The door at the end of the corridor flew open, sending Mia smashing to the floor. She flipped to her feet and into a fighting stance as three guards raced inside, weapons drawn. Imani raised her weapon, but before she could fire, Alexei pivoted and hit them with a blast of flames, driving them back. He dove after them and kicked the door shut, throwing his weight against it. “Rune!” he bellowed.

“Right!” She raced to his side and plunged her hand into the electronic lock. A moment later, something spluttered, and sparks flew around the door’s edge. Alexei stepped away, revealing a long burn against his right arm. He must have superheated the metal door. I couldn’t imagine how much pain he’d been in holding it shut.

Mia righted herself and nodded to Cage. “Let’s go!” she ordered. “Jasper?”

The boy holding the wall in place grinned. “With pleasure,” he said. He set his legs wide, closed his eyes, and pulled back his arms. As he thrust them forward, the wall exploded in the other direction. Shouts told me there had been guards on the opposite side.

I’d thrown up my arm instinctively to shield my face. When I dropped it, Mia was nowhere to be found. A second later, a guard screamed. Another cried: “What happened? Who’s there?”

“That’s our cue,” sighed Cage. We peeked outside. Mia had chosen the spot well: an isolated area separated from the city only by a massive wall, through which someone—and I didn’t have to think hard to guess who—had already blown a hole. There were two guards on the ground. The remaining four searched frantically. As I watched, another dropped, presumably struck by Mia. The other three opened fire. I winced, but no telltale spots of blood appeared.

Alexei wound up and unleashed a blast of flame at the guards, apparently unconcerned with hitting Mia in the crossfire. Sure enough, she deftly dodged his blast. “Now!” he ordered.

I staggered a few steps, still unsteady from the stun gun blasts. Then Cage was there, sweeping me into his arms and whisking me dramatically to safety, or at least, to the other side of the wall. The others were only a few seconds behind. Jasper’s eyes narrowed, and he reached for a conveniently placed metal sheet, telekinetically manipulating it over the hole. A blast from Alexei welded it into place. “That will buy us a few minutes at most,” he said. “Let’s go.”

As much as I wanted to demand explanations, this wasn’t the time. “I’m okay,” I assured Cage, managing to stand on my own two feet. He braced his hands on my shoulders and examined my face, his own a mask of worry. My heart surged in spite of itself. This wasn’t the first time he’d pulled me from danger. Maybe we were really only at our best when saving each other’s lives. Did that mean we had nothing to fall back on when no one was trying to kill us?