Sure, you,” I replied honestly. “But that’s not the important part. Jack Slash is out and he’s got a small army of Slaughterhouse Nine clones. I don’t think I need to explain just how bad that is.”

  “Killington and New York City,” Number Man said flatly, looking at the screen of the computer on Doctor Mother’s desk. “Yes, it’s quite bad. You did well to warn Dragon before attempting to contact us.”

  “I’ll go to the Brockton Bay Protectorate as planned,” Weaver said, her amber lenses not leaving my eyes. “Try to smooth over your untimely escape.”

  “I have to go to Brockton Bay too,” I said. “Get my team together for this. We’re going to need some parahuman killers, and I’ve got them at my call.” I pursed my lips. “Oh, and I think we need a cape named Foil too, from Boston. Can’t tell you anything specific but...I don’t know, get the feeling she’s vital for some reason.”

  “You mean Flechette?” Weaver asked, cocking her head.

  “No,” I said, shaking mine. “Changed her name back at some point. Anyway, might be worth using a portal to get her onboard.”

  “We’ll take your suggestion under advisement,” Doctor Mother said flatly. Ah, the kindest way to say ‘fuck off, stay in your lane’. “Now where do you need to go?” I took a deep breath.

  “Door, Amaranth’s second hideout,” I said loudly.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  There was a beat.

  “Door,” Contessa said. “Amaranth’s second hideout.” A portal appeared in front of me as my cheeks burned. “Our resources aren’t your to command.”

  “Got it,” I said tersely, then quickly stepped through the portal.

  Hopefully I could avoid making too much of an idiot of myself in front of my friends…

  “Jeeeezus,” Zeke said, leaning back in his chair. “End of the god damn world, huh?”

  “And early,” Joy said grimly, staring into her coffee.

  Like last time, I appeared before my team and explained the situation. Like last time, I wished I had more time to just...be with them, hang out, enjoy Christmas; maybe get high off my ass and vegetate for twenty-four hours. But of course I couldn’t afford that, and neither could the world.

  “I know it’s a scary situation,” I said. “Fuck that, it’s downright pants-shittingly terrifying. But I also know I can rely on you guys better than anyone else. I swear I’ll do everything I can to bring you home too, everything. But I need you watching my back.”

  “Well shit,” Zeke sighed, tugging at a knot of hair. “If it’s the end of the world as we know it, may as well try and stop it.”

  “You’re on board?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “You know it,” he said with a nod. “Man, never thought it’d be like this though.”

  “Neither did I,” Joy muttered. “I’m in too. God, didn’t think it’d be now, but we have to do this. I have your back.”

  As did J-Dog, but not Jeep. Expected, but still unfortunate. We really needed everyone we could, but I didn’t want someone who didn’t want to be there. I had my soldiers, and they were ready, that was all that mattered. We headed out right away, going over to Reese’s place to gather our weapons, and our remaining team member. The ride over was silent, tense. They were scared, and so was I.

  I’d died once already, and I really wasn’t sure what to do to deal with the Mannequin hybrid that killed me. What had it been? The cold, but surely that hadn’t worked fast enough. But there was the lethargy too, growing as he approached. So that was what Miss Militia meant by draining energy, it wasn’t just from projectiles and heat.

  It didn’t happen all at once though. It was quick, but hardly instantaneous; and knowing it was coming, I might be able to resist it at least a little. Would a satchel charge work, like with Hookwolf? If it was big enough, maybe he wouldn’t be able to absorb it all. After all, Miss Militia had knocked him back with her first round. As long as we could crack his shell, we could kill him.

  Worth a shot anyway, we had the explosive to spare. When we arrived at Reese’s place, I quickly explained the situation and got him onboard. We packed bags with ammo, grenades, and explosives; sixty kilos in all, everything in the stash. I put half of it in a duffel slung across my chest, heavy but balanced when I got my weighty rucksack on. The rest was distributed with the others.

  Finally ready, finally united, we headed for the PRT building to join up with the others and get to work.

  “Amaranth, understand you’re on thin ice,” Director Higgins said as we gathered around the table in the briefing room.

  “Yes yes, pre-signed kill order, I’m aware,” I said, rolling my eyes. I caught Joy’s sudden glare at Miss Militia, I guess she hadn’t known. Well, I hadn’t told her to be fair, but what did she expect for a Birdcage escapee? “With the bullshit out of the way can we get moving to New York City? The Nine have a head start on us and—”

  “Dragon is still on the way to verify your intelligence,” Miss Militia cut me off.

  “Are you shitting me?” I demanded. “I warned her about that an hour ago! What, is she walking?”

