Tee looked back at the large red eyes locked on her. The creature’s pitch-black body resembled a Xenosapian, glimpsed through the long leaves. The tight skin on its face twitched with every blast from its nostrils.

  A streak of light from a hole in the dome’s ceiling separated them, preventing her from getting a better look at the monstrosity. But it gave her an idea. She looked up just as the creature darted at her. Her neck stiffened, stopping her from looking further.

  The blood drained from her face as the creature’s red eye filled her vision. Its growl thundered in her ears, and she felt a sharp blow to the back of her head before realizing it had slammed her into the ground.

  Her fingers slipped from the sword lodged in the beast’s mouth as its massive teeth crushed her bones. “Aaah!” she screamed, the pain blinding.

  The creature yanked at the part of her arm trapped in its jaws, dragging her across the rough ground. It thrashed violently, trying to tear her arm free. The snaps and crunches of breaking bone echoed in her skull. Blood sprayed over her face and into the creature’s mouth.

  Luckily, it had bitten the hand without the glove. Tee dropped the sword she still held and summoned another—its blade forming inside the creature’s head. She never got the chance to pull it out and finish the strike. The searing pain in her right arm wiped her mind clean.

  The monster spat her arm out and swung its snout into her, sending her skidding across the ground and crashing through ceramic pots.

  Miko at the back of the group shrieked with each near slip, but Kie, Saeda, and Zod ignored her.

  “There was about three inches of water out here, but our drainage is excellent,” Allan said, leading the way across the soggy ground. “All the excess water went into our purification dams.” He sighed, stopping at the water tank tower and looking at the clear skies. “But the sun will have to do the rest for the waterlogged soil.”

  He pointed to the glasshouse Tee had entered from the surveillance feed. They had glimpsed the dark creature lurking nearby and now understood what they were up against—but was it truly a ten-by-four Xenosapian?

  Kie passed Allan. “Thanks. We’ll take it from here.”

  The rest of his team followed toward the glasshouse.

  Black liquid gushed from the long split along the beast’s face as it shrieked. Tee didn’t release her sword inside its head, even as it spat her arm out. So when it pushed her away, its own demise followed—the blade slit through its skin.

  Tee pushed past the loud shriek in her ears and rose from the pile of broken pots, her heavy breathing loud as she bore the pain in her right arm.

  Dammit! What was the point of a healing ability if the pain still existed? She glanced at her arm, coated in red from the elbow down. The pain was the only reminder she was alive, not trapped in some nightmare.

  It wasn’t time for a painkiller patch—not with the monster shrieking in her ears. She got to her feet, but the noise at the entrance made her eyes dart around. No—it was her bloody teammates, not the monster.

  Light flooded her mind as she looked up. The metal frame of the glasshouse was sturdy, but it wasn’t what held her focus. She summoned swords with her good hand and swung them into the air, shattering the glass tiles. Blinding streaks of sunlight poured in, trailing shards behind.

  “Hey, ugly!” she yelled at the beast, throwing one sword at it.

  The creature leapt to evade the blade, its red eyes locked on their small prey. It dashed toward her.

  Tee held her arms apart, though only one wielded a sword. The sunlight made her glow. She planned to keep the creature in the light long enough for it to burn.

  “Come to your doom!”

  Her eyes overlooked the sharp shards falling around her as she stared down the beast’s gaping throat. A loud thud from a fast-moving object pushed her aside, rolling her across the ground.

  “Ugh!”

  “Tee, are you alright?”

  She turned from the large brown eyes of Miko in front of her to see the creature retreating from the sunlight, steam rising from its black body.

  “Get off me!” Tee fumed, pushing Miko away. She rose on her one good arm. Her heart sank when she saw the creature lying still. Her body shook as she realized the handles all over its body had deep blades embedded.

  Before she could release her anger, the dark red eyes flashing in front of her made her step back and gulp.

  Kie grabbed the upper section of her busted arm—the one missing a glove. “Why did I find that guy with your glove?” he blasted, and she blinked at every word.

  His words settled in her ears. “Allan? What did you do to him?”

