Three people waited for Grace and Jasper on the roof. The Red Blades they’d fought earlier were gone, the only sign the gang had been there at all being a few scattered bloodstains that everyone else seemed content to ignore.
“Great, everyone’s here,” Jasper said as she and Grace walked to meet them. “Grace, you already met Holly, but that’s Thea Smith and Dax Cho. And everyone already knows who you are.”
Holly and Dax were in the process of taking off fumigator jumpsuits. Underneath hers, Holly’s clothes were entirely black, save for a purple stripe running down the legs of her pants. Once the jumpsuit was off, she stepped into a pair of red boots and shrugged on a matching red leather jacket.
The outfit sparked recognition. Grace shifted her attention to Thea and recognized her, too. Dark brown skin, tight curls of black hair, eyes that glinted gold in the morning sun, and the outfit: a black zip-up jacket with a yellow lightning bolt across the front, complimented by yellow pants and black sneakers.
“Wait,” Grace said. “Red Holly? Jolt?”
Holly rolled her eyes. Thea’s gaze remained fixed on her tablet screen.
“Oh, good, you already know them.” Jasper slid her gloves off and shoved them into her coat.
“I know of them,” Grace said with a glance her way. “They work for you?”
Holly appeared genuinely offended by the statement. “Work for her?”
“We’re a team,” Jasper said.
“And who’s this?” Grace asked, returning her attention to Dax Cho. “I don’t recognize him.”
Like the rest of the team, Dax appeared to be a human in his late teens. He was pale-skinned with black hair, and he brushed one of the short pieces off his forehead as Grace glanced his way. He stood at about Thea’s height—she and Dax were the shortest of the five.
Dax wore simple black pants and a blue shirt, both made of thick, sturdy material. Not a flashy outfit that stirred recognition the way Holly and Thea’s had.
“Dax isn’t a well-known villain like the rest of us,” Jasper explained. “He has healing abilities, though. Code name Remedy.”
“You’re the only one who calls me that,” Dax said.
Jasper waved a hand dismissively. “Well, you’re a real villain in my heart.”
“Thanks?”
“You’re welcome.”
Dax turned to Grace and offered a polite nod. “Nice to meet you, Grace.” He seemed way too nice to be hanging around a bunch of villains.
“You too,” Grace replied, managing a small smile despite the…everything. Her heart had yet to settle back into its resting rate, and a faint tremble still lingered in her hands. Her legs didn’t feel much steadier.
Thea glanced up from her tablet just long enough to wave at Grace. As her gaze returned to the screen, though, she said, “Welcome to the party.”
Jasper pulled a black smartsphere from her coat—Grace wondered just how much stuff she had in her pockets at any given time—and held it up. “Mia, summon the car.”
The sphere answered with a gentle, feminine voice. “Calling the car.”
“No, don’t call it. Summon it.”
“Summoning the car.”
Jasper sighed. “Thank you.”
“Mia?” Grace asked.
“It’s a nickname,” Jasper replied, as if that were a thorough explanation for what had just occurred. She shoved the sphere back into her coat.
“What is she?” Or should Grace have asked who? Was that a person on the other end of a call, or the smartsphere itself speaking? The voice sounded a bit robotic, but Grace rarely saw spheres used for anything other than accessing the net on holoscreens and making calls.
Jasper pressed a fist into her opposing hand. Knuckles cracked. “An A.I. that does everything I say.” She switched hands. “At least, she’s supposed to.”
An engine revved nearby. Grace whirled around.
A sleek, black vehicle sailed over the edge of the building next to them and landed on the roof. Strips along the bottom of each side emitted a neon pink glow that was faint in the sun but undoubtedly striking at night. The inner rings of the tires gave off a similar light. Jasper grinned as the car screeched to a stop in front of her.
“Could we please obey traffic laws for once?” Holly asked. “If there’s Blades around, the least we could do is avoid attracting their attention.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Jasper replied. She pointed to the other side of the car. “Shotgun, Angel.”
Grace’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“She wants you in the front seat,” Holly muttered.
