Page 116 of Powerless

I blink. “We?”

“Yes.” He points a finger to the creaky floorboards beneath our feet. “We.”

I just stare at him, waiting for an explanation on what the hell is going on, why the hell he is here, and who the hell he is with.

His gaze flicks between my face and the knife still ready to fly into his heart. “And once you put the knife down, I’ll show you what I’m talking about.” He speaks slowly as if trying to calm a crazed animal, and I’m sure I look like just that.

I lower the knife slowly and nod, once. He puffs out a relieved breath, his shoulders losing some of their tension. “Plagues, you really are terrifying sometimes, you know that? I mean, sure, I’m the Imperial here but, man, you could probably whoop my ass—”

“Oh, and I just might if you don’t tell me what is going on,” I say, teeth clenched.

“So demanding,” Lenny sighs, gesturing for me to follow him. “On second thought, you might be better suited as a royal than an Imperial, aye princess?”

He tosses a smile over his shoulder as he turns towards the study. My father’s study. The room where he was murdered. I feel like my lungs are being crushed, my heart being squeezed, as we step into the room.

Ordinary. Completely ordinary, just like me. There’s no blood soaking the floor or the chair—

The chair he was murdered in.

It’s gone. A pang of sadness hits me as my eyes sweep the room, trying to find the chair he loved to read in so much. I’d sit at his feet or on his lap as he told me stories about better worlds, ones with magic and heroes and girls who didn’t have to hide who they truly were.

Lenny walks up to the leaning bookcase in the corner of the room, littered with books covered in dust and cobwebs. I’m about to ask what exactly he’s doing when he suddenly grips the edge of the bookcase and pulls. I watch, awestruck, as the wooden shelf slides easily to the left on some sort of track beneath it. And behind lies descending stone steps.

I have never seen that before.

Lenny flashes me another grin, gesturing towards the darkness that lies behind the bookcase. “Ladies first.”

What I should have done was laugh in his face before making him go down the staircase first, but I’ve thrown caution to the wind and hastily replaced it with curiosity. The sound of my footsteps against the stone echoes as I brace a hand on the grimy wall and continue down into the darkness. When I’m standing on smooth, solid stone at the bottom of the steps, I stop.

Lenny runs right into me, nearly running me over.

“Ow,shit—I mean, sorry—uh, I didn’t see you stop.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because we can’t seeanything,” I snap, assuming I’m glaring at his face in the darkness.

“Now that, I can help with.” A female voice coming from the darkness makes me jump, and I collide with Lenny all over again. I hear the flip of a switch and the hum of dim lights turning on. Then I’m blinking, trying to understand what I’m seeing.

I’m standing in a large, damp room, filled with tables overflowing with charts, maps, and supplies. Notes and papers are plastered to the walls, making for an odd sort of wallpaper. On the other side of the room, there are mismatched chairs scattered in a circle with papers thrown on top of them, and messy cots are lining the far wall.

And, arguably the most important detail, there are people standing in this room. One of which I immediately recognize as the boy I stole from, the same one from the ball. The male to his right is older, around the age my father would be, with straw-colored hair and pale blue eyes that watch me closely. The girl beside him looks only a few years older than I am, a mere copy of the man beside her.

His daughter.

Then my eyes land on the smiling girl next to the light switch. Her olive skin seems to glow against the rich black of her waist-length hair, and her deep brown eyes watch me curiously.

“Sorry to keep you in the dark,” she sighs, “literally.” The girl crosses her arms over her orange tunic, taking me in. “Lenny’s bat ears heard the door open, so we plunged ourselves into darkness, just in case.”

Lenny gives her a sarcastic grin before he casually answers my unspoken question. “I’m a Hyper. I have enhanced senses, whichsome peoplelike to make fun of. Even though it’s saved their life a few times.”

I give him a confused look. “You’re a Mundane? But Imperials—”

“Are normally Offensive or Defensive Elites,” he cuts in with a sigh. “Trust me, I know. It took forever to climb up the ranks to get to the position I have.”

Well, that only slightly cleared up one of the dozens of questions whirling around my brain. “Okay, can someone please tell me what thehellis going on?”

Lenny shakes his head beside me, murmuring, “So demanding...”

“I wondered when you would find your way here.” It’s the boy from the ball who cuts in before I can kick Lenny’s ass like I promised. “I mean, after you stole half my silvers and the note in my pocket, I figured you would show up eventually.” He’s amused. “Took you long enough.”

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