Micah had too much to do and he didn't think there was enough time in the day to get it all done. Ulysses had promoted him and he was essentially assisting Katie in leading the Rebels. Something that gave David an immense amount of relief, the man did not like being in charge. He was a soldier, not a leader, and it stressed him out to no end to make decisions that affected people's lives.

"Hey Micah, slow down! I need to talk to you!"

He stopped and turned to look at his younger sister Kelsey. "What is it?" He smiled at her. She wasn't his sister, not by blood anyway. Their parents had been good friends and Kelsey and his sister, Kasey, were best friends. When he and Kasey's parents died, Kelsey's parents had taken them in and cared for them. A few years later Kelsey's parents vanished and Micah was left with the responsibility of caring for the two nine-year-old girls. To him, Kelsey was as much his sister as Kasey was.

"I'm worried about Anna Maria. She won't stick with the patrol. She keeps going out on her own. She's going to get hurt or killed, you need to talk to her," Kelsey told him.

He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck with a groan. He and Anna had met back when he'd escaped the dungeons in the president's palace in the capital a handful of months ago. When he'd managed to get back here, he discovered that five months had passed during his incarceration and there was a price on his head. Anna Maria risked her life to harbor him. He couldn't return to the Rebels at the time because it would have put them in too much danger.

He and Anna had stuck together and she had become like a sister to him too. It seemed that the longer he was here with the Rebels, the more his family grew and the more people he felt responsible for protecting.

"All right, I'll talk to her, but I doubt it will do any good. Anna Maria is stubborn and if she doesn't want to listen, she won't."

Kelsey leaned up onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Micah!" She hurried off down the hall.

He sighed, great now he had to search out Anna and attempt to talk to her about wandering off during patrols. He highly doubted that she'd listen to anything he had to say. The woman had a mind of her own and once she decided on something she stuck to it. She had suffered a lot of loss in her young life. Anna was only eighteen, but she'd lost her parents, then her boyfriend, and after that the old man who had taken her in and taught her to fight and survive on her own. Now she was here with the Rebels and she had acquired an entirely new family. She should feel secure and cared for but he knew it wasn't that simple.

The man she loved was murdered when she was only fifteen. It hadn't been until recently that she discovered his father was Kaladyn Denesa, the commander of the city's Enforcers and he was the one who killed Berk because he refused to leave Anna Maria and returned home. Kaladyn had ruled through fear and intimidation. He focused his anger at his son on Anna and blamed her for Berk's death. Denesa had captured them six months ago and when they'd made their escape, he'd been killed had been killed. Technically, the man had killed himself, but Micah had been holding the Shock Baton the man used to end his life. He'd grabbed the Baton and shoved it against his chest before Micah could react.

Anna Maria was torn over his death. The man had been a monster, but he'd been the last living link to Berk.

He grumbled his way up the stairs to the fourth floor where Anna's apartment was located. When he reached her door he paused a moment and stared at it. The faded paint seemed to glare at him. It didn't get any friendlier the longer he stood there. He released a breath, lifted his hand, and knocked.

Several minutes and two more knocks later, Anna yanked the door open. "What do you want?"

He sighed at her snappish tone. There had been a time when she would joke and call him big brother. He pushed past her into the apartment. "We need to talk." He heard her slam the door and he turned to face her.

"So talk, it doesn't mean that I'll listen." She stood there staring steadily at him with those coffee-colored eyes of hers that seemed to look into your soul. Despite her smaller size when compared to him, the woman frightened him sometimes. She could size up an opponent quickly and see weaknesses that he couldn't spot, despite his extensive training. It felt as if she looked into your soul and pulled free your deepest secrets with a single look

He flicked his eyes away from her penetrating gaze, then back. He kept his focus on a point somewhere over her shoulder. "We're all concerned about you. Kelsey says that you've been ditching the patrol and going out on your own. I know that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself but now that you're with the Rebels things are more dangerous for you and you shouldn't be out on your own."

"Micah, spare me the speeches. As you pointed out, I'm more than capable of defending myself. Can we drop it? I need to get out on the street."

"Please listen to me and stick with the patrol. If anything were to happen to you—"

She held up a hand to stop him. "You'll be perfectly fine. You have Katie, Michael, and your sisters. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to get going. Shut the door on your way out." She spun and left him standing there in the center of her apartment.

He felt a little lost. He did have his wife and son but Anna was important to him as well. It felt as if he was losing her and if something didn't change soon he didn't think there was a way to keep her in his life.

***

Anna Maria slipped out the back door of the building. "He has no right to tell me what to do," she muttered.

"No, he doesn't."

She spun around and scowled at Kenz MacKinley as he shoved himself away from the wall of the building and moved closer to her. "Are you here to lecture me too?"

"Nope, I was simply wondering if you're going to stick with us or split off as per your usual Modus operandi."

"What I do is no one's business. Can everyone leave me alone already?" She turned away but his hand wrapped around her wrist and dragged her to a stop.

"I'm sorry, all right? We know this had been tough on you, we just want to know that you're okay. If you need anything or if you want to talk ..."

"Mac, stop it. I'm fine," she insisted. She didn't need or want his unsolicited advice.

He dropped her wrist with a nod and stepped back from her. He slipped his hands into the front pocket of his hoody and watched her turn away and disappear into the night. She wasn't fine and they all knew it but there wasn't a damn thing any of them could do about it unless she asked them for help.

"Not coming with us, is she?"

He craned his head around to look over his shoulder at his friend Dewey as he slipped out of the shadows. "No, of course not. Kelsey called it. It looks as if Micah's little talk with her only pissed her off."

Dewey came to stand beside him. "It looks like our girl is a little lost. She needs something to ground her again."

Mac snorted. "Poor thing keeps losin' everything that means anything to her. She has every reason to be lost."

"She hasn't lost Micah. Why should she feel lost?"

Mac shook his head and shot his best friend a duh look. "He and Katie just married and they have Michael who is keeping them busy. Then there's Kelsey and Ratter and Kasey and David, and any number of other happy couples lurking around this place. All Anna has to do is look around and she sees happiness everywhere. I'm sure she feels as if she's on the outside of things looking in."

"I never thought of it that way. What do we do to help her?" Dewey asked.

"I'm not sure there is anything we can do. She needs to find her way on her own. She needs something that will make her feel as if she's needed. Something that makes her feel as if she belongs again."

"And if she can't do that?"

"Then we lose her," Mac replied matter-of-factly.