The scene remained frozen for a moment longer. Then Rabbit whispered, her voice choked in utter horror. "No!"

It was as if that noise had broken the shock. A Surveyor named Spike lunged, aiming a spear at her mother's back, but Muriel was already pivoting. Her bastard sword slapped the spearpoint aside as if it was a child's toy. The counterstroke met his neck before he'd even completed the leap. To her right, Ping had been gathering some sort of magic assault a few paces away; Muriel lunged, her sword still held high. It descended in a shining crescent arc, and Ping's arm and staff fell away in a spray of burning blood.

A moment later, Poet tilted forward and fell on his face. Behind him, Spike's head bounced in the dirt, and Ping sank to the ground, her eyes already going blank. Three C rank Surveyors, dead before the first could hit the ground.

Muriel straightened up, her pose undeniable even with only a single arm. The Crimson Blade faced the remaining Surveyors, and there was a deadly light in her eye as she smiled. "Three."

Chaos broke loose as the dead began to burn.

Half the Surveyors went straight for her mother. Whether out of desperation, courage, or vengeance for the fallen, Laser and two others leaped straight at her, their weapons flickering with magic and blurring with speed. Muriel danced aside some blows and blocked others. None of them reached her, though for the moment they managed not to be instantly killed by her counterattacks.

The other two C ranks chose a much easier course. They charged at Alex and her friends, obviously hoping to kill the D ranks and lower the numbers against them. Copy flung himself at Joanna and Clara, while Pincushion darted in to face Alex and Sam. They clearly didn't like having Muriel at their backs, but at least they were trying to avoid being at melee range with her.

Rabbit, unlike the others, took a very different chance. She saw the Crimson Blade, a being from her nightmares, reborn in front of her. She saw a team of D ranks that had defied her in every possible way. She saw her bow, still shattered in the dirt, and a small, thin knife that was her only real weapon. The C rank then made the only real choice Alex should have expected her to make.

Rabbit ran.

She stabbed Warner once before she left, getting him right in the gut. He screamed like a dying pig and curled up around the wound, but Alex's eyes were locked on Rabbit. The B rank had seen her mother. If she escaped…

Sam launched himself at Pincushion, taking the Hunter by surprise. As the C rank backpedaled, he yelled at her over the chaos. "Go after her!"

Alex hesitated for only a moment. Then she sprinted forward. Pincushion tried to intercept, but she shield-checked him hard enough to knock him backwards. Sam was on him before the Hunter could recover, stabbing and lashing out with mental energy. Beyond him, Clara was already running towards Warner, firing at Copy as she went. The Spellsword ducked a shot with a curse as they and Joanna dueled with their shining blades.

It felt like she was abandoning them, but even as she ran, she heard someone give a choked off scream. Muriel yelled above it in an absurdly familiar voice. "Four!"

Gritting her teeth, Alex realized she'd have to trust her friends and her mother. She ran.

Rabbit was fast.

She'd known that already, of course. The B rank had apparently specialized in Speed, to the point where if she'd had something like Motion Trance, Alex would never have been able to keep up with her. Even just a fair amount of Life would have given her the endurance to run fast enough and far enough that any hope of keeping her from escaping would have been lost.

As it was, Rabbit would sprint out ahead and nearly vanish from sight, only to slow to a near jog a minute later. Then, as Alex caught up, the B rank would sprint off again at an impossible pace, regaining her lead once again.

It was frustrating, almost as frustrating as leaving the battle behind, but Alex buckled down and focused. The rhythm of her running snapped into place for her, and she slowly began to see Rabbit's lead vanish. All she needed to do was catch the griefer, and then she'd be able to finish her off. Without her bow or any backup, she'd be easy prey.

At least, that was what Alex told herself. In all honesty, she didn't know how to counter the woman's magic. She knew it was short range, especially if Rabbit wasn't able to get a good look at a person, but it was still a lethal threat. If she could neutralize it somehow, then all she needed was a few good strikes, and then it would be over.

