Delta paced up and down in front of me, the crazy holo over her desk casting a bright halo around her as it cycled through surveillance footage. "What was his name again? Zack?"

"Zaphron." I said with a sigh, rubbing at the pain relief patch on my neck. How had he known we were there?

Delta muttered his name to herself, drumming the tips of her fingers on her lips. "And you say there's a small team of them in the American Territory?"

I nodded. "A pretty dysfunctional one."

She raised an eyebrow, swiping at her interface. "They seem to be functioning well enough." She brought up a single surveillance feed from a rooftop in the city and pointed to it. "He's been wiped from all camera feeds—so there's no way of knowing where he went."

"Jax," I muttered under my breath, wanting to smack my face into my palm.

Delta didn't seem to hear me. Her eyes were fixed on the empty rooftop, almost staring through it. She looked as though she was somewhere else entirely.

"You're sure it was him?" she asked, the troubled undercurrent in her question making me wish I wasn't so certain that it had been.

"I'm sure."

She sank into her swivel chair, her fingers tracing the bruises around her neck as she blew out a tense breath. "I just hope he's not tracking us."

"Could he do that?" I asked, my voice coming out reedy. Seeing her so uncharacteristically on edge made my stomach twist. "Do you think he was our tail earlier tonight too?"

"It might have been him." She paused, glancing around her hideout. "But he wouldn't have been able to track us back to here. I've got scrambling measures in place to keep this location hidden. If we leave though—" she broke off, biting her lip. "If he planted a tracker on you, it would work once we left the range of the scrambler."

My heart hiccupped in my chest as I thought about her words. I reached into my pocket and retrieved the car-unlocking device I had accidentally stolen from Zaphron—or at least I thought I'd stolen it. Maybe he had planned for me to have it all along.

"Ah shitting hell," Delta said throwing her hands up as she caught sight of it. "Why didn't I think of that?" She rose from her chair and snatched it out of my hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think—" My apology was cut short by a thud as Delta used the butt of her gun to crush the device. Little pieces of wiring and plastic popped out of it like guts from a bug.

"Don't worry about it." She waved her hand at me, her usual dismissive self returning as she swept away the remains of the device. "Want to see what we got from ZenTech?"

I nodded and watched as she connected her interface to the tablet I had used at the EA's desk. Endless lists of data sprang to life on the holo and Delta began sorting them into separate windows.

"Looks like we downloaded every freaking document on their server." I limped closer to the holo and squinted, trying to make out the first line on a particularly long list.

Delta laughed wholeheartedly. "Astrid, these are just the personnel files and a few meeting notes. Trust me, this is nothing."

"Oh." I took a step back from the projection, wondering if the whole break-in had been a waste of time. Had we put ourselves in so much danger for a few meeting notes?

As though she could tell what I was thinking, Delta hastily added, "It's still valuable information— a lot more than what we had before." Her fingers went back to the bruises at her throat and she gave me a wicked grin. "Plus, we know where your fighting strengths lie now—clobbering people over the head with a gun."

I snorted at the way she said it, but the thought of the unmoving guard on the floor made me sick. I would be seeing his unconscious body and Delta's gasping purple face in my nightmares.

She turned her attention back to the holo, enlarging a list and scanning over it. My breath caught in my throat when I read a familiar name on the first line. "What is that document?"

"Security personnel assigned to the senior staff," Delta answered absently. She relegated the list to a smaller window with a single bored swipe. My eyes followed it intently.

"Is there a photo ID for each employee?"

Delta straightened in her chair; her interest piqued. "I think so. Why?"

I pointed to the first name on the list Emrys Wood. "I'm pretty sure that's Mum's new boyfriend."

Delta sprang to life, her fingers running wildly over her holo-keys. In seconds she had his full staff profile displayed and I was staring into the cold grey eyes of Emrys' ID. I thought back to meeting him at Mum's apartment and a shiver crept up my spine. This couldn't be a coincidence.

Delta sat back, staring at the holo, her head cocked to one side as she read his profile aloud. Her voice faded into the background as my blood rushed in my ears, winning out over all other noise. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his.

Had he dated my mum just to get to Dad? And was she in danger?

"Uh Astrid?" The funny edge to Delta's voice snapped me from my daze and a glanced at her. She sat rigid in her chair. "That guy from the rooftop tonight, you said his name was—"

"Zaphron," I cut in before she could come out with any more wildly incorrect attempts at his name. Her expression went dark and I followed her gaze back to the list of security personnel.

