“Good.”
His eyes glisten a silverish brown. How pretty. “Why did you call the Marduk here?”
“He didn’t tell you?” I laugh, planting my hands on my waist. “Wow. What a fearless leader you have. He didn’t tell you that he found his weapon and his key?”
That seems to startle the four of them. Thirty-Eight glances at the others. The Meinad and Terrasinth continue glaring at me. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I was. Do you know what his key is?” I shake my head, laughing in earnest now. “It’s a human woman.Another one. This is starting to get despicable, don’t you think?”
“I should have killed yours when I had the chance,” Bia hisses like a snake.
I clap. “You are so right. You should have. You also should have killedmewhen you had the chance.” I gesture toward Bia and the Meinad, who I can feel begin rumbling with their own powers. “Becausedo you know what’s going to happen now. No? My, my, the Marduk truly doesn’t give a fuck about you, does he? Did he not even tell you that I’m number Six? And I’m going to torture the fuck out of all four of you?” And so I do.
Before the Meinad can attack and before Terrasinth can open the ground beneath me and before Bia can summon her army of bees or snakes or polar bears or what-have-you, I send electrical currents through each of their bodies, a hundred times sharper and stronger than any I sent through the Marduk’s woman. A thousand times.
My body radiates with a terrible and awesome power that causes my feet to lift from the ground and my entire being to pulse with electricity. Lightning shoots from my horns, scattering around me like rain, piercing the chests of each of my adversaries, their hearts, their stomachs, their brains.
I decide I’d like them to die in half an hour on the dot, make sure it lasts long enough for them to know how upset I am about all this. A few times, they each try to call upon their powers to save themselves. Some little snakes come wriggling up out of the ground, I’m attacked by a flock of birds at one point—but they all slam against the electrical field like pigeons against glass. Terrasinth topples several trees and the entire ground quakes long and violently enough to sink some of those pathetic human bench seats—good riddance anyway—and at several points my vision grows hazy with whatever illusions Thirty-Eight tries to toss my way.
Pointless. Were they not even listening? I am number Six, currently the most powerful being on this planet except perhaps for Monika who, as loath as I am to admit, controls my heart and my hand. Who am I kidding? I love to admit it because loving her is the most fun I’ve ever had.
A final flare of bright electric intensity radiates through my bones, causing them to burn with exertion as light flashes off my body so bright and wild I hear glass shattering in the building behind me. The streetlights on the block flicker, and then the whole grid goesdead ... and so do the four supervillains who had the audacity to threaten my woman, lying on the grass and concrete.
My powers flicker and coalesce around me, folding back around my body like a cloak. My muscles sing with aches and a little pain. My neck cricks when I roll it out; so do my ankles and clawed toes. I have a slight headache, but overall, I sigh contentedly as I touch back onto the now-charred front walkway of the COE. Nearly the entire front garden and steps are scorched earth.
I go to the bodies, checking them for any final signs of life. Finding none, I give Bia one last swift kick to the side of her head, dust off my hands, and walk back through the doors of the COE building.
“Well, that was easy.” Easier than even I thought it would be, especially considering that the Marduk never showed. “Sorry about your lights,” I add, too lazy and tired to turn them back on.
Mr. Singkham stares at me, jaw agape. “You ... you ...” He’s standing between two soldiers who hold a larger tablet between them. I imagine it contains the video feed of what just transpired between the four villains and me—at least, itdid. Now the screen shows black, just like all the other tech in the building.
“Enjoy the show?”
Mr. Singkham’s jaw continues to work.
I pull out my burner phone. “I am disappointed the Marduk didn’t show. I’ll just give him a quick call to let him know what I did to his people, which will hopefully inspire him to come give us a visit. While I’m busy with this, can you find some sort of device to call the Wyvern? I’d like his support for when the Marduk gets here.”
Mr. Singkham is still staring at me like he’s never seen me before in his life. The truth is, he hasn’t. Only one person on this planet and any other has ever truly seen me. He blubbers two or three times before he finally forms words that are comprehensible. “He—he—he never showed.”
My thumb claw hovers over the talk button on my burner. I look up. “What?” I snap, fully prepared to kill Mr. Singkham next shouldhe give me another answer that causes me even the smallest amount of displeasure.
“We’ve been calling, but we haven’t heard from the Wyvern, Ms. Theriot, or Ms. Neu—”
I rip my own phone out of my back pocket only to find it dead too. The damn burner is the only one that seems to have survived this. I quickly use it to place a call to Monika’s number, but it just rings and rings.
Dread rolls over me.No.It’s not possible. The Marduk can’t have gotten to her. The Wyvern was with them. They should have been here half an hour ago ...
I go to call again, only for a number I do recognize to pop up across the screen. It may be Monika’s, but as I answer the phone, my blackened heart fully expects to hear the Marduk’s smug tone flood the line, and braces for that eventuality.
Instead, the voice I do hear shocks and soothes me, even as it screeches in ire. “Taranis Darius Marcel Smith, did you seriously chain an Ethiopian woman up in our office?”
“Yes,” I exhale, relief coating my bones in syrup. “Are you okay?” She doesn’t sound distressed or harmed, but I can’t know for sure until I see her, hold her in my arms.
“No! The Ethiopian woman . . .”
“Yes, yes, yes. Where is she now? I am assuming you released her?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“Of course I did. But the ‘where’ she is might be a little trickier to answer. Where are you?”