She kept telling herself that as she reached the portal. Rabbit had vanished through it a few moments earlier, not even pausing for a second to catch her breath. Alex ran straight for it as well, ignoring the flickers of Liliana's presence that were just now beginning to appear in the corners of her eyes.

The Shade could wait. She had other business for the night.

[Mission Report]

[No Objectives Completed]

That brief statement was exceptionally painful. It was like a brief glimpse into what Abbott had been facing for years, but Alex didn't dwell on it. She didn't have time.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Steady]

[Current Portal Level: C3]

[Anomalous Readings Registered!]

[Local Area Population: 1 B rank, 3 C ranks, 4 D ranks]

Unless she was completely wrong, that meant Laser was no longer a threat, and neither were the other members of Royal Purple who were working with her. Muriel Morrison was a kind soul, but the Crimson Blade…

No other orange text appeared, and she didn't have time for anything anyway. She pushed through the light, trying to force her way home…

Alex arrived in the training room just in time to see Rabbit vanish into the corridor. She ran after her, the boots on her feet pounding the floor as she shot after the B rank. Her wounds still burned, but less than they had, and she could practically hear Rabbit gasping up ahead of her.

A part of her wondered where Rabbit was headed, but the B rank's destination became clear quickly enough. She was headed up the tower, on her way to the landing pad for one of the Greyhawks. Alex's mind flashed back to what Joanna had said about an unscheduled flight alert.

Rabbit was trying to escape by tiltrotor. She could go anywhere in just a few hours, and Greylight would be more than happy to help her disappear. Especially once she told them about the fact that the Crimson Blade was still alive.

A jolt of desperation tore through Alex, and she increased her pace. She could not afford to let Rabbit talk to anyone, much less escape the tower. She had to die, now, no matter what it took.

She chased the B rank through the corridors of the tower. They both took the stairs, knowing the elevators would be too slow. Alex's breath began to grow harsh in her throat as she pounded up stairwells and down hallways. Rabbit was almost always just out of sight, punching through doors and vaulting obstacles, always heading for the way out.

Alex reached the last corridor, the one that led from the central tower to the landing pad. Rabbit had put on one last burst of speed, sprinting ahead of her. She could see the Greyhawk with its ramp down. The rotors were already spinning, as if someone had told the pilot to get things moving early.

With her lungs burning and her heart pounding, Alex shot down the corridor at a blistering pace. Rabbit glanced behind her once as she ran up the ramp, and the outline of her bow formed in her hands. Had it already restored itself? Alex just ran harder, willing herself to reach the Greyhawk before it took off.

Just as she reached the pad, two men leapt at her from either side of the doorway. She reacted before she even really acknowledged them. Her shield lashed out and smashed one of them to the side; she hit the other with the flat of her axe, hard enough to spin him in a loose-limbed circle. Neither lasted more than a heartbeat before they were sprawled out on the concrete of the rooftop.

Yet it seemed like that delay had been just long enough. The Greyhawk was already lifting, even with the ramp still down. Rabbit was turning towards the cockpit, giving orders of some kind. Her bow had formed, but she wasn't using it. Maybe she thought the chase was over.

Which was her mistake. Alex was still breathing.

Alex crossed the distance between her and the Greyhawk in four quick strides. She gathered the power of her magic as she went, taking hold of the wind around her. Just as she was running out of roof, with the tiltrotor still hovering above her, Alex jumped, using the Storm itself to give her an extra boost.

She hit the ramp a heart-stopping moment later, feeling it shake beneath her boots as she staggered to a halt. Rabbit spun, a phone in one hand and her bow in the other. Blood still coated her face, and her eyes were wide with shock and surprise.

Alex didn't give her enough time to strike. She swung at the phone, smashing it out of existence in a single stroke. Rabbit cursed and backed up, the wrecked fragments scattering from her hand. Alex swept the axe backwards, using it to hook the bow and yank it out of Rabbit's grasp. The B rank tried to grab for it as the weapon went spiraling out of the still-open ramp and into the night air, but her fingers closed on nothing at all.