  “Why does it matter? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you—”

  Tee yanked her arm free and shouted through tears, “I gave it to him so he could kill himself! He can’t even lift the damn sword!”

  Kie stared at her, silent, as she breathed hard in his face. Tee wondered what he had been about to say before she cut him off. She hoped he didn’t think she was a Xeno-victim—that would be insane.

  After her words hit Kie, he didn’t know what to think. Was Tee that much of a Xenogenist? He felt guilty for holding his sword at the lad earlier. Looking away from Tee, he remembered what he was actually mad about.

  “You ran off to play the hero when we’re supposed to be a team! I still haven’t told the Commander about your misconduct. Do you know how many times I covered for you—” He stopped, realizing he had said too much.

  Tee’s eyes widened. Did he mean he’d kept details from his report to protect her? That was madness.

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  “Forget it,” he said, his anger gone. He walked past her, unable to stand looking at her anymore.

  Tee placed patches on her busted arm, ignoring her teammates as they pushed the monster into the sunlight until it burned. They had to erase the evidence—a creature from across the Veil couldn’t exist in that world. The Xenosapian melted into goo.

  “Time to leave,” Kie said when it was over.

  Zod frowned. “We can’t just leave. We should tell the family we dealt with their Xenosapian problem. What if they think we died and call more MG offs? We should at least give them closure.”

  The five fake MG officials returned to where Allan was near the water tank tower. On the walk back to his house, Tee dragged a finger across her throat—just for Kie to see. When Allan looked away, Kie remembered the reason she said she gave him the glove. He didn’t know what to feel.

  Allan understood the gesture. She was reminding him what she had told him—to use the glove if he needed to. But how did she have time to think about that when her arm was still dripping blood down her side?

  Kie told the family, “As agreed, my team and I have defeated the Xenosapian. Now we must be on our way.”

  The old lady stepped forward with a case and caught sight of Tee’s bleeding arm.

  “Please, keep your money!” Tee shouted. She hated pity, and MG offs weren’t supposed to accept payment from civilians anyway. Why was the woman so insistent?

  Miko bowed politely. “Thank you for having us. The meal and hospitality were amazing.”

  The lady Kie had spoken with stepped closer and kissed him on the cheek. When Tee didn’t even glance his way, he knew just how far she was from ever being his.

  Allan burst into the room, confusion painted on his face. “Father, there’re some people here to see you—they say they’re MG officials.”

  Several adults in dark-themed uniforms entered, eyes pink from hangovers, all wearing golden badges of certified MG officials. One of them tugged at the waist of his pants that wouldn’t fit over his stomach, spat on the ground, and said in a slurred voice, “Where’s the Xenosapian?”

  Tee checked the time on her telecom and shook her head. Lazy tools.

  The father put on his spectacles, his face wrinkling further as he stared at the golden badges.

  The old lady snapped her case shut and stepped back. “If those are MG offs, then who are—”

  Allan and his family froze. The five MG officials who’d slain their monster vanished before their eyes. It seemed they no longer had a Xenosapian problem—but one with ghosts.

  Kie and his team reappeared at the mission base. For some reason, when Kie saw the Commander approaching, Tee flashed in his mind. He glimpsed her just as she collapsed. “Crap!”

  The second she saw the white floors, Tee fainted. She had lost too much blood and fell into a deep sleep. A crowd gathered before she was rushed to the medical unit.

  After five hours, she woke up in the infirmary with her hand fully healed. Since she was alone, she assumed she hadn’t been out long. Her mind drifted from her teammates to her failure to destroy the Leak.

  She returned to her room, unable to nap like she usually did before dinner. Did she really pass out from just a busted arm? If she was going to carry the team and be the reason they defeated the Harbingers, she had to grow stronger. Something had to be done about that deep sleep. What use was determination if her body shut down whenever it pleased?

  She needed endurance—resistance to pain and tearing. It would also help her foresight ability. The thought lit a spark inside her. She sat up, left her room, and headed for the training area.

