They needed to get to the Hero first. Which was a thought Emily wasn’t very happy she was having. She looked both ways down the fence, then nodded to herself before running up to it and grabbing the edge. Emily started to lift herself up and over it. She grunted at the effort, arms trembling even as she scrambled up the fence.

“Lemme help!” Teddy said.

“Help how— Oh,” Emily said as she half turned and found a large grizzly bear behind her. Teddy reached out, paws carefully angled so her claws weren’t pointing toward Emily, and grabbed Emily around the waist. She squeaked as Teddy rose to her full height, then pushed her toward the fence.

Emily swung her legs over, then sat on the edge. “Okay, okay,” she said as she hung on and balanced herself. “Athena, give me your hand.”

She grabbed Athena’s hand and pulled her up, the girl scrambling against the fence until she was over it and crouching on the lawn.

“Teddy, you’re next, then Trinity,” Emily said. “Trinity, can you keep the Hero distracted?”

“Oh yeah, she’s asking me questions and I’m kicking her,” Trinity said. “I’m kicking her real good too.”

“Uh, well done,” Emily said, pulling Teddy up with a grunt when the girl returned to being a girl. “Keep it up, and don’t tell her anything. We’ll be there to save you soon.”

“So we’re going to kick her butt?” Teddy asked.

“That’s . . . no, we shouldn’t,” Emily said. “She’s more experienced, probably has better equipment, and she might be able to call in reinforcements. But I don’t want to just . . . let her win either.”

Athena nodded, and, out of all her sisters, Emily supposed she was the one most likely to get it. “Our win condition isn’t beating the enemy, it’s retrieving the stuff.”

“Exactly,” Emily said.

Athena’s smug smile was practically radiant. Emily landed next to her with a thump of her shoes against the ground, then she pointed to the house and ran over. Her gaggle of sisters followed, surprisingly quiet.

“Oh, she’s tying me up,” Trinity said.

“With what?” Emily asked as they arrived next to Cement’s home. She kept her voice low, a whisper she hoped wouldn’t carry.

Trinity’s nose scrunched. “You know those plastic things, with the knobby bits? They go click-click-click?”

“Zip ties,” Athena said. “Did she have them on her?”

Trinity nodded. “She has a pouch.”

Emily took that in, then closed her eyes. “Okay, here’s the plan. Trinity, I want one of you to sneak in while the Hero’s busy. Athena, I need you to find a way to see her. Make her paranoid—I want her focused on anything but us. Teddy, stay with me here.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep you safe,” Teddy said.