Olivia stepped directly into his space without hesitation. “I did.” Not one ounce of fear appeared on her face.
“I’m Syndicate now too,” she bit out, crossing her arms over her chest. “So I’m going.”
I should’ve stopped the argument there, should’ve de-escalated it before Calix exploded, but my thoughts snagged on one specific thing she’d said.
I’m going.
With us. Into danger. Into something that could very realistically kill one of us. For once, I agreed with Calix completely. She absolutely should not go.
I had opened my mouth to say exactly that when a quiet voice drifted through the room behind me.
“If she’s Syndicate, then she deserves the chance to prove herself.”
Every muscle in my body was so tight that I nearly jumped at the unexpectedness of Riot’s voice. All of us turned at once.
She stood near the doorway dressed entirely in black, pale hair brushing her shoulders while the rest of her blended, almost unnaturally, into the shadows behind her. Her trademark Desmond eyes shined just as bright as Calix’s, but more exacting. She looked less like a person and more like death itself had decided to attend the meeting.
Riot silently moved into the room while Calix stared at her in disbelief.
“Mate or not, Calix,” Riot continued evenly, “you cannot shield her from every risk.”
Without waiting for permission, she picked up the long metal prototype resting on the table beside the schematics. Her eyes skimmed over the blueprints once before she slid the device over her forearm and secured it.
Then her fingers twitched. That was it. One tiny motion caused a controlled wind explosion that went through the room hard enough to rattle loose papers. Riot vanished from one side of the lab and appeared on the other in the blink of an eye.
Even I was impressed by her speed and precision, and air wasmydominant magic. I was one of the best alive at using it.
But Riot? Riot wasthebest.
Riot turned the device over once in her hand before looking down at it. Her thumb clicked a small switch along the side, and a blue arc of electricity instantly burst outward with a violent crack.
The shield formed around her torso in jagged glowing lines, its energy snapping and hissing through the air like it wanted to bite something.
She lifted her eyes to Calix. “Shoot.” The single word snapped the room taut.
Calix blinked once like he’d just remembered how to move. Slowly, he raised the gun and pulled the slide back. The metallic click echoed through the lab.
For a second, he just stared at her through the sights while neither of them moved.
“Now, Calix.” Her voice never rose, but somehow, that made it impossible to ignore.
Bang.
The shot exploded through the room. All of us tracked the glowing bullet as it screamed across the lab straight toward Riot. She planted herself firmly before impact, feet spread wide, knees bent slightly, ready to absorb whatever came next.
The bullet slammed into the shield with a deafening crack. Blue electricity burst outward violently, and the barrier buckled.Riot’s body jerked backward half a step while sparks crawled wildly across the surface of the shield.
For one horrible second, nobody breathed, then the bullet dropped harmlessly to the floor with a dull metallic clink.
I barely had time to register the success before Riot vanished.
One blink and she was in front of Olivia, her palm striking her shoulder hard enough to shove her backward several steps. Olivia caught herself before falling, sneakers screeching against the floor while shock flashed across her face.
Calix and I moved in unison. Both of us stepped toward Riot at the same time, wanting to throw ourselves between her and Olivia.
Riot didn’t react at all.
“That,” she said flatly, “is the level of recoil you should expect.”
