After my first disastrous training session, they pitted me against other recruits to spar with so we could beat the crap out of each other. I wasn’t given the choice to opt out, and when I expressed to my father how I didn’t want to be an Institute solider, I got a lecture about how the world was nothing like it used to be, and how imperative learning to survive had become. What better way to use my gift than to ensure that this world was a safe place?

Each time he opened his mouth and went off on a tangent, all I heard was blah, blah, blah.

My father’s attitude was: “Do as you’re told, don’t question me, and be a good little girl.” Basically, he wanted a brainless daughter.

Too bad that wasn’t me.

Hours turned into days, blurring time to where I’d lost track of how long I’d been inside the white walls, and I was no closer to feeling as if I belonged. Being with my family again was bittersweet. I was overwhelmed by who they’d become: a power couple in charge of such a huge undertaking. There were no family dinners. No walks in the courtyard. No sister slumber parties. Instead, there were secret meetings with the council, restricted areas no one without a key card could enter, and no one went in or out of the Diamond Towers without permission. A person couldn’t help but be suspicious.

Ember kept her distance, never bothering to engage me again, verbally or physically. When she did meander into the training room, I couldn’t help but watch her. She was a stranger to me, and regardless that she had hurt me, I wanted to know my sister. I wanted us to have that connection again.

But I didn’t know how to reach her.

She had grown so much in the last two years. We’re technically the same age now, a bizarre concept. She had shed the remaining baby fat and replaced it with toned muscle. She didn’t have the curves I did, but it didn’t detract from her having a stunning body. Too bad she had such a shitty attitude.

The locked doors finally stopped, and they no longer held me captive inside my room at night, but I still felt like a prisoner. Guards were everywhere I turned, making sure I didn’t wander down the wrong corridor or enter a forbidden room, but no longer being caged did have its advantages.

I could go outside and sit in the courtyard I’d stared down at for so many nights. It had become a place I spent the little free time I was given in, like now.

Lifting my face upward, the glow of the sun spilled over my skin. I had missed this: the fresh air, the heat warming my skin, the wind teasing the strands of my hair. I entertained myself by watching the sun set in bleeding reds and waited for night to steal the show, wondering where Dash was.

A shadow descended over me, blocking the fading warmth of the sun I desperately wanted. Miffed by the intrusion, I turned my eyes to the now occupied spot beside me on the bench.

Ryker.

His amber eyes shimmered in the sun like unrefined gold. His long legs stretched out beside mine, and he had draped an arm behind the bench. The lazy grin on his lips reminded me of a cat after eating the canary. He was one of the few guards who didn’t make mincemeat out of me or make me feel like an outsider. There was something almost human about Ryker, unlike everyone else who seemed to have lost their souls.

“How are you holding up?” he asked.

I shielded my eyes with a hand, staring at him. “I’ve been better.”

“It does get easier, not that it’s much of a consolation at the moment.”

I drew in a long, deep breath. “No, it’s not, but thanks.”

“You did okay today,” he said, softly tapping his shoulder against mine.

I winced. Everything hurt, even my ears. “What you really mean is that I didn’t have to peel my face off the floor.”

He chuckled, and it was a nice sound, a sound I missed. No malice. No judgment. No sarcasm. “There was that. But seriously, they have you going up against some of the most experienced Gifted.”

“I kind of noticed.”

“What did you do to piss them off?”

I watched him warily. “Haven’t you heard? I fraternized with the enemy.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Ah. Dash Darhk. Everyone has heard of him. He made quite a name for himself … and many more enemies within these walls.”

“I don’t get what the big deal is.” I said what was on my mind, ignoring the throbbing… well, everywhere.

He lowered his voice, the amusement gone from his eyes. “Dash has the kind of power the Institute is afraid of. He can’t be controlled, and that freaks them out.”

I chewed on my lip. “Do you like it here?”

He shrugged. “Depends on your definition of like. I’ll tell you what I don’t like. I’ve been outside these walls. Like you, when I woke, I didn’t get picked up by the guards. At that time, there weren’t guards in place to look for those who were disoriented and confused. I spent weeks on my own out in the Heights. The difference, however, is I didn’t have Dash as a tour guide. Maybe I would feel differently about the world beyond these walls if I had.”

“So how did you end up here?”

His grin was slow. “Dash.”

“He found you.”

“Yep. He was a Night’s Guard then.”

“He seems to have a habit of picking up strays.”

“Maybe, but Dash would never admit it.” We shared a grin.

It was evident Ryker knew Dash, and I had to admit, he was easy to talk to, especially since he wasn’t hell-bent on making me bleed. I shifted positions, trying to find one that didn’t cause some part of my body to throb. I winced as I rotated my shoulder. It had taken a beating earlier.