The interior of the car was as black as the outside, illuminated only by the various neon lights of the dashboard and what little sun that made it through the deeply tinted windows. Jasper flipped a few switches and grabbed the steering wheel. “Seat belts, everyone!”
Grace clicked her belt into place. “Where are we going now?” Somewhere safe? All she wanted was to sit down and process the past few hours of her life.
“Bibi’s,” Jasper answered.
“The diner? Why?”
“The jewelry isn’t for us. We’re trading it in exchange for—”
“Are you just going to tell her all of our plans?” Holly demanded, leaning forward into the space between Grace and Jasper. She’d squeezed into the middle seat behind them, Thea and Dax on either side. “We don’t know if we can trust her!”
“I didn’t say I trusted her, but she’s with us for now.” Jasper pushed the car into drive.
They shot forward. Grace yelped in surprise and reached for something, anything to hold on to, but the smooth interior didn’t offer any handles. She stared out through the front windshield as they neared the edge of the roof. “This is a flying car, right?”
“Duh.” Jasper slammed a button on the dash with her fist. Thrusters activated, tires folded, and they joined the rest of the traffic cutting through the Sky District.
Well, joined wasn’t the right word. Jasper weaved in and out of traffic streams, occasionally leaving designated airspace to swoop unnervingly low over the concrete skyways carrying non-flying vehicles, or to veer within inches of a building.
“Stop showing off!” Holly exclaimed. “Police will be after us in minutes.”
“My bad. I forget how much more they care about the law up here. Don’t worry, I’ll take us down to the streets.”
Thea sighed. “Sudden drops aren’t great for the sensors—”
“Angel,” Jasper interrupted. She pulled the gearshift back and lifted her hands off the wheel. “I need you to do something really important for me.”
The car dropped.
Grace’s stomach went somersaulting. “What?” she yelped.
“Open that compartment in front of you.”
Grace could hardly think as she fumbled with shaking hands to find and open the compartment. “Now what?”
“Hand me one of the bottles.”
Grace grabbed the first bottle her fingers touched and held it out to Jasper. It was soda, she realized. Nova Cora.
“Stop making this poor girl enable you,” Holly said. “She doesn’t know any better.”
Poor girl? Grace was at least as old as everyone here, if not older.
Jasper laughed as she took the bottle. “Enable me? It’s soda, not drugs.”
“Yeah, ‘soda’ in giant quotation marks.” Holly’s eyes rolled. “That stuff’s full of garbage.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s not technically enough water in there to be defined as soda,” Thea added.
Holly leaned forward to take the bottle from Jasper, but Jasper yanked it out of reach. “Whoa, I’m driving! You trying to get us killed?” Jasper twisted the bottle’s cap off.
“Your hands aren’t even on the wheel!”
Jasper pulled the bottle away from Holly again, spilling a few drops of the fizzy black liquid.
Grace leaned forward and peered out the front windshield. Skyscraper windows and neon lights and flying vehicles passed by in a dizzying blur. “Uh…”
“Don’t worry,” Dax said, sounding way too reassuring for the given situation. “She does this all the time. You’ll get used to it.” On the other side of Holly, Thea was back on her tablet, tapping away as if they weren’t in danger of crashing into a building at any moment.
Jasper slid the Nova Cora bottle into the cup holder and grabbed the wheel with her left hand. With the other, she pushed a lever on the dash up. The vehicle tipped forward in response.
There was a burst from the thrusters, slowing their descent. Wheels unfolded. Then, they slammed into a slanted roof. Jasper yanked the wheel to the right, and the car skidded toward the edge. They shot off the roof and onto a street.
Not a skyway. A real street. They were back on the planet’s surface.
“Damn good shocks on this thing,” Jasper commented with a grin. Grace wanted to disagree after the jolt that still lingered in her bones, but she supposed the fact that nothing was broken was a testament to the car’s construction.
Cars honked and swerved as Jasper cut across traffic. One man nearly stepped into the road in front of her but jumped back when he realized she wasn’t stopping.
Jasper cracked her window. “Get the hell out of the way!” she shouted.
Holly raised an eyebrow. “Would it kill you to watch the language?”