A feeling of triumph burned in Alex's breath as she punched her shield forward, catching Rabbit in the shoulder and slamming her into the wall of the Greyhawk. She heard a seat crunch under the force of the blow, and Rabbit cursed again. The B rank came up with her knife in her hand and stabbed at Alex's face.

Alex leaned forward and took the cut on her helmet. The impact knocked the knife out of Rabbit's grasp, and Alex kicked it down the ramp as well. With the B rank disarmed, she turned to face Rabbit, bringing her axe back to strike.

Then the world seemed to blink, and Rabbit was gone. Alex had a moment of disorientation before Rabbit's arm wrapped around her throat, and she was yanked off her feet. The B rank began to strangle Alex, tightening the hold on her windpipe as Alex tried to reach her. As Alex fought to gasp for air, she saw Rabbit's other hand come up, the knife somehow back in her grip. One stab, and the fight would be over.

Desperate, Alex turned her back to the ramp and threw herself backwards. Rabbit shouted in surprise, but the B rank was still too fast. She yanked on Alex, transferring the momentum of the shove so that Alex was sent spinning towards the opening. Alex lost her footing, falling to the floor of the Greyhawk.

She just barely managed to look up in time for Rabbit to kick her square in the chest with both feet.

The impact sent Alex sliding backwards, and her legs were suddenly kicking in the open air. She let go of her shield to latch onto a handhold on the ramp itself, barely stopping herself from sliding out of the Greyhawk completely.

Wind snatched at her legs, and Alex desperately refused to look down. The motion of the Greyhawk was tumbling through her stomach, but she doubted that was the cause of the nausea filling her. One slip, and she'd be done. Not even a Surveyor could survive a fall like this, even with magic.

Rabbit knew it too. She stepped forward, a twisted grin on her bloody face. "Looks like you get to match your nickname, Flygirl!"

She leaned forward, her knife held high in her hand. Alex saw it coming for her left arm and braced herself as Rabbit stabbed down, pinning her arm to the ramp itself. Pain lashed through her, and she nearly lost her grip as numbness shot down her arm. The glee in Rabbit's expression made her seem demonic.

Alex saw it flicker as she grinned up at the B rank. "One."

Rabbit blinked, and then Alex swung her axe up and around. The backspike of the weapon took Rabbit in the shoulder, and the B rank opened her mouth in a gasp of shock and pain.

Before she could react, Alex yanked on her like she was pulling a fish into shore. The sudden pull stole whatever footing and balance that Rabbit might have had. Her lean turned into a forward tumble. Alex felt Rabbit snatch at her for a moment, and then the B rank had fallen out into the open night sky.

Alex ignored the temptation to look back. Instead, she used her axe as a hook a second time, getting a half-decent handhold further up the ramp. She pulled herself up enough to get a foot on solid ground, trying not to faint as the motion ground Rabbit's knife around in her left arm. Once she was not dangling over the air, she yanked out the knife and tossed it up into the cargo bay before slowly pulling herself up to safety.

Once she reached it, she gritted her teeth and went forward into the cockpit. Two pilots stared back at her, their expressions hard to read beneath their helmets. "Screwball?"

The one on the left nodded. "Valkyrie?"

"Take us back home." She slumped against the side of the opening, her nausea getting worse.

Screwball hesitated, and his copilot spoke up over the sound of the rotors. "Rabbit said—"

Alex cut him short. "Rabbit's dead. We aren't, so we're going home."

The pilots exchanged a quick look. Then Screwball shrugged and moved the flight stick. Alex's stomach heaved as the tiltrotor changed course, and she stumbled her way back to the nearest seat. Aside from how Rabbit managed it, the sooner she could get on the ground, the better.

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Of course, it wasn't quite over yet.

When the Greyhawk landed, she had rushed back down to the training room just in time to see her mother and the rest of her friends emerge from the portal with Warner in tow. The CEO had looked unhappy and in pain, but for some reason, he hadn't complained. His occasional terrified looks in Muriel's direction might have had something to do with his willingness to cooperate.