Ryker frowned. “You should see a healer. We have one, in case no one told you.”

They hadn’t. I started to scowl, but the pain on my lip reminded me why any movement was a bad idea.

“At the very least, you should get ice for that shoulder. And if you want to stop getting your ass kicked, fight back, Red.” His lips curved.

How original, his brain must have melted from exertion after coming up with that. The vibes I got from Ryker, he was definitely into girls, possibly into me. Just another problem I didn’t need. A guy.

* * *

Soaking wet and chilled to the bone, I picked myself up off the ground.

“How many times are you going to keep doing that?” Elssie asked. Her specialty was water in all fashions, and I found her tactics to be one of the most unpleasant abilities. She could drown a person. Don’t get her anywhere near water, which was nigh impossible. Water was everywhere. She only needed the tiniest drop and she could turn the training room into a monsoon.

“Doing what?” I asked, shoving wet strands of hair out of my face.

Elssie stood about five feet taller than me, with walnut-colored skin, and wild mocha hair that framed her oval face in tight spiral curls. She had large, owl-sized eyes and a big mouth, figuratively not literally. “Get the shit kicked out of you,” she replied.

“Perhaps she enjoys it,” Tyger piped in. Like his name suggested, Tyger was a ferocious cat, or, rather, as close as a human could get to a tiger. He had orange hair with a black stripe running down the center and fangs that would have made a vampire proud.

“You may have a point,” Elssie returned. “I know I sure as hell enjoy it.”

“Doesn’t matter what you enjoy. You’re supposed to be teaching her how to use her gifts, not bullying her because she’s Dr. Winston’s daughter,” Tyger pointed out.

“I’m right here,” I grumbled.

Elssie stepped forward, tossing a shard of ice that hit me in the arm. It hurt like a bitch, but I didn’t care, because they were once again talking about ways to make my life a living hell. I rubbed my shoulder, ignoring the idiots.

I’d come to loathe the training room. Everyone dressed in the same stupid uniform; they must have had an endless supply. I pitied the soul who had to clean them all. What a dirty job.

And these were the things my brain thought about before I became a human punching bag.

“Please, my methods can hardly be construed as bullying,” Elssie scoffed, as if drowning a person wasn’t a big deal or anything. “There are others here who have done far worse.”

“You have a point,” Tyger mused.

“I’m still here, jagoffs,” I reminded them, my voice a tad more forceful this time. A simmering anger sparked within me.

“Ooo. And she has a mouth on her.” Tyger chuckled.

Elssie frowned, crossing her arms. “A mouth that is going to get her in more trouble.”

“She looks like crap, like a drowned freckled kitten.”

Okay. That was it. I was going to knock this hairy douchebag off his high horse. No one mentioned my freckles, except one person. I didn’t care what kind of marvelous superpower Tyger had. Hearing the nickname in someone else’s voice snapped something inside me. Of course, that was exactly what they had been trying to accomplish. My temper burst before I even had a chance to realize it had built to a category five hurricane.

I let out a wild scream and lunged. No doubt I looked like a lunatic, but I no longer gave a ratice’s butt. Hot red rage veiled my eyes.

I swung, hitting Tyger with a solid, satisfying thud. It hadn’t been a girly hit. It had been packed with electric energy, sparks flying off my skin. A bolt of lightning shot from my hand, wrapping itself around Tyger like Wonder Woman’s lasso.

I wasn’t done yet.

Blood trickled from the side of his lip, and a strange gleam lit his eyes. Straining against the electric rope binding him, his fists clenched, muscles bunching. His inhuman strength snapped the golden glowing cord of light, shattering it.

Then Tyger came at me, a menacing grin on his lips like a deranged animal. “Is that the best you’ve got?” he goaded me.

I didn’t know what I had, but I did know this would hurt.

I flung out my right arm and followed it up with my left, shooting two bolts of lightning forward one after the other, but Tyger dodged them both and kept advancing.

He was on me in only seconds, long, pointy teeth bared. Although my muscles protested, I ignored the pain and darted to the side, but it didn’t stop Tyger from getting his hands on me. In a sweeping motion, his arm came around my stomach, picking me up off my feet.

Whoosh.

The impact robbed me of the ability to breathe for a few prolonged seconds. With a new rush of air in my lungs, a swell of energy returned. Grabbing both sides of his cheeks, I sent a surge through my fingertips.

His eyes got big, and then the twitching started, as if he had stuck a metal object in a socket. His arms released me. Landing on my feet, I lifted my head and put a bit of distance between us. Pain flared across his face as he went down to his knees.

Standing over him, a victorious amount of satisfaction rushed through me. Empowered, I didn’t want to stop.

