“Because I’m not really paying attention to that stuff and I could do much less creepy research online if I was, that didn’t involve anyone I knew. I think if really wanted to figure it out, I’d start with studying videos of kissing I’d do that and work my way up, so I’m good at the general stuff before I get to the advanced—”

“Kenzie.”

Kenzie stopped.

“There are blueberry muffins downstairs.”

“Yes!”

Kenzie practically flew down the stairs.

A heavy crash downstairs made Natalie freeze.

It was a moment, not a fleeting one, not a missed one, or the sort that hit so hard it rippled, making the decisions that were to come after that much more difficult. It was the kind that she’d thought about as a kid.

There were voices below. Multiple male ones. Another crash.

“Kenzie!” she hissed the word.

Kenzie was already coming up the stairs on all fours.

The moment Kenzie was confirmed upstairs and safe, Natalie ducked into her room. Phone.

She had numbers. Police. She texted rather than call. If she had to call, if there had to be a back and forth, it would take too long.

Glass shattered downstairs.

Victoria’s contact, Gilpatrick. A repeat of the prior message.

She was in the middle of typing a message to Victoria when she heard footsteps on the stairs, with voices, a back and forth between a guy and a girl. Kenzie tried to put herself between the stairs and Natalie, but Natalie pushed her back.

“I’m the hero here,” Kenzie said, insistent, dead serious. “Let me protect you.”

“Do you have your gear up here?”

Kenzie shook her head. “Some in the bag in the hallway, but that’s mostly scrap. I didn’t bring the eyehook or any of the really useful stuff because you said you didn’t want to make too many trips.

The pair came up the stairs. A twenty-something guy and a teenage girl with bleached hair. The guy had a knife.

Natalie had seen knife wounds, once. It was so, so easy to do horrendous amounts of damage.

“Can I have your phone?” Kenzie asked.

“No,” the guy said. “Don’t be stupid.”

Natalie looked down at her phone in her left hand. The screen had a large red ‘connect’ icon with a slash through it.

No service?

No power in the building, no service. If service had dropped like this, the texts might not have gone through.

“Drop it.”

Natalie bent down, letting the phone fall the remaining distance. She winced, hearing the sound. Phones were too expensive.

As the guy moved, knife in hand, she put herself between him and Kenzie.

“Kid,” the guy said. “Make this easier on all of us. We’ve got capes, and we’ve got you outnumbered. Come with us, and we’ll leave this chick and the guy downstairs in one piece.”

“Deal,” Kenzie said.