Tee stomped out of the bathroom and back into the large dining room. Her peeled eyes searched for the chap among the standing figures. Most of the family members had risen from their seats—and so had her so-called teammates.

  Miko was nowhere to be seen. Kie stood in a corner talking to his new lady friend. Zod and Saeda busied themselves with paintings while listening to rambling voices explain their history. But where was the chap?

  The table behind the grille where he’d sat was empty. Tee activated her ability—it worked. She was no longer the shattered, sad girl, but someone ready to make everything align with her new goal.

  All that pain and anger she’d been holding back had become raw energy. She was going to use it—to take down both the beast Xenosapian and the Leak. But first, she needed to know if the rain had stopped on the surface, thousands of feet above them.

  She found the chap again, seated behind another grille near a window, still focused on his walk-pal. When he glimpsed the boots of someone who had passed through the grille and stopped an inch from him, his heart spiked.

  When his twitching eyes met Tee’s pale stare, she knew they wouldn’t have a quiet, low-key conversation. She slapped one hand over his mouth just as a scream was about to escape and shoved him against the wall.

  In a split second, he found himself staring into two pale eyes—an eyelash away. A cold shiver ran through him when he heard the voice of the MG official he’d mistaken for a ghost.

  “I’m only here to ask you a question. Relax.” Tee removed her hand from his mouth and stepped back.

  He gasped for air and rubbed the back of his head. “Damn, were you trying to break my skull through the wall?” he blurted. Why did he even ask? Of course, that’s what she’d wanted to do—but it hadn’t worked. He gritted his teeth and stared at the ground. “Just do it.”

  Tee blinked, confused. “Do what? Are you saying I can ask my question?”

  The chap’s brows untangled, and the rage on his face vanished. “Aren’t you here to beat me up?”

  Tee puffed. “What? Why would I—” She stopped mid-sentence, remembering she was an MG official.

  MG officials were supposed to deal only with Xenosapians. But some made it their hobby to bully those who could create such monsters—and sometimes, their bullying turned to murder.

  “I need to know if it’s still raining,” Tee said, pushing away the disturbing thoughts. “I’ve got things to kill.”

  The chap glanced at his walk-pal. “Sadly, it’s still pouring needles up there. But—”

  Tee’s heavy sigh cut him off. She walked to the window and rested her hands on the sill, staring outside. “Damn rain.”

  The chap tested his courage, leaning against the wall on the other side of the window to look at her. No one outside his family had ever spoken to him that casually.

  “You know I’m a Xeno-victim, right?” he asked, tugging at the crest that hung loosely around his neck.

  Tee turned to him. “I’m not blind. By the way, what’s your name?”

  His mind buzzed with questions about why she was even talking to him—but he welcomed the company. “Allan,” he said with a smirk.

  “That’s a much better name than Xeno-victim,” Tee replied. “You can call me Tee.”

  It was clear to Allan she wasn’t from around there. He resisted asking about her hair and instead joined her in staring through the window.

  “Tell me about this ten-by-four Xenosapian,” Tee said.

  “I know it sounds crazy, but I saw it. A monster that big had to be alive for months, yet it just appeared out of nowhere—and now some of our animals have gone missing.”

  “That can’t be related,” Tee said. “Xenosapians only eat humans.”

  “Some folks think it’s a predator problem, but there are no tracks to prove it. I even checked myself while watching out for the Xenosapian.”

  Things began to make sense to her. Maybe there wasn’t even a Xenosapian at all. Her brows furrowed. “You were watching for a monster that size all by yourself?”

  Allan scratched his head. “If you haven’t noticed the lack of workers on our farmlands, everyone’s scared—especially since my brother died—”

  “Your brother?” Tee asked sharply. “Is that the same person your father said was injured?”

  Allan gave a short laugh. “Did I say dead? I meant badly injured.”

  “Why were you watching out for the monster alone?” Tee repeated.

  Allan’s smile faded as he looked through the window. “Because it’s better that way. If someone’s going to get killed by that thing—it should be me.”

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  Tee blinked, letting the weight of his words sink in. He kept talking, his voice low but steady. Since she’d soon be gone, he wanted to finally say what he’d kept bottled up.

  “I know after you guys kill the monster, the real battle starts. Every time there’s a Xenosapian attack, the MG offs round up every Xeno-victim they can find and beat them half to death. I was shocked when you came to talk to me. I didn’t even prepare for a beating before the demon got taken down.” He sighed. “I just want the pain to end.”

  Allan didn’t see Tee’s lips twitch with rage at every word. He’d better not name the MGs who’d done that—or his brother’s death would be one of many that day.

  Tee didn’t break the windowsill, though her trembling hands could have. She straightened from her comfortable pose and moved quietly to the wall beside the window. She could sense several people coming their way.

  Allan looked through the large gap between them and glimpsed two of his cousins running the other way, unaware of them. He turned back to the window.

  Tee’s folded arms dropped to her sides as she faced Allan. The muscles at her temples tensed with a serious expression. “Sorry, it’s just—”

  “Don’t say anything,” he interrupted. “You did what you had to.”