It had taken a few hours to… arrange things. Jester, Snickers, and Mushroom had been easy enough to clean up. A quick body dump through the portal had handled most of the evidence there, and Joanna had still had enough juice to cook the blood off the pavement. The others had handled it while she woke Rob up for some medical treatment for her wounds. He'd been concerned, but somehow not surprised.

Finding her shield had been a bit more complicated, given how she'd lost it, but she eventually dug it out of a sidewalk a few blocks away from the compound. Locating Rabbit had been a bit more…messy. The B rank had landed on top of—and partially through—the roof of a nearby store. Local police had been at both places and had insisted on taking pictures of the scene and recording a brief statement. It had made dumping the corpse through the portal that much more satisfying, but Alex knew it was going to make explaining things just that much more difficult.

At that point, all that she needed to do was scrub any security cameras that showed her mother's arrival and scramble the local PAD backups. Warner had helped there, giving them access to some servers that definitely shouldn't have been available to non-Regulation types. He seemed to be doing a lot of quiet thinking, though Alex didn't quite trust the shifty look in his eyes.

Unfortunately, just because she had a long night didn't mean the rest of the world was willing to accommodate her. Regulation arrived just an hour after they'd finished cleaning things up, and they'd immediately locked the entire campus down for the following three days. Agents had been everywhere, poking around the training room and parking lot, setting up a cordon around the broken Anchor Point trailer, and conducting interview after exhausting interview. If they hadn't coordinated their testimonies before then, it might have been overwhelming, but Muriel had warned them, and Alex had stuck to her story. She and her friends had woken in the middle of the night, found the trailer and overheard Rabbit's plans, and disrupted it. They'd rescued Warner while Rabbit's allies had run for it, and managed to catch Rabbit in the act of fleeing, which was when she'd fallen from the Greyhawk. All neat and tidy, with a bow on top.

The Regulation agents hadn't liked it, of course; it bore all the signs of a cover up with good reason, but this time Greylight's reputation actually seemed to be helping. None of the agents wanted to get on Greylight's bad side, so they didn't press too hard. It turned out that pinning all the misbehavior on Rabbit seemed to work just as well for the higher ups as it would have with Warner, so the accepted line was now that the B rank had masterminded everything on her own.

Not that it had stopped them from digging through everything for days, and denying her a well-earned day of lazing around.

Just as they finally released her, giving her a faint hope of getting back to her room and collapsing for a while, she received a summons on her phone. She groaned as she read it; all Royal Purple Surveyors were to gather in the tower lobby immediately to hear an announcement. Any auxiliary personnel and interested parties were also invited to attend, though it was not compulsory.

Alex briefly debated the wisdom of ignoring the summons since she wasn't a Surveyor anymore. She had a quiet, desperate fantasy where she tried to prove her status as a Pioneer. Then she shook her head, groaned, and limped off down the hallway in the direction of the tower. Better to listen to the announcement than to endure more hours of interrogations.

The lobby was full of Surveyors, but not as full as it should have been. Only two of the C rank teams hadn't been wiped out, and the D rank teams, while more numerous now, still seemed like they were missing too many people after the layoffs.

Of course, the Royal Purple Surveyors weren't the only ones there. A lot of the support staff was present as well. She could see Lisa looking around the room, and Rob seemed tired and vaguely distracted, as if he'd been through the same draining interrogations she had. Alex felt a moment of guilt about that, before her attention was pulled to the other three groups of people there.

One of them was made up of representatives from companies that had signed contracts with Royal Purple Contracting. She recognized someone she'd seen at Emerald Bay, and the sour-faced Surveyor from Brownhat. There was another woman in a Goldiron uniform, and a number of others who were looking around with expressions ranging from hostility to apathy.

The only exception was Obadiah Hamilton. The Ochre Star CEO seemed to be the highest-ranking executive present, and he was looking straight at Alex. He met her eyes and smiled before another representative stepped in front of him, apparently beginning some small talk. Alex took the opportunity to duck a bit further away into the crowd. She didn't like the fact that he'd noticed her, for some reason; the last thing she wanted was more attention.

