After his discussion with Harper, Ashton had a lot to think about. The fact that his team had been assembled with targets in mind, two targets, meant that once those targets were dealt with the team had a chance of being dissolved. That is, unless there was another motive that Harper and the rest of them were still hiding from him.

  If that was the case, should he hope for that other notice, or should he pursue his own desire, the serum? It was hard to imagine a life where he was free from his power. Free to live like an ordinary person.

  Ever since he had heard of the serum he had dreamed of such a life, and Ashton was sure everyone else on his team would agree. Everyone but Summer. She wouldn't understand. Not unless he told her what Harper had left out. Before he could even think of telling her, though, they had to sort out whatever was going on with that text.

  In the meantime, Ashton decided to fill the rest of his team in on what he had learned. If they were going to be targeting whoever was behind the corrupt hero agencies then they needed to be mentally prepared. Luckily Ashton caught Kayla outside of the apartment building and began to fill her in immediately. She didn't need a warning about MysteriousMaskz.

  "I know you won't believe me, but as grateful as I am that he led me to you and this team, I do not like that man," Kayla told him, "He scares me more than I would like to admit."

  Ashton surprisingly did believe her. "I won't forget about him, but right now I am more concerned about an enemy I know nothing about."

  “Do you have any leads on what kind of power this mystery threat has?” Kayla asked, pulling out her own pamphlet, “Based on how things are going, it must be something like persuasion or hypnosis, if not full on mind control.”

  “Complete mind control seems unlikely,” Ashton guessed, momentarily distracted as he caught sight of Summer right outside of her apartment. She was looking at her phone with that tension again. It had to be Maskz. He forced himself to focus back on Kayla. “We can’t discount it, though. We aren’t professionals yet. We can’t afford to underestimate our enemies.”

  “Have you told the others about your suspicions yet?” Kayla asked, then tensed a bit as they heard approaching footsteps.

  Summer walked right up to them but her expression was all over the place. “Everything alright?” Ashton asked, holding back his urge to ask about the second text that day he had seen her check.

  “Yeah, sorry,” she told him,a flash of embarrassment crossing her face, “I’ll tell you what happened later.”

  Ashton relaxed. At least she was willing to tell him. With what had happened earlier, he had been concerned she was going to shut him out. “Alright. I have some things I need to fill you in on as well,” he told her.

  Kayla let out an annoyed sigh. “I know you two have your private little secrets with each other, but would it kill you to make it less obvious?”

  The comment hurt, even more so because Ashton realized that for a moment he had forgotten she was even there. What was he doing? Before he could get a hold of his own frazzled state of mind, Summer had apologized. There was a pause before Summer suddenly grabbed Kayla’s hand.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Actually, there is something I need to discuss with you too,” she told her.

  One look at the determination in her eyes, and Ashton could tell she had something in mind. Maybe Kayla could help her more with this problem than he could. After all, unlike Ashton, Kayla had actually had contact with MysteriousMaskz. He excused himself to fill the twins in on the same thing had had the other two. He should do something productive while he waited to see what Summer was willing to tell him.

  Neither of the twins were surprised by the development that the team was created with specific targets in mind. Especially not Kai. He had particularly strong opinions on the matter.

  “Why else would they let freaks like us loose?” he demanded, “All I care about is what we stand to get in return for our service. If we have to go through some scary sounding criminals to get it, I will do what I have to.”

  “Carefully,” Levi added, “We need to be alive to enjoy the perks, so we will also be careful to make sure to do things right.”

  Neither of them had explicitly stated it, but they were imagining the same prize Ashton had been coveting just earlier. The serum. A life without being bound by powers that were more of a curse than anything else.

  “I can’t make promises,” Ashton reminded. He really couldn’t, but they all knew that. They also all knew he would try his best.

  Not long after he left the twins, Ashton received a text from Summer.

  “I’m ready to talk whenever you are. Wanna meet up?”

  Ashton turned his head to look towards her apartment door. It wasn’t like he had left the complex. Instead of pointing that out he sent a simple question in reply.

  “Where?”

  As he descended the steps to the lower floor, Summer popped her head out and answered in person rather than through text. “Your place?” she suggested, “Mine is… I just don’t trust it right now.”

  Didn’t trust it? Ashton unlocked his apartment and held the door for her. “Is that one of the things you are going to explain?” he asked.

  “It is,” Summer promised.

  She didn’t start explaining anything until the door was firmly closed, the curtains pulled shut, and every device closed or turned off except for her phone. It was hard to tell if this was simple paranoia or if she knew something.

  “He’s watching me,” Summer told him, her voice shaky as her calm facade broke down, “I don’t know how, exactly, but he has been watching me all day. Here.”

  Summer presented her phone to Ashton, and he took it to find that it was unlocked with a rather concerning string of messages on display. No wonder she had been so out of sorts. It had been a mistake to think earlier that MysteriousMaskz was less of a concern just because he knew he was there.

  Masks, or Ned as he had called himself in the messages, had gone from offering her information on Ashton’s secrets, to trying to threaten her, to pretending to give her a better offer that she could think on however long she wanted. This better offer was to somehow make Summer an irreplaceable member of the team.

  She had responded to the first, refusing it, but that had only seemed to make things worse. Ashton looked up from the messages to see Summer watching him with bated breath. She was scared, just as scared as he was of being rejected. He passed her phone back.

  “Would you like to know the real reason I ended up in the facilities?” Ashton asked instead of addressing the texts. It seemed like the right thing to do. “I know Harper didn’t tell you.”