Page 21 of Failed State

I snort. “In other words, she’s thinkin’ too hard, as always.”

“Hush,” is all our girl says. Her eyes are fixed on the other doors and I realize she’s focused on something I don’t see. “They’re coming out soon, I think. I don’t want to be overheard.”

The first door opens to the smarmy mage laughing as his nymph nurse leads him out to the waiting area. Sparks dance over his limbs as he walks towards us, finally wriggling out of her grasp when he reaches the seats. Rory frowns when he notices the chairs on either side of Sydney are taken and I smirk at him.

No way in hell I’m letting these douches anywhere near her.

“The two of you are justadorable, protecting our teammate from us big bads.” The mage tilts his head as he looks at me with a knowing grin. “She hasn’t even given hernameyet and she was given mine. It’s very rude.”

Sydney’s head whips up and she leans forward in her chair to glare at the arrogant magic wielder. “My name is Sydney Jolie and knowing that won’t help you in the slightest. But hey, at least the cheesy mage won’t think I’m rude now.”

“Ouch,” Thad says, his chuckle rumbling darkly. “Guess that’s what you asked for, though.”

Stormbringer just laughs, his eyes dancing with the same electricity his skin does. “Excellent response. Now, about your bodyguards…”

Her sigh is heavy and full of disdain, but Syd looks him in the eyes. “Thaddeus is the bear and Huck is the fear demon. They’re not my bodyguards, and you’re not my friend. Stop acting like the three of you won’t sell us out at the first chance for glory or riches.”

“That would be counter-productive, as Krista has pointed out. Is there something wrong with your hearing?”

The motherfucking vampire moved so fast none of us even knew he’d exited his damn room.

“Why would that matter to a traitorous blood-sucking scumbag like you?” Our girl’s eyes narrow, and I’m a little surprised at her venom. She can be rough, but this feels… personal.

Rory whistles, slapping his palms on his large thighs. “Vicious. I love it. That’s your new name, Sydney Jolie—Vicious.”

Oh, he thinks he’s clever referencing the human punk rocker. How quaint.

“Again, I believe your ability to process information must be flawed.” Sebastian shakes his head, foregoing the chairs to lean against a wall opposite from us. “We cannot win as individuals and the prize is not meant for an individual.”

Thad glares at the mage, then at the vampire before he speaks. “Why in the hell would we believeanythingthey or you tell us? Trusting that either of your species has a better nature is why all of us areincamps, Whitmore.”

“Naivete is why everyone is in camps,” the vampire says as he pushes the hair out of his face. “Believing that every member of any species is capable of learning new information without panic or able to accept change was a grave mistake made by the entirety of the supernatural community. That fact doesn’t absolve humanity of it’s role in genocide, nor does it excuse it; it simply explainswhyour situation exists.”

Krista clears her throat, finally looking up from her phone. “I’m not certain this conversation is appropriate…”

“Then get the fuck away from us.” The snarl comes from the enormous tattooed dragon shifter as he stalks out of his room. A doctor and a nurse scurry away from him as quickly as they can, faces white as ghosts. He stomps over to our group, looking at all of us with a narrowed sea green stare. “We should proceed to the next step before I decide I’m tired of all the yapping and do something about it.”

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, the human once said.

The ‘mental health’ review went about as expected—an outdated battery of questions geared for humans on a bank of computers. The predatory nature of most supes means it will classify us all as psychopaths or sociopaths, if only because we view the worlddifferently than they do. With the trauma of the past four years thrown into the mix, it’s a recipe for a bunch of angry, powerless beings who were used to having the universe at their fingertips, even in secret. I can’t imagine what the hell any of those results will do beyond identify the competitors mostly likely to be feral.

That would make for good ratings, so maybe that’s the goal.

Krista has stayed quiet as we trudge to the next big area. Her phone dinged while we were walking, so maybe she got the analysis of the absolutely insane team they gave her. Syd’s answers couldn’t have been encouraging, and it would only get worse from there. Thad might be the sanest egg in the carton, but he’s an apex predator in animal form, so his relative sanity won’t mesh with what humans expect, either. Regardless, the chick has shut her yap and it makes it a lot easier to think.

“Wait here,” she snaps, and I smirk at my friends as we claim seats.

She definitely got the results.

“If they don’t feed us soon, I’m going to eat her,” Sydney says grouchily. “They’ve gotten us used to not eating much, but this is bullshit. It’s beenhourssince breakfast and we’re in the part of the building with zero ability to see outside. It could be nine p.m. for all we know.”

The dark scoff from the vampire makes her bristle and she glares, but he shrugs. “It’s afternoon. Again, your knowledge of my kind is shockingly deficient for someone judging me so ferociously.”

Thad leans forward, putting his biceps on his knees. “You can tell time with your… mojo?”

“Yes…mojo,” Sebastian snorts, shaking his head. “Vampires have a very sensitive internal clock. It’s an old trait from when we had to be more mindful of the sun setting and rising. In recent centuries, we’ve evolved to have a higher threshold for its rays, so it’s not an instant puff of smoke as you know.”

Sydney gives him a knowing look, her eyes dark. “Ah, but eventually, you all go up. It’s just variable based on age and power levels. And chopping your goddamn heads off still works.”

---