  “Amaranth, shut up,” Weaver said sharply. I shot her a glare, then sighed.

  “Whatever, once she’s done inspecting the carnage, tell her to fly here and pick us up,” I said flatly. “Oh, there’s a Siberian waiting in the village for her, and a Hookwolf on the road to New York; hence the need for a lift from Dragon.” Miss Militia stared at me, eyes wide. Glancing around, I saw her expression mirrored on most faces I could see. “What?”

  “Your precognitive aspect has changed,” Higgins said thoughtfully, making me groan.

  “No, I’m just not holding anything back anymore,” I retorted sourly. “I’m giving you the raw shit, everything I can remotely remember.” Except how I got it, of course, that was off the table.

  “It hasn’t changed, and she’s giving us basically everything,” Tattletale backed me up, but I didn’t like her smile. “But she is holding something back.” I didn’t wait for her to say another word, I just raised my rifle and aimed it squarely at her fat, ugly mouth.

  In a flash, I had a dozen weapons pointed at me, more capes than I’d ever fought at once bringing their powers to bear in a threat, a pact, of violence. Tattletale, for her part, didn’t look the least bit surprised, though she didn’t look happy either.

  “Relax,” Tattletale said slowly. “I didn’t say I’d share with the class.”

  “That’s the best choice,” I replied evenly, ignoring everyone but her even as sweat began to prick at my back. “For your health, you understand?”

  “Perfectly.”

  “Great.” I lowered my weapon. After a long, tense second, so did everyone else. Throughout it all, my team hadn’t twitched. Well, fair enough. “So now that we’re clear I’m not screwing around, can we get a move on?”

  “This conversation isn’t over,” Miss Militia threatened as the holoprojector on the table made a tone. She pressed a button, and a high-altitude picture of Killington appeared. “Dragon, were you listening in?”

  “Yes Miss Militia,” Dragon replied, maybe a little coldly. “I would remind Amaranth that she is a dangerous fugitive and the resources of the Guild and Protectorate are not at her disposal.”

  “Noted,” I said with a hint of sarcasm. “There’s a trap for you in the square with the Christmas tree. Don’t bother looking, it’s not worth making everyone sick.”

  “What—”

  “You really don’t want to know,” I cut Miss Militia off.

  “I don’t see any signs of life from up here,” Dragon said. “Director Higgins?”

  “Descend to one-hundred feet,” he replied, staring at me. “I think this is something we can take Amaranth at her word about, but we still need to check.”

  “Understood.”

  “Don’t look,” I said to my team. “It’s just a horror show, made to break your nerves. Psychological warfare. They’re good at it, and the best way to win is not to play.”

  “C’mon, can’t be that bad,” J-Dog said. “What, did they string up the bodies like—” He cut himself off with a strangled noise, his dark skin paling noticeably. “Fuck me.”

  “I told you.”

  It was the same ugly sight as before, the tree festooned with twisted and mutilated corpses. The people in the room all echoed J-Dog’s shock, and I noticed Zeke taking intense interest in his boots all of a sudden. Well, he was the smartest of the bunch. The others turned various, palid shades as they saw the gory display. Even having seen it before, my stomach twisted at the sight.

  The image suddenly tilted and shifted, the Cawthorne igniting its engines and climbing quickly. I caught sighed of a large piece of concrete ascending rapidly before being intercepted by a scintillating blast from Dragon’s weapons. I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

  “Siberian’s down there,” I said. “You’ll have to bomb the village, no telling where Manton is.” Miss Militia gave me a shocked look.

  “Director?” Dragon asked.

  “Do it,” Higgins confirmed with a stormy gaze. On screen, rockets flew, popped, and lit up the village with a vicious cluster bombing. As smoke filled the sky, I cleared my throat.

  “We should get on the road,” I said. “They’re bound for New York City. Dragon, do you have a transport on the way?”

  “My ship is inbound,” she replied, her voice venomous. “Ten minutes. The Dragonflight is preparing for combat and Defiant is retrieving other teams from Detroit and Chicago.”

  “We’ll be ready,” Miss Militia said, and the hologram winked out. She pointed a sharp finger at me. “Amaranth, you will not try to usurp command here. The only reason you haven’t been detained is the extenuating circumstances we’re facing. Step out of line and I will put you on a transport back to the Birdcage.”

  “Understood,” I said flatly, forcing my expression to remain neutral. “I’ll just remind you that I actually know what’s going on here.”

  “Then you can brief us on the enemies we’ll expect to face while we wait,” she replied, nodding to the door. “Let’s go.” With a grunt, I gestured to my team and followed her out the door.

  For the first time ever, I felt like I’d been right in getting out of here, and I wasn't happy being back.