There were more than company folks here, though. A gaggle of reporters had planted themselves right in the middle of the lobby. Alex could already see some of them looking around as if to grab people for statements or comments, and redoubled her efforts to blend in. She'd take a Regulation interrogation any day compared to being thrown to the vultures.

The last group present was the smallest and the most isolated. There were half a dozen people in the blue and grey uniforms of Regulation agents, all clustered near the front of the room, right in front of the receptionist's desk. They had set up a podium and were absorbed in a quiet discussion. Occasionally, one of them would look at the doors on the right of the room, as if waiting for someone.

Alex watched them, wondering why they were here. Regulation shouldn't have been interested in a Royal Purple internal matter, so why…

A hand landed on her shoulder, and Alex nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Sam grinning at her. "A little jumpy?"

"It's been a rough couple of days." She looked him over, almost happy to see that he looked about as worn and tired as she did. "Where're the others?"

"Joanna's over there with Screwball. I think Clara's somewhere around here talking to Trips again." He shrugged. "They'll probably come looking for you at some point, anyway."

She nodded. "Any idea what we're here for?"

Sam shook his head. He glanced at the Regulation agents and grimaced. "Nothing I'd want to talk about here. Maybe after we can—"

The doors opened, and Mitch Warner, CEO, stepped through them.

Ripples of quiet spread out across the crowd. Sam gave Alex a quick look, and they both craned to see around the rest of the crowd as Warner walked over to the podium. He stepped up to it and paused, looking around as the last few whispers and conversations died away.

Warner looked down at the podium and sighed. Then he spoke, his voice being picked up by some kind of microphone. "Surveyors of Royal Purple Contracting, employees, and guests. I've called this meeting to discuss our future after the events of the past week."

He paused. "There have been several rumors about those events, and while I am sure that the Regulation agents involved will be sure to publish the conclusions of their investigation once they have finished, I can lay some of them to rest now."

With exaggerated regret, Warner shook his head. "To my great shame, employees of our company embarked on an attempt to profit by sabotaging the portals and Surveys of other companies, particularly those who had not yet signed on with us. They manipulated those portals in order to endanger the lives of other Surveyors, to better extort contracts with those clients—portions of which they siphoned off to their own accounts."

"This scheme was developed in cooperation with executives in our sister company Steel Sky Transportation, and to my regret, some of my own assistants and many of our own Surveyors ended up being involved. Through a series of fortunate accidents—" Warner's eyes darted towards Alex before he looked back at his notes. "Their scheme was discovered. When they realized they were going to be caught, they attempted to sabotage our own portal, a plan that was only stopped through the quick thinking and determination of some of our own employees. Alexandretta Morrison and her team scattered the Surveyors involved, and prevent an incident that would have claimed my life as well as those of countless civilians."

It seemed like half the room abruptly turned to look at her. Alex tried desperately not to shrink back, but it was a near thing. She could almost feel Obadiah smiling at her again.

Warner continued. "Unfortunately, as many of those individuals remain at large and the investigation is ongoing, there are too many questions about who was involved in this plot for business to continue as usual. As such, Regulation has made the decision to withdraw our Survey license, effective immediately."

There was a wave of gasps through the room, and Alex felt her mouth drop open in shock. Without a Survey license, no one representing Royal Purple would be allowed to step through a portal anywhere in the country. It effectively meant that as a Survey corporation, the company was dead.

As murmurs bubbled through the crowd, Warner was forced to speak a little louder to make himself heard. "Understandably, our daily operations will be brought to a halt by this decision. I apologize to our clients, who we will no longer be able to serve, and to our employees, who will be furloughed until we can once again return to active operations."

"During this difficult time, I thank you again for all of your efforts on behalf of Royal Purple Contracting. Further information will be available before the end of the day. Thank you."

Warner stepped back from the podium, and then the crowd erupted in questions, conversations, and arguments. To Alex's horror, half of the reporters turned and started towards her. She put a hand over her eyes and wished that she'd just gone to bed.

