He grabbed it, using me and his own momentum to hoist himself up and we both jumped over the other side of the fence, my hoodie getting snagged by the barbed wire slightly.

We heard the guards stop at the alley, they seemed to be trying to find another way around. We were already gone.

"Better luck next time, guys." I muttered as we made our way out of sector nine and back to the warehouse.

~

Lunch was protein bars and canned beans. I threw the wrapper at River's head, 'cause of course I did. He, Skylar, and Eliot looked like they'd just sprinted through hell. If I'd been listening to Sky's debrief, I might've known why.

That's when Declan's little sister walked in.

Tessa. Seven years old. Fate Holder. Probably could kill you with a smile. And no one—not Declan, not even Skylar—knew just how much of a problem that might be someday.

Her dark brown eyes scanned the room, her stuffed bunny clutched tight against her chest.

She had been in her's and Declan's room this morning. Dec said there was no way she was going on missions or even patrol "until she's twice her age".

I felt bad for the kid.

She snagged a protein bar from the table and sat next to Skylar, who started running her fingers through Tessa's hair like they were siblings.

Well, I guess we were all kind of like siblings.

And not in a: "We're a big, happy, family!" kind of way. More like a: "We're all traumatized and live together to survive." kind of way, but we tolerate each other.

Tolerate in a we-don't-kill-each-other way.

"Thankfully Eliot shot down the remaining guards before I could even blink." Skylar explained, still running her hands through Tessa's hair. "Then we made it back here."

Declan nodded. "I know it's hard but we need to try to not kill every guard that gets in our way. It's not right."

River sighed. "If they know we aren't going to fight back, how will they be scared of us?"

"We don't want them to be scared of us. the Eternal Holders have a bad rep and us seeming threatening won't help our case." Declan explained.

I mean, yeah, Declan was right. Plus it kind of worked in our favor—if we didn't seem threatening, they might underestimate us.

Or they'd be less likely to be scared, which also makes it dangerous.

"What? So we're just supposed to run? Not defend ourselves?" River asked again.

The guy didn't even have elemental abilities like the rest of us. Max had Sun, Declan had Moon, Skylar had Air, Eliot had Earth, Tessa had Fate, and I had Fire. But River's really good with a sword—he's the one that taught me when we were in Thornblade's army.

I shivered at the thought of that hellhole. The screams never really left, no matter how far I ran.

I blocked out the rest of the debate. We had to gear up again soon so we could cover the rest of the sectors before nightfall. Even in May, the sun sets early, not like it's very sunny here anyways. Ravenrock is damp and dark—so cheery, I know.

I ran up the stairs to mine and Max's room. Unfortunately I ended up bunking with the cleanest guy in Ravenrock. Perfect bed, books organized, clothes sorted by color and weight in his drawers and in the closet.

And sometimes I get the pleasure of coming in and seeing my stuff cleaned up too.

I thrive in chaos, a clean room is a horror to witness.

I rolled my eyes, seeing all my weapons sorted and arranged perfectly on the dresser. I examined the knife I stole off the table in the market. Good quality for a free knife, felt good in the hand.

I set it down with the other knives and got a gun instead—the lower the number is for each sector, the richer it is, and the more likely they are to use firearms instead of stabby things.

Sectors one and two were the most secure and armed, so we had to be prepared.

Things were finally about to get interesting around here. And by interesting, I mean probably fatal.