  To stop falling into deep sleep during missions, she would have to learn to bear pain and push her body past its limits. She didn’t like the idea of cutting herself—but it was the simplest start. She’d begin small. A kitchen knife would do.

  She reached the training room. The noise that reached her ears after she pushed the large door shut made her brows knit together. She walked along the long aisle that split the room in half. The closer she got to the source, the clearer the punching noises became. Catching sight of the back of a guy with jet-black hair made her freeze.

  Dammit! Why was Kie there—the wannabe MG official?

  He had made Tee out from a reflection on a metal pole nearby but didn’t think to turn around. He wanted to make her jump.

  She started to leave for the section she had intended, but then remembered what Kie said about not revealing her misconduct to the Commander.

  Had he already told the Commander about everything she’d done—including that day? Maybe the only reason she hadn’t felt the Commander’s wrath or been called into a meeting was because Kie hadn’t reported it. But why? When the questions burned too strongly, she turned back and walked toward him.

  “What do you want?” Kie asked as soon as she stopped behind him.

  Tee blinked at his voice. “I knew it,” she said, hands on her hips. “You’re always training outside hours. That’s why you’re almost at my level… almost.”

  Kie turned, flashing his pearly white teeth. “Is that the best you came up with? Face it, you came down here to spy on me.”

  Tee looked away from the sweat-stuck hairs on his face to consider his words. That made sense. Why else would she be in a room scented with the Commander’s presence? Saying she was there to train would make her seem desperate to outdo him.

  “You should just admit you like me,” he said to her blank expression.

  Her eyes darted from the punching bag to his. “W-What?” she blurted. She stared at him, brows knit, waiting for an explanation for the madness she’d just heard.

  Kie sighed and swung a towel around his neck, gripping both ends. He looked her over. “You’re all the same. I was always tired of older girls from my Mid-Guard spying on me when they thought I didn’t notice. I just ignored them…” He started to walk off. “And I’ll do the same with you.”

  “Girls spied on you?” Tee puffed. “Did you even have scars back then? That would be impossible.”

  He opened his mouth to protest, about to say his scars were fading. Instead, he took a deep breath, grabbed his water bottles in one hand, and moved to leave.

  “Wait!” Tee blocked him. “What you said earlier about covering for me—what did you mean?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Why were you covering for me?” she pressed, tagging his side as he marched. “Are you listening?” When he ignored her, she gritted her teeth. He didn’t know she was a Xeno-victim, yet he treated her that way. She wasn’t going to let him walk away.

  Kie reached the door but didn’t get through. A powerful push hit his chest, slamming his back into the tall door. His water bottles clattered to the ground. His eyes locked on the pale-eyed girl in front of him.

  “What the freck—are you crazy?” he blasted. “Fine, what do you want, huh?”

  Tee removed her hand. “I want you to take me seriously and listen.” She folded her arms. “And don’t bother explaining why you haven’t told the Commander about my bad conduct—I already know why.”

  Kie’s eyes narrowed, brows knitting.

  “You’re going to pile it all up and use it against me for blackmail. Then you thought you’d get me to do whatever you wanted—starting with your share of dish duty. You sick MG offs are all the same. Life is a game, and everyone else is just a puppet for your enjoyment!”

  Kie turned his face away from her last blast. Her voice stopped echoing, and he could finally think. Why hadn’t he considered that? There were so many things he could have made her do. Should he tell her the real reason? No.

  He looked her dead in the eyes. “You’re quick thinking. But remember—you already owe me one for letting you go see Jack.”

  Tee’s heart sank. He was right. Her grip on him loosened.

  He continued, “And I did your share of dish duty while you were too sad and depressed to care.”

  Tee looked away and released him.

  “Why would I want to blackmail you? What kind of person do you think I am?”

  He sighed, disappointed, and left, the door closing behind him. Tee remained alone. He was having second thoughts about her.

  Tee couldn’t understand how Kie had done so much for her without her asking. What did it mean? Was he genuinely kind, or was he acting? Maybe he was embarrassed at being caught before he could use his tactics on her, and now he played innocent.

  Any gratitude she had begun to feel died like a fire exposed to rain.