28. exterminators must be DAMN-NEAR-IMMORTAL!

A haven leader—DEAD.

A prisoner—already cleared for transfer—DEAD.

Two civilian CASUALTIES.

Two Exterminators INJURED to the BRINK of DEATH.

Twenty-seven missed calls, seven from Khankar, twenty from New Haven's government board, which, knowing them, probably had even more calls waiting.

Sabrina exhaled slowly, her head pressing against the cold wall as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

So much was pressing down on her. The entire Diamantis situation, the unanswered question of his plans, the crisis in Raval, and half her Exterminators either unfit, jet-lagged, or injured.

And now this.

"Maybe the field wasn't so bad." She muttered under her breath.

Beside her, Elendira shifted, her hands tucked behind her back, her head bowed, feet crossed inwards like she wanted to disappear. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

Sabrina turned her head slightly, watching her.

It wasn't Elendira's fault. She was just a kid, one she had entrusted with an important mission. Maybe that had been a mistake. Maybe there had been another way. Maybe she should have—

She cut the thought off.

It would be easy to pin the blame on her, to call her out for not being alert enough, not being aware of her surroundings. But that wouldn't fix this. It wouldn't fix anything.

Sabrina exhaled and reached forward, her fingers pressing lightly against Elendira's forehead, brushing over the stitches and bandages before gently tilting her head up.

"It's not your fault," she said, making sure Elendira heard it.

"But, I—"

"You did your best," Sabrina cut in. "And you were injured in the process."

Elendira's coat was gone, torn to shreds, the hardened material used in a desperate attempt to stop the recruits from bleeding out. It hadn't amounted to much, but maybe—just maybe—it was the reason they were still alive.

"You got ambushed, fought off the threat, and still managed to get all your teammates back alive," Sabrina said, arms crossed as she leaned slightly against the wall. "I'd give you a raise if I wasn't already paying you so much."

Elendira shifted, fingers curling slightly at her sides. "I just thought..." she hesitated. "I saw the way you looked at them. I thought you'd be sad if they died."

"And I would've been," she admitted. "I would've cried my eyes out." She glanced toward Elendira. "But I'm not. And that's because of you."

Elendira looked up, her gaze meeting Sabrina's.

"So, Ellen," Sabrina said, a rare smile pulling at the corner of her lips. "Keep protecting them, okay?"

Elendira didn't respond right away. Instead, she rested against the wall beside Sabrina, tilting her head slightly as she peered through the one-way glass window into the infirmary.

Inside, Ansel and Dahlia were still hooked up to blood tubes, yet they clung to Massiah like lifelines, arms wrapped around him, refusing to let go. They had been holding onto him for what felt like hours.

The doctors inside hesitated before rushing forward as the recruits stitches began to split open, fresh blood seeping through their bandages. Nurses hurried in, ushering them back into their beds, their protests drowned out by medical orders and urgent movements.

Elendira barely noticed the chaos. Her focus stayed on Massiah.

She didn't know him well, not personally, but he was one of the few Exterminators in the company she had any familiarity with. Back then, Massiah had always seemed distant, withdrawn. Like he didn't want to be there.

Like he hated his job.

Maybe he still did.

But as she watched him now, his gaze lingering on the recruits, a small smile curving his lips as they were forced back into their beds.

He sure didn't look like he hated it right now.

"Good for him," she murmured, a slight smile of her own forming as she turned away.

"MASSIAH!"

Dahlia was already on her feet, ignoring the doctors as they frantically restitched her torso. A metal pole rattled beside her, an IV line still connected to her arm, carrying both saline and a fresh blood packet. She barely seemed to notice.

"So, me and Ansel were behind the rubble, right?" she started, grinning wildly as she leaned toward Massiah. "We saw you fall, and I was like, 'Oh, he's dead.' But at the same time, you can't die, right?"

Massiah gave her a tired but amused glance. "I can very much die."

"But you didn't!" Dahlia shot back, undeterred. "So I threw the axe through the air, and when the Myutant ran over, I dashed forward and pinned him! And then Ansel came from behind and caught the controller, and I was all like, 'You better play ball or die!'"

"That's not what you said," Ansel corrected from his bed across the room. He shifted slightly, as if wanting to get up, but the nurses seated next to him were watching Dahlia like hawks, their gazes practically burning holes into her. He laid back down.

"Oh yeah, that's true," Dahlia said, frowning in thought. "Well, it doesn't matter. The point is, I said something cool, and it was badass. Ansel was badass. Gran was badass. Quem—"

The room froze.

Quem was still a sensitive topic. No one wanted to say her name, to acknowledge what had happened. Even the nurses by the door suddenly lowered their heads, silent, tears forming in their eyes.

Dahlia swallowed, then lifted her chin.

"Quem was the coolest."

The room breathed again.

Massiah studied her, her body weak yet so strong. So determined. It was strange. In the few days he'd been out, it felt like his teammates had grown up so much.

"Is that so?" he mused, watching her. "She couldn't have been cooler than me, though. I cut through the Myutant's diamond-hard skin in one swing."

Dahlia narrowed her eyes. "No, you didn't."

Massiah sighed. They probably didn't see that part.

"But still," Ansel said, "That whole event... It was unnatural, right?"

Massiah turned toward the one-way window, his reflection staring back at him. He couldn't see past it, couldn't see outside. He just stared at nothing.

"It destroys everything we've known for the past few decades," he said. His voice was quieter now, "So yeah. Definitely unnatural."

"But what do you think actually happened?" Ansel pressed. "And does it end there? What if there's someone else out there who can control a Myutant? Or worse—what if someone can create another?"

