the new prime minister made opposing them part of his platform.”
I rub my hands over my face. “This is the sort of thing Omega was so good at. Sliding into places and corrupting officials through fear and bribery. Taking over rackets, or at least demanding a percentage to allow them to operate without interference.”
She gives me a squint. “Omega? The group that Kat and Janus were part of?”
“Yeah,” I say, “Crime was their raison d'être. It was what they did, using their meta powers to put fear and terror into everyone they could squeeze a buck out of.” I run a hand through my hair, brushing it out of my eyes. “Hera broke from them, founded Alpha after they started down that path. She opposed them all the way up until we had a bigger threat.”
Perugini’s face is stony, masklike. “Why?”
I blink in surprise. “Why, what? Why did she oppose them?” The doctor gives me a slight nod. “Because she believed in a higher duty. That we weren’t just given power so we could prey on people, control them, make money from their vices and weaknesses.” I felt my voice get soft. “I thought everyone who was in Alpha believed in that.” I think of Lorenzo and Fintan, and I taste bile in the back of my throat. Their betrayal stings, which is funny, since I didn’t even really know them all that well. I picture Hera and imagine her reaction to this. It’s not pretty.
I think about Diana—Artemis—whatever—Goddess of the Hunt, and I try again to fit this puzzle piece in. She’s an assassin? Some sort of hired killer? But she’s helping me. In all my time with Alpha, I had never heard of anyone like her. That doesn’t preclude the possibility she was secretly part of the group, but somehow I doubt it. Alpha didn’t tend to tread in the killing realm unless we had to, anyway. She kills like it’s nothing.
I put my head against the back of the couch. It’s leather, it’s comfortable, and I think—not for the first time—about just going to sleep for a while. My head is spinning, though, and I wonder if I’ll be able to calm down enough to even rest.
I rub my eyes and turn my gaze back to Dr. Perugini. There’s a balcony that overlooks the street below, and I realize the curtains are open. Fortunately, there’s no one on the roof opposite, but it tumbles to mind exactly how much worse I am at operational security than my sister is, and I kick myself again.
“What is this?” Dr. Perugini asks, and I glance at her.
“What is what?” I ask, a little confused.
“This thing you do with your face,” she says, and scrunches up her nose in what I assume is an impersonation of me. It’s not flattering to me, but it looks kind of cute on her.
“I dunno,” I say, “probably frustration.”
“It is not a good look,” she says, shaking her head. She stands and walks toward the only bedroom before I have a chance to recover enough to ask her about sleeping arrangements. She shuts the door, and I’m left staring at it.
I want to jump right to the idea that this is a metaphor for my life, but it feels too easy. There are doors in my face, sure, but if my sister were here, she wouldn’t be despairing. Hell, she’s probably off on an adventure of her own at this very moment. Craziness is abounding, souls are being drained, enemies are mounting an attack on her, old friends are betraying—
Okay, I’m projecting.
Even I’m aware of my inner monologue gaining a disproportionate amount of angst. We won the battle against the worst enemy metakind had ever seen, and now I’m left to deal with the fallout of some slackers who have betrayed everything I stood for when I joined this fight. I may have navigated a long path since the day I first started working for Alpha, but it stings, even without a bro-close relationship with Fintan or Lorenzo. They’ve pissed on everything I believed in, and I’m taking it personally. Ever have someone say something that just goes against everything you
I rub my hands over my face. “This is the sort of thing Omega was so good at. Sliding into places and corrupting officials through fear and bribery. Taking over rackets, or at least demanding a percentage to allow them to operate without interference.”
She gives me a squint. “Omega? The group that Kat and Janus were part of?”
“Yeah,” I say, “Crime was their raison d'être. It was what they did, using their meta powers to put fear and terror into everyone they could squeeze a buck out of.” I run a hand through my hair, brushing it out of my eyes. “Hera broke from them, founded Alpha after they started down that path. She opposed them all the way up until we had a bigger threat.”
Perugini’s face is stony, masklike. “Why?”
I blink in surprise. “Why, what? Why did she oppose them?” The doctor gives me a slight nod. “Because she believed in a higher duty. That we weren’t just given power so we could prey on people, control them, make money from their vices and weaknesses.” I felt my voice get soft. “I thought everyone who was in Alpha believed in that.” I think of Lorenzo and Fintan, and I taste bile in the back of my throat. Their betrayal stings, which is funny, since I didn’t even really know them all that well. I picture Hera and imagine her reaction to this. It’s not pretty.
I think about Diana—Artemis—whatever—Goddess of the Hunt, and I try again to fit this puzzle piece in. She’s an assassin? Some sort of hired killer? But she’s helping me. In all my time with Alpha, I had never heard of anyone like her. That doesn’t preclude the possibility she was secretly part of the group, but somehow I doubt it. Alpha didn’t tend to tread in the killing realm unless we had to, anyway. She kills like it’s nothing.
I put my head against the back of the couch. It’s leather, it’s comfortable, and I think—not for the first time—about just going to sleep for a while. My head is spinning, though, and I wonder if I’ll be able to calm down enough to even rest.
I rub my eyes and turn my gaze back to Dr. Perugini. There’s a balcony that overlooks the street below, and I realize the curtains are open. Fortunately, there’s no one on the roof opposite, but it tumbles to mind exactly how much worse I am at operational security than my sister is, and I kick myself again.
“What is this?” Dr. Perugini asks, and I glance at her.
“What is what?” I ask, a little confused.
“This thing you do with your face,” she says, and scrunches up her nose in what I assume is an impersonation of me. It’s not flattering to me, but it looks kind of cute on her.
“I dunno,” I say, “probably frustration.”
“It is not a good look,” she says, shaking her head. She stands and walks toward the only bedroom before I have a chance to recover enough to ask her about sleeping arrangements. She shuts the door, and I’m left staring at it.
I want to jump right to the idea that this is a metaphor for my life, but it feels too easy. There are doors in my face, sure, but if my sister were here, she wouldn’t be despairing. Hell, she’s probably off on an adventure of her own at this very moment. Craziness is abounding, souls are being drained, enemies are mounting an attack on her, old friends are betraying—
Okay, I’m projecting.
Even I’m aware of my inner monologue gaining a disproportionate amount of angst. We won the battle against the worst enemy metakind had ever seen, and now I’m left to deal with the fallout of some slackers who have betrayed everything I stood for when I joined this fight. I may have navigated a long path since the day I first started working for Alpha, but it stings, even without a bro-close relationship with Fintan or Lorenzo. They’ve pissed on everything I believed in, and I’m taking it personally. Ever have someone say something that just goes against everything you
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