“Look, I can either swear or run this guy over, but my anger’s gotta go somewhere.” Jasper turned into an alleyway, sped around a few corners, then came to an abrupt stop that flung everyone forward.
“Which Bibi’s are we going to?” Thea asked coolly.
“The one at the top of the Silver District. It’s next to a medical center.” Jasper threw open her door. “Why?”
Thea held up her tablet. “So I can get their net password.”
“We’re going to be there for five minutes,” Jasper replied as the rest of the team climbed out of the car. Grace hurried around to the driver’s side quickly, not wanting to spend too much time out of reach of Jasper. There was no telling when more Blades would show up to kill her.
“And I have to stay online to keep us out of trouble.” Thea rested her free hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. “Especially with you driving around like that. Security cameras or civilian videos could catch us—”
“Whatever,” Jasper said, waving a hand dismissively. “As long as you’re online, could you check the Earthnet for me? See if anyone good has dropped new music.”
“I’m not going to do that.”
“Cool. Thanks.” Jasper set off down the alley. She carried the Nova Cora bottle she’d opened in the car.
Grace scrambled to keep pace with her. “What are we doing at Bibi’s?”
“Oh, right.” Jasper took a swig of the drink. “We’re trading the jewels for access to Starchatter.”
“Starchatter?” Grace asked. “The news site?”
Behind them, Holly let out a cold laugh. “I’d hardly call it news.”
“Their quizzes are fun,” Dax said. “Uh, the articles are pretty bad though.”
“Whatever you want to call it doesn’t matter.” Jasper shrugged. “This isn’t about Starchatter, it’s about their location. The races. Ringmaster.”
Grace had no idea what Jasper meant by races, but she did recognize that name. “Ringmaster? The supervillain?” she asked. “Wasn’t he robbing banks on Sa Ren last…week?” She opted for that over pentasol, even though it wasn’t a perfect exchange. Jasper seemed to prefer Earth measurements of time to Kronosian ones.
“He was, but he’s back on Kronos. For now.” Jasper adjusted her coat. “Thea, get me the nearest elevator to the middle districts. Preferably one that’s not open to the public.”
Thea tapped her screen. “On it. Follow me. And I added a few new albums to your personal playlist.”
Jasper grinned. “Thanks, Jolt. Knew I could count on you.”
“You can access the Earthnet yourself without even touching a—”
“Yes, yes, I know, but I’m busy. Anyway, Angel, Ringmaster’s hosting a competition,” Jasper explained as they followed Thea around a corner. “A series of street races. It’s a chance for criminals and villains from all over the Janus System to show off.”
“You being one of them,” Grace guessed.
Jasper waved a hand. “I don’t need anyone’s help to show off,” she said. “No, remember what I said about taking down Governor Starr? This is step one. Ringmaster works for Starr behind the scenes. We catch Ringmaster, we deal a huge blow to his operation.”
“Ringmaster works for Starr?” The exclamation came out louder than Grace had intended, but that statement was absurd. Ringmaster was one of the major supervillains Starr called a threat.
“Sort of. Ringmaster does his own thing a lot of the time, but sometimes Starr will specifically ask for a favor,” Jasper explained. “Ringmaster blows something up as a distraction, or kills one of Starr’s political opponents, or lets a few of his henchpeople get arrested to make the government look good. In return, everyone working directly for Starr leaves Ringmaster alone. Including upper district police.”
“What does Starr need Ringmaster for if he has Red Blades?” Grace asked.
“Oh, Ringmaster’s much more powerful,” Jasper replied. “The Blades only operate on Kronos, and they have to compete with other gangs for territory.”
The group took another corner, this time into a narrower alley darkened by a wide walkway above connecting the buildings.
“How do you know about all of this?” Grace shot Jasper a sideways glance. “How has no one else figured it out and told the public?”
“I’ve been studying Starr for years. I’ve gotten—” Jasper hesitated. “I’ve gotten close to his operations. I’ve seen the evidence with my own eyes, even if I don’t have physical proof. Yet.” Chin lifting, she added, “I’m hoping to find some when we get our hands on Ringmaster.”
