I scowled at her, but she only winked in response. Danger brought Mia to life. I’d seen it before, and it never failed to creep me out.

I had to admit, though: she was good at it. Jasper and Alexei might have the most destructive powers of the group, but Mia brought a chaos all her own.

“She’s right. Come over here,” Jasper called, and we drew up behind him. He’d taken us on a different route, approaching Mars Mining from another angle. Massive walls surrounded the complex. “What do you think?” he asked. “Should I blow another hole in the wall?”

Silence followed, and I realized, with some horror, that he was asking me. I glanced around. Cage, as usual, pursed his lips in thought, considering the situation from every angle, but everyone else stared at the two of us expectantly—even Mia, who usually had an answer for everything.

Oh God. They thought I was in charge. Or me and Cage, anyway. Why did that terrify me so much? When I’d been part of Omnistellar, all I’d wanted was that sense of command. Now, with these former prisoners staring at me, the thought petrified me.

Was I a criminal mastermind now? I almost choked on the idea. I bit my tongue to stay calm, the pain focusing me as I followed Cage’s gaze. This was about preventing an alien invasion. Robo Mecha Dream Girl wouldn’t have hesitated to act. “No,” I said slowly. “Or at least, not yet.” An idea formed in my head, a glimmer of a hope with probably nothing behind it. “Mia. You heard what Reed said about healing his own ankle?”

She snorted. “If that’s what happened, sure.”

“Let’s assume for a moment that it is. Just for the sake of argument, let’s say something happened to us. Maybe on the alien ship. Maybe not. But for some reason, our powers are changing. Getting stronger.”

Cage seemed to snap out of a trance, his focus shifting abruptly to me. “I see what you’re saying,” he said.

“How sweet.” Reed scowled. “Want to fill the rest of us in?”

I clenched my fists to stop their trembling and managed to meet Mia’s piercing gaze. “I’m wondering if Mia can make Jasper invisible.”

They draw near.

Sinews curl. Tendons awaken.

Glimmering through time and space.

They cut. They drive.

They are one and many and all and few. They consume. They harvest.

The harvest is broken.

Tendrils unfurl.

Fully.

Fully.

Awake.

TWELVE

COMPLETE SILENCE GREETED MY SUGGESTION. Then Mia snorted loudly. “You’re joking.”

“Why?” Cage demanded.

“Because it doesn’t work that way, genius.”

“Have you tried?”