My mouth fell open.

The fourth name down on the list, and the ZenSecure guard assigned to my dad, was Zaphron Hayes.

I woke the following morning and forced a swallow. My throat was bone dry thanks to the three shots of whisky Delta had given me before she had injected my ankle with a healing gel last night. I sat up and blinked. It must have been early—there was only a small amount of light filtering through the hole in the ceiling.

Delta was breathing heavily in her sleep at the other end of the couch. She was curled into a ball, like a cat, still wearing her boots.

I tested my ankle, finding it was stiff—but not sore, and stood. Turns out it was the least of my worries anyway— because every muscle in my body felt shredded. I tried to remain silent as I slid on my boots, biting my lip to keep a pained groan from escaping. My legs cramped as I hauled myself up the tiny ladder and out onto the rooftop. 

The grey morning met me with a gust of wind that whipped my hair into a frenzy. I shuffled to the ledge and eased myself down, not fully trusting that my legs wouldn't suddenly give out. It felt as though someone had beat the shit out of me, concentrating particularly hard on my limbs.

I thrust my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket, hugging it closer to me in the breeze. In the distance, the city's twinkling lights had begun to disappear like stars in a brightening morning sky. Or at least I'd been told that's what stars did. Curious, I peered up at the perpetually empty sky, my tongue probing at the healing split in my lip.

At the metallic taste of raw skin, an image of Zaphron's bloody boots flashed into my mind and I shivered. The fresh revelations from last night took over my thoughts as I felt around in my pocket for my vape.

So Zaphron worked for Zenith. I should have figured that out when I met him at the gala, but I'd been too distracted by our previous encounter at the bullet station and it hadn't even crossed my mind. If he was with ZenSecure, logically that would mean his team at Danse Macabre were too—but it just didn't fit with the way they had acted when he had brought me to the apartment. Whatever they were doing above that club didn't exactly feel like a ZenSecure initiative. So what was it?

I took a hit of my vape, sighing a tiny cloud out through my nose and mouth as I contemplated the biggest question of all.

On The night Dad had died, why was Zaphron with me at the theme park—and not guarding him?

I exhaled another cloud of vapour and laid back against the concrete. My stomach muscles ached as they lowered me into place and I let out an exhausted huff as I came to rest flat against the rooftop.

"Power patch comedown is a bitch." Delta's boots appeared by my face briefly before she sat, swinging her legs over the edge. She flopped onto her back next to me.

"I can feel muscles I never even knew existed," I said, rubbing my forearms.

"The muscle strain gets less as your fitness improves," she said, putting her hands behind her head in a deliberate display of relaxation. "The stimulant withdrawals though"—she sucked her teeth— "don't get any easier."

We watched the purple-grey sky brighten in silence for a few moments.

"I think we should try and speak to Fabia Inzaghi," I said after the quiet started to get a bit much. Silence only made the roar of questions and fears in my brain louder.

"Oh?" Delta turned her head to get a look at me.

"Her and Dad were together, I only found out just before he died." I swallowed. Thinking about Dad's death was one thing, but saying it out loud still felt weird.

Delta's eyebrows shot up and she twisted her face back toward the sky. "Oh. That's definitely worth checking out then." She paused and I got the feeling she was working up to something. "We might be able to do that today actually."

"What?" I sat up, ignoring the pang in my abdominals. "Really?"

Delta sat up too, rubbing her shoulder in a suspiciously anxious way. "Zenith is holding a memorial for your dad today."

It took a second for her words to sink in. Then tears sprang to my eyes, too sudden to blink back. They slipped down my face in an uncontrollable cascade. A muddle of grief and anger roiled inside me. Zenith was hosting his memorial? I wanted to scream—but instead I started sobbing.

Delta shifted uncomfortably beside me, not moving to soothe me, but not leaving me alone either. She just let me be. It was exactly what I needed in that moment.

"We have to go," I managed to say, once I'd reigned in a couple more sobs.

Delta nodded her head as though she'd been waiting for me to say it. "I thought you'd want to, so I've come up with something. Plus, if Fabia is going—which it sounds like she would be—it might be a good chance to talk to her."

Hearing that she already had it covered loosened a knot it my chest. I swallowed; my mouth tacky with saliva from my outburst. "Thank you."