Up ahead, Thea paused next to an elevator whose doors opened into the alley. “Here’s our ride,” she said. She rested a hand on the panel next to it. “It’ll take a minute to get to us. Fair warning, it’s old. Doesn’t seem to get much use.”
“Perfect,” Jasper said.
“I’m not the only one who thinks Jasper shouldn’t be telling this girl all of our plans, right?” Holly asked, folding her arms as she stopped with the rest of the group. “What if she was bugged?”
“She’s not,” Thea said. “I’d be able to tell. No bugs, no trackers.”
Holly didn’t look satisfied, but she didn’t make any further comments.
“Okay,” Grace said slowly, still mulling over everything Jasper had told her. “What does Starchatter have to do with—?”
“Hold that thought,” Jasper cut her off. “I’ll fill you in on the Starchatter thing later, but right now…”
The elevator doors screeched open.
“Is this safe?” Grace assessed the inside as the five entered. Wrappers littered the floor and graffiti covered the walls. At least the elevator she and Jasper took earlier had been clean.
Jasper slammed a button. “Most of what we do isn’t safe.”
The elevator shuddered and creaked as it ascended. When the doors opened, Grace was the first to hurry out. Jasper chuckled as she followed.
The five crossed a skywalk to the Bibi’s. Grace peered over the railing at the city below. At the walkways and skyways filled with people and cars. The flying vehicles, flashing lights and billboards. The urge to jump and spread her wings made her heart ache. She’d rarely had the opportunity to fly while living at the palace.
The end of the skywalk connected to a walkway wrapping around the skyscraper. Similar walkways clung to most public floors in the cities—the floors of buildings filled with restaurants and shopping centers. Stretches of buildings with nothing but windows and balconies on their outer wall typically signaled offices or apartments on the inside, only accessible by interior elevators requiring keycards or a code.
“Won’t people recognize us?” Grace asked as they reached the diner’s front door.
“Not unless we do something to get their attention,” Jasper said. “And Bibi’s shouldn’t be busy yet.”
Well, Kronos was home to life from all over the galaxy. There was such a diverse variety of people on the streets that it was hard to attract attention by sight alone, regardless of what you looked like. No one would pay much mind to people who were just walking. Plus, Holly and Thea had left their jackets in the car, making themselves less recognizable.
Still, Grace wished she had a jacket to hide her wings, even if they folded up tightly enough to not be blatantly obvious.
The group entered the Bibi’s and found it empty. Jasper tapped the bell by the register. A moment later, a teenage girl emerged from the back, loudly chewing gum. She had dark blue scaly skin, lighter blue hair pulled up on top of her head, and an annoyed expression on her serpentine face. “You’re early.”
Jasper shrugged. “Things went smoother than usual for me. Statistically speaking, something terrible is bound to happen at any moment.” She clapped her hands together. “So, you have the passwords for the employee database?”
The girl blew a pink bubble and reached into the front pocket of her shirt with a clawed hand. She held up a folded piece of paper. “You have my jewelry?”
Jasper emptied her pockets onto the counter. The girl picked up a necklace and examined the vibrant red jewel at the end of its chain. Apparently satisfied, she handed the paper to Jasper and began scooping the jewelry into a paper bag with the Bibi’s logo on it.
“How did you get these, anyway?” Jasper asked as she tucked the paper into her coat. “We couldn’t find them in any of the Starchatter databases we hacked.”
“They don’t keep them in the system, they keep them on paper. They’ve had issues with security in the past,” the girl explained. “Lucky for you, I have a close connection there.”
“Follow-up question,” Holly said, raising an eyebrow as she looked around the diner. “What are you doing working in a place like this? We just handed you hundreds of thousands of janos worth of jewelry. You have connections with people like Van Terra.” Her tone was tinged with suspicion.
The girl shrugged. “My mom would be suspicious if I didn’t have a job.”
As the last of the jewelry went into the bag, a gunshot echoed outside. Jasper had a gun of her own gun in hand in an instant. Holly drew a blaster from a holster at her back. Thea and Dax tensed but didn’t look particularly alarmed.