  Tee’s chest felt hollow. She had acted on instinct. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. She couldn’t help but wonder how many times he had been let down, how quickly he had turned back to the window.

  Someone like him needed to be protected—for life. Jack’s face flashed in her mind, reminding her not to pity.

  “Hey, watch my hands—this is only going to happen once.”

  Allan turned from the window and watched as she pressed her thumb into her fist. A large sword appeared. His jaw dropped. “Wow!”

  Tee pressed on a dent near the hilt and the sword vanished. Allan blinked several times.

  “Here,” she said, removing her glove and handing it to him.

  Allan leaned off the windowsill, eyes wide. “What? Are you sure I can have it?”

  Tee slapped the glove into his palm. “Its energy won’t last forever, but if anyone tries to hurt you—” He looked up at her fiery eyes. “—aim for the heart and don’t stop until they stop breathing.”

  Allan blinked. His grin vanished. “Wut?”

  Tee smiled and patted his arm. “I’m kidding.”

  Allan nodded.

  “Seriously.” Her smile disappeared. “Make sure they’re dead.”

  Allan stepped back, staring at her twitching eyes before putting on the glove. “I’ll make sure to think about that.” His walk-pal beeped, stealing his attention. “Hey—it stopped raining,” he said.

  Tee opened the grille and rushed out. “Great. Take me back to the surface.”

  “Wait!” Allan blurted. “What about your comrades?”

  Tee’s spikes scraped the wooden floor as she came to a hard stop. She sighed. “Fine, get them.”

  Allan disappeared through a doorway to fetch the other MG officials. Tee unstrapped her telecom and threw it to the ground. By the time her teammates tracked her down, she would have killed the Leak and explained to Allan why it hadn’t turned to goo like a normal Xenosapian.

  She ran off.

  Allan informed Tee’s MG teammates that the rain had stopped and that Tee was waiting for them. They arrived, but Allan’s eyes widened—there were no signs of the girl with white hair.

  “Where did Tee go? She was supposed to be right here.”

  The four MG officials passed him, noticing the gadget lying in the passageway.

  Miko activated her holo-map to check Tee’s location, then looked down. “Yep, this is Tee’s telecom—but no Tee.”

  Allan moved closer, drawn by what had caught the MG officials’ attention. The sword that had almost sliced his neck forced him to stop. His shaking eyes met the dark red ones of the MG official he hadn’t passed.

  “What did you do to her!” Kie fumed.

  Allan glanced at the edge of the giant sword, which barely touched his crest—but he felt the scrape on his neck. “I—I didn’t do anything to her,” he stuttered, leaning back and almost tripping.

  Miko shrieked and took several steps back. She remembered cases where Xeno-victims mutated after falls.

  Saeda stooped to pick up the telecom, ignoring the three men behind her. “I doubt that guy could take Tee down. You’re fooling yourselves,” she muttered.

  Zod summoned a sword and used it to push away the one Kie held near the trembling man. “Dude, chill. We kill monsters, not humans. Tee’s fine.”

  Allan took deep breaths, stepping back as the scrape on his neck bled. “Crap.”

  Kie’s brows knitted as he blinked at the glove the chap wore on his raised hand. “Where did you get that glove? That’s Tee’s glove, isn’t it?”

  Allan gulped at the coincidence. He shut his eyes, yelling through tears, “Yes! But she gave it to me, I swear!”

  A blue flash of light from the lit passageway drew everyone’s gaze to Saeda.

  “He didn’t do anything to Tee,” she said, her eyes glowing a steady blue. Holding Tee’s telecom, she rewound events from when Tee unstrapped it. “She ran off on her own.” Her eyes returned to normal.

  “Wow, was that your vision ability? It worked!” Zod exclaimed.

  “What?” Kie demanded, pulling back his sword. “Why would she do that?”

  Zod dismissed his sword. “Saeda, find her.”

  Saeda put her glove back on. “I will—once I figure out how.” Her mind buzzed with curiosity about why her visions had returned suddenly.

  Allan couldn’t understand how the lady MG official made her eyes glow. He thought he was hallucinating—but he wanted them to leave.

  “I know she went to the surface,” Allan said. “I should be able to track her using the surveillance from the farms.”

  The air was still cool despite the sunlight shining on Tee’s face. She moved across the slippery ground, swearing her spiked boots were made for that.

  During the downpour, the Leak-slash-Xenosapian had moved from the area Allan indicated, and its tracks were washed away. It took Tee twenty minutes to find a lead, nearly giving up in the process.

  She followed the unusual white vapor lingering in the air. Whatever was burning, it led into the large glasshouse surrounded by green stalks. She stepped through the doorless entrance, tracking the burnt scent of victory.

  Though the vapor persisted, she knew she couldn’t rely solely on it. The monster might not be there. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, analyzing the green plants and trees for anything unusual. The dull light inside came from the tinted glass tiles, keeping the interior from being blindingly bright.

  She overlooked two large red circles, and something in her chest spiked. She froze.