"We'll have to stop it then," Gran muttered from his bed, practically mummified in bandages. Only his eyes and mouth were free, the rest of him wrapped so tightly he might as well have been a corpse in a sarcophagus. "I'm itching to get to the bottom of this anyway. Someone needs to bleed for Quem."

"True that," Dahlia said, stretching. "The controllers death wasn't satisfying enough!"

The door swung open.

Everyone turned as a woman in a bright pink suit strolled in, her hair swept back, a smug smile already in place.

"I see my least favorite exterminator is awake."

Massiah sighed. "I could hear you giggling like hell from outside when the doctor told you I was awake."

Sabrina grinned. "Okay, you got me."

"Sabrina," Gran groaned, struggling to sit up. "I'd hug you, but, you know—" he gestured vaguely with the stumps where his arms used to be.

Sabrina didn't miss a beat. She walked forward, heels clicking against the floor, and hugged him tight. "You did amazing, Gran."

"So does that mean I get the retirement plan?"

"You'll have to take that up with the company," she murmured, still hugging him.

"So you can ignore it?"

"Exactly."

"Get off me, you harpy," Gran muttered, though there was a chuckle behind it.

Sabrina stepped back, turning to the rest of the room. "Alright. Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

Before anyone could answer, she barreled ahead.

"Bad news is—there's a shit-ton of problems on my plate. Since Theresa's still out, we have no teacher for our little 'academy.' Oh, and we're basically at the start of a war with another haven."

Silence.

Everyone stared at her, waiting.

Nothing came.

"What's the good news?" Gran asked.

"What good news?" Sabrina blinked. "You're all alive. Isn't that good enough?"

"Good would be me getting that retirement plan," Gran muttered.

"Lalalalala," Sabrina hummed, blocking him out.

Massiah sighed. "So. How do we fix this?"

Sabrina glanced at him. He'd spoken two full sentences instead of just sighing or shaking his head. Nearly dying and suddenly having partners he actually liked must've done something to his brain.

She opened her mouth. "We can fix it by—"

"Lalalalala."

Massiah mimicked her tone exactly.

Gran burst out laughing. If they were close enough, they would've fist-bumped.

Sabrina's smirk twitched. "Ha ha," she muttered. "Funny joke, guys."

"Still," Sabrina said, glancing between Massiah and the nurses, "is he fit to walk? On his own, that is?"

One of the nurses shook her head, gesturing toward the heartbeat monitor beside him. The rhythmic beep sounded slower than it should—forty beats per minute, dangerously low. Massiah hadn't even finished the blood pack hooked to his arm, nor had he eaten anything since waking up.

If he so much as stood up, he could collapse.

"I can walk."

Massiah pushed himself toward the edge of the bed. His legs felt weak, but he forced them to move. Across from him, Dahlia reached out, hesitation flickering across her face.

He met her gaze and smiled, an expression meant to be reassuring. "If that Myutant couldn't kill me, trust me, walking a bit won't."

Sabrina exhaled, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back soon." Without waiting for approval, she stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Massiah's waist and helping him up.

Together, they left the room, stepping into the hallway.

Elendira remained behind, standing in the corner, still as a shadow. She had been using her own version of a standstill technique, blending into the background so well that no one had noticed her.

That ended the moment Sabrina walked out.

All eyes suddenly snapped toward her.

"ELENDIRA!"

Dahlia's scream shattered the silence.

In the hallway, Massiah winced, his breath coming in short, uneven pants as he pushed the IV pole along beside him.

"So," he muttered, voice strained, "what's so important that I need to act like I'm not in a world of pain?"

Sabrina didn't look at him at first. "Diamantis is alive."

Massiah turned his head slightly, studying her. The others had been so sure he was dead.

Sabrina continued, her voice lower now. "And I have a sneaking suspicion something worse is out there."

"What could that be?"

"He's not alone."

Sabrina's footsteps slowed, her gaze now meeting his. "He talks like he's waiting something out. Like he knows someone's coming to bail him out."

Massiah glanced around as they walked, his gaze flicking to an Exterminator passing through the next hallway—glasses, goatee, and a horrid throwback to the '90s' with a long flowing mullet.

He exhaled. "Is that why you called the entire force back?"

"Yeah," Sabrina said.

"Good reason, to be honest." He scratched the back of his head. "So what do you think? They gonna come take him back?"

Sabrina's expression didn't change. "I don't think they're going to come and ask nicely."

Massiah sighed, shaking his head. "You were right. This is a shit-ton of problems."

"And beyond that, you're out of it." She turned to him now. "We need to bring you back up to speed."

Massiah studied her for a moment. She didn't want to say it, but it was her job to push him, to get her exterminators ready for any possible attack. And he understood.

"Fair," he muttered. "But if I move any faster, my guts are gonna spill out."

Sabrina waved him off. "Don't worry, I have just the thing to get you back into it."

Massiah narrowed his eyes. "And what exactly would that be?"

A slow grin stretched across her face.

"An 'academy' teacher!"

Massiah froze.

"Yeah, no," he said immediately. "Find someone else."

"Oh, you're so doing it." Sabrina's tone was almost sing-song. "You've spent six days in that hospital and where do you think that money's coming from? 'Cause it sure as hell isn't coming out of my pockets."

Massiah inhaled slowly. The old debt tactic. Maybe this was karma for what he did to Joe.

"I hate this job," he muttered under his breath.

"That's my Mass!" Sabrina beamed. "You start tomorrow."

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you too." She smirked as she turned the corner, disappearing from sight.

Massiah exhaled through his nose, staring at the IV pole in his hand.

"Of course, she didn't take me back."