Grace only had a moment to be surprised by the weapons she hadn’t noticed the team carrying. She stared, frozen, as a bullet came through the door and struck the wall behind the counter.
“Oh, come on,” the employee groaned. “I left the Green District to get away from this kind of thing.” She stormed into the back.
A few more shots went off. Jasper took a step toward the door. “Who’s there?”
The door burst open, revealing three Red Blades. Grace yelped and stumbled backward into the counter.
“What were you shooting for?” Jasper asked the Blades. “Door was unlocked.”
The blue-furred Blade in the middle stepped forward, one of his large ears twitching. “Hand over Alvarez, and we’ll let the rest of you go.”
“Not a chance.” Jasper cocked her gun. “Holly, help me. Everyone else, get to the balcony.”
“You think we don’t have more Blades in the area?” the Blade asked.
“This close to the upper districts? Can’t have too many of you in one group. You’ll scare the rich people.” Jasper took aim. “And not all of the police are quite as cozy in Starr’s pocket as you are.”
Grace hurried after Thea and Dax to the open doorway that led to an outdoor dining area. The Bibi’s was positioned in the corner of the building, allowing the diner a massive balcony jutting out the side to accommodate their lunch rushes.
More gunshots rang out behind the three as they stepped outside, joined by the sound of Holly’s blaster firing. Grace dove to the side, aiming to take shelter under a table. The floor was slicker than she expected, and she found herself rolling back out into the open. She pushed herself out into a crouch and glanced back at the doorway.
Bullets whizzed by overhead. Grace scrambled forward blindly and collided with the balcony railing. Another shot. Then a second, and a third.
The fourth bullet hit Grace’s right wing, bounced off, and grazed the back of her shoulder. She yelped, more from shock than pain. It took a few ragged breaths before the sensation of torn flesh hit her. It took a few more before she could crane her neck and attempt to assess the damage.
Dax and Thea were crouched under a table nearby. “Let me take a look!” Dax called, starting toward her.
Thea grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. “Look out!”
Grace ducked. Her hands tightened around the bars of the railing. This time it wasn’t bullets, but red beams of energy that cut through the air. One of the Blades had a blaster of their own.
One shot struck the railing, ripping an entire section off the balcony. The section Grace was clinging too. She went down with it.
Her wings unfolded on instinct. Fresh pain coursed through the right side of her body. She was able to catch enough air to slow her descent, but every second was a battle.
Grace extended her arms, hoping to find something to catch herself on. Her hands met a railing. She swung against the bars and grimaced through the next wave of pain. Great. Now her ribs were almost as unhappy as her shoulder.
A few seconds was all she got before losing her grip. She didn’t get a chance to spread her wings again, landing a moment later on a fire escape hugging the side of an office building. She tumbled down the steps and came to a stop at the next landing.
With shaking arms, she tried to push herself up but slipped and slammed face first into the metal platform. Blood trickled from her lip. Gunshots echoed above her.
Grace grabbed the railing above her head and pulled herself to her feet. A bullet ricocheted off the stairs a few stories up. Leaning out over the railing, she peered up and tried to locate her pursuers. The painfully close sound of the next shot made her jump in surprise. She tumbled off the fire escape.
The world dimmed. More and more passing windows were shattered or boarded up. Fewer flying cars moved through the air, replaced with vehicles that were confined to the pothole-riddled skyways of the lower city.
A slanted roof sped toward Grace. She gritted her teeth and forced her wings to their full length.
Her spinning head and ringing ears made it difficult to process what happened after she hit the roof. She was rolling, falling, crashing. She bounced off the lid of a dumpster and fell one last time. Concrete greeted her at the end of her final descent.
Groaning, Grace pressed a hand to her pounding head. She managed to pull herself into a sitting position, but standing was beyond her. The world blurred. Her eyes stung. She’d never been in this much pain before. Was she dying? Would someone find her before she did?
She wanted to cry, but even that seemed impossible. Her eyes closed. The passing of time became something distant, a hazy concept her mind couldn’t grasp. Any coherent thoughts she had faded away.