"So, three for three." Sam's voice was brimming with unreleased humor, and she glared at him. They were still standing in the lobby, but at least she'd managed to stonewall and 'No Comment' her way through waves of questions. Once the reporters had figured out how boring she was, they'd spread out to pester the rest of the Surveyors, many of whom had been quite vocal about their disappointment with Royal Purple specifically and Greylight in general. She hoped they had found enough soundbites to satisfy them there.

Alex glanced around to make sure an opportunistic microphone wasn't present. "Red Blade doesn't count. They still exist."

Sam wagged a finger at her. "Your job there doesn't, and you got hit harder than I thought if you think this one does. I think corporations are going to think twice before they pick up a contract with you now."

She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, another person answered. "Actually, they won't have the option."

Alex spun around and found Abbott grinning at her. He was dressed in a nondescript set of civilian clothes, something that seemed somehow wrong. "Abbott! Why are you back?"

"Oh, I'm not." He grinned a bit wider. "A little bird told me that Regulation might be looking for a temporary advisor on this portal, though. Apparently, they're going to be taking over maintenance, so I figured I'd make an offer."

She chuckled. "A little bird, huh?" A quick look around located Lisa a short distance away, who was glancing in Abbott's direction every so often. "Well, I'm sure they'd be glad to have you."

Sam broke in before Abbott could respond. "What did you mean about the contract?"

Abbott shrugged. "It's part of your contract with Royal Purple. Unless you are fired, you can't officially sign on with any competing company. Not until your contract is up."

Alex blinked, feeling a grim realization settle in. "So I can't get a new contract for the next few months?"

"Not unless Royal Purple—or Greylight, I guess—decides to terminate you, or sells your contract." Abbott glanced around. "I don't see them doing either. They don't have to pay you when you aren't working, and they're going to want you bound by non-disclosure agreements as long as possible."

She grimaced. "So I'm stuck, then. Unless someone's willing to hire me on a case-by-case basis, I just have to stand by and wait."

Sam grunted. "Yeah. Sounds like it." He looked to where Warner was still half-buried in the reporters. "Maybe the investigation will go quickly?"

Abbott snorted. "Want to bet on it?"

The response was immediate. "No."

The C rank laughed. "Wise choice. Face it, you'll be cooling your heels for a while, but you'll be back on your feet soon enough. Call if you ever need a recommendation."

"I don't believe she'll need one, Mr. Costello." Alex blinked and turned to find Obadiah Hamilton standing nearby. He extended a hand, and Alex shook it automatically. "I believe you mentioned the possibility of working with someone on a case-by-case basis?"

Alex glanced at Sam. "Yeah, but I wasn't—"

Obadiah held up a hand. "My company has an interest in finding a… security consultant, you could say. Someone who can help resolve issues that might show up." He glanced in Warner's direction. "Obviously Royal Purple will no longer be able to help, but perhaps you can. You and your team, of course."

She studied him for a moment. There was still something she didn't quite like about the way he watched her, but still… "I'd have to talk with everyone."

"Of course. The offer will remain open as long as you are available. We can negotiate the payments then." Obadiah smiled and handed her a business card.

She'd just taken it when another person shoved past Abbott. It was the Surveyor from Emerald—Jonathan, was it?—and there was frustrated desperation in his eyes. "You can't have her, Hamilton. Valkyrie, we'll double it."

Alex started feeling a bit of concern. Others were turning to look at her again. A couple of reporters were lingering in eavesdropping range.

Hamilton raised an eyebrow. "She's not for hire, Jonathan. I believe she'll be a free agent for a while."

Jonathan grimaced. "Then we'll work something out. We're still rebuilding after those griefers gutted us." He looked at Alex. "I'm not going to lie. We need your help, and we're willing to pay. How soon can you start?"

A chuckle caught Alex's attention, and she looked over to find the woman from Goldiron watching. "Well, I don't mean to be rude, but once you finish with them, perhaps you could add us to the list? Just on an emergency basis, perhaps. We have some very high recommendations about your abilities."