And neither did Tyger. His leg kicked out, catching me in the calf, causing me to go down in an ugly mess of legs and arms, flailing like a fish out of water. I landed on my back, barely avoiding giving myself a concussion. The pain felt like an old friend, and that alarmed me. Groaning, I opened my eyes and thought about closing them again. Tyger was grinning, the flecks of his gold eyes growing brighter, like a tiger on the hunt.

“Neat trick. But you can never beat me, Freckles.”

A week’s worth of frustration and anger built up inside me, along with a smorgasbord of other emotions. Every bruise. Every cut. Every hit I’d taken flipped through my memory. I thought I had lost my shit before. Oh no. Here came round two.

Power covered every crevice of my body, and suddenly I flew off the ground, my skin glowing in a white light halo. Hair floated around my face, levitating in the air as a shower of lightning speared across the ceiling. I lifted my hand, latching onto a dagger of light, electricity pouring into every atom of the room.

Shock rippled through Tyger’s eyes. “Shit,” he muttered.

I cocked my head to the side, a nasty grin on my face. “You asked for it, dickwad.” I let the lightning fly, flinging it at Tyger. His head fell back, and his mouth dropped open in a silent scream as the spear hit him directly in the ribcage. After the surge of light moved through Tyger, it didn’t stop, slamming into the cement. The force shook the building, and to my utter shock, the floor began to crack, spreading out like broken glass.

Holy hellfire!

What had I done?

Dropping from the air, my feet hit the ground with a soft thud. The fact that I no longer levitated had no bearing on the situation.

My immediate concern focused on wondering if the building would collapse down on top of us. The crack eventually stopped about the same time Tyger smacked into the ground, his body lying in all kinds of weird angles. I lost the hold on my control, the power leaving my body at once.

“Tyger?” I croaked.

Nothing. He didn’t move.

Oh. My. God. Please let him be breathing.

I hadn’t meant to kill him.

“About damn time.” A smug voice came from behind me.

It was Ryker.

He seemed to always appear at the right moment. “Don’t worry. He isn’t dead.”

I cradled my hand and looked at him through a few pieces of wet hair. Ryker wasn’t alone. Tyger and I had drawn a crowd. Everyone in the training looked at me with wary eyes, including Elssie, who had wisely not interfered. What did they think would happen when they pushed and prodded someone day in and day out? I’d snapped. “Is he going to be okay?” I asked, focusing on only Ryker.

“The animal will live. That was impressive. Congrats. You’ve passed your second test,” Ryker said, wiping a smudge of dirt off my face.

My stomach surprised me and flipped at his gesture. “Thanks, I think.” It seemed like a millennium since I’d felt human touch that was soft and tender.

He grinned. “Anytime, Red. Lightning, huh? You just gave me a good reason not to piss you off.”

* * *

I left training that day shaky and confused. I had almost killed someone, and that didn’t sit well with me, but here in the Institute, it was like a badge of honor.

Psychos.

I wasn’t precisely thrilled with my newfound respect and neither was everyone else—Ember in particular. God forbid anyone outshined my sister. That had definitely not been my goal. I’d received the cold shoulder from her times infinity.

She could have the spotlight because I didn’t want it. I’d come to accept the fact that Ember and I would never be friends, not like we once had been. Things were too different now.

I’d admit learning to control this power residing in me was vital. It had become clear to me after today if I didn’t, I could do more damage than good. But I didn’t want to become something I wasn’t, someone I didn’t recognize like Ember. Staying true to myself was of the utmost importance.

I wasn’t a killer.

But this world had a way of changing people without their knowledge, and that was my greatest fear, more so than the Institute or what other tests they might subject me to.

After two weeks of constant combat training without a day to rest, I was burnt out. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep doing this. Each night I dropped into bed, exhausted and sore to the bone. My body was covered in bruises and cuts. I understood the concept of tough love, but this was whacked. It was cruel.

I thought about Dash and the scars on his body. It wasn’t hard to understand how he’d received them now. So many times I thought about running to my father and begging him to stop this harsh treatment, but I refused to give him or anyone else who doubted me the satisfaction of thinking I couldn’t handle it.

I’d just finished another five-hour, grueling session and stepped out of the shower. It didn’t matter how clean I scrubbed my skin, the stain of how far I’d almost gone was still there, and I vowed to never lose control like that again.

I’d come here to find my family, not to become an assassin or a ninja, though I did look damn good in black—beside the point. Being here didn’t make me happy. I was miserable, and my future didn’t look promising or bright. All I saw was fighting and more fighting, to the point where it would become all I knew—a trained soldier with no thoughts or opinions for herself.

There was only one thing left to do.

I had to see my father.