Alex looked around, and realized that without her realizing it, there were more company representatives gathering around her, like sharks to a wounded whale. Her eyes went a bit wide from panic, and she looked from Sam, who was trying not to break down laughing, to Abbott.

Her former supervisor just grinned. "Welcome to independent contracting life, Valkyrie. You'll do fine." Then he tossed her a salute before he wandered away from the still-gathering, now-arguing crowd of executives, headed back to where Lisa was grinning at him.

"Traitor!" He just waved at her, and then she closed her eyes. This wasn't any worse than fighting a Grue or hunting down a griefer. She could get through this; she just had to—

"We need at least a Survey every week!"

"With the kind of travel involved? I'm sure she'd enjoy more profits with more Surveys at a more convenient portal."

"Shows what you know. Maybe she likes travel!"

"You can't just—"

Sam just barely grabbed her before she ran.

By the end, Alex managed to escape with at least a dozen business cards in exchange for a few hopeless promises to talk things over with her team and arrange for conference calls later that week. She hadn't made the most dignified retreat after that, especially when a few last reporters tried to catch up to her, but if Motion Trance was good for anything, it was for a quick escape. She left Sam behind to make excuses, but he'd earned it with those smirks of his.

She paused to catch her breath after her panicked dash and found herself looking at Mitch Warner. The CEO was walking towards a sleek, black limo that was waiting for him. A small group of security guards wearing Greylight uniforms were holding back the last few reporters as he beat his retreat.

He looked over at her and paused. The assistant—a new face, she noted—bent over to whisper to him, but he held up a hand to silence her. Then he walked over to her. "Valkyrie."

She raised her chin, feeling a calm settle over her. "Warner."

"I truly am sorry for how this all worked out. Unfortunately, this is how business is done occasionally." His insincere smile once again twisted his lips, at once projecting sympathy and wisdom. "I hope it won't impact our ability to cooperate in the future."

Alex felt her eyes narrow. There was one question she still had. Who had been the one to leave her the note in her room? It hadn't been Abbott or Lisa. The only other person who might have known what was going on, the only one who had possibly wanted to help… "I guess that would depend on what you need done."

Warner tilted his head. "Oh, I'm sure I can find something. The world always has need of problem solvers, and you are far too effective a solution to ignore for long." There was a hidden hint of danger in those words. Something she might not have caught if she hadn't been listening closely. Not a threat, but maybe more of a… caution?

She nodded slowly. "Well, I do what I can. As long as I'm available. Apparently, there's a lot of people that need help." Alex indicated the business cards in her hand, and Warner's smile grew a little more genuinely amused.

"More than you know, I'm afraid. More than you know." Warner held out a hand. "I hope if I run across some problems, I might be able to send you a note?"

Alex's eyes widened slightly as she took his hand, but she covered it by trying to keep her expression neutral. "O-of course."

Warner nodded, a spark of something in his eyes. "Good." He let go of her hand and turned to go—then he paused and looked back. "Before I forget, say hello to your kind mother for me. I really was pleased to meet her."

For just a second, it was like Alex had seen a new person peeking through a mask she hadn't known was there. It stunned her to silence, and she had to swallow before she answered. "I will, sir."

He nodded, and the mask slid back into place without a single hint it had even existed. Warner walked back to the limo and ducked inside, still the picture of an amiable company man. Someone no one would ever expect to work against the company, someone who could be trusted to work with any secret…

She wondered for a moment if the ambush her mother had stumbled into had only targeted the Crimson Blade. Perhaps Greylight had decided to rid itself of a mole as well, arranging for a Warner to fall into the same trap. Was it possible that they'd made a mistake? Had they killed the wrong brother?

Alex rubbed the thumb over the piece of paper in her palm, the one Warner had given to her when he shook her hand. She eventually slipped it in with the cards she held. Later, when she looked at it in the privacy of her room, there were six names written on it, with the first crossed off.

She smiled and nodded to herself. Her bed was beckoning to her, in a way that she couldn't ignore. Sleep could only be denied for so long.

After that, well… there was going to be a lot to do—and Greylight would never see her coming.

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