She didn’t have him.

“Think very carefully about what you do next,” I said.

“I’ve had a pretty level head when it comes to sitting in the back seat and watching someone do something awful. I’m careful, don’t worry,” Byron said.

His movements betrayed his words. He backed up, moving toward the largest, most empty portion of the room.

“Byron,” I said. “If you make this whole thing more complicated than it is, there’s a chance people get hurt. A chance Rain and Ashley get hurt, their legs blown off or they’re stuck on a prison world with no way out. There are bystanders. Prison staff who could get hurt.”

“I can sympathize with your sister in this,” he said.

I winced. “Bad choice of words.”

“In this. Trying to deal with you, when you’re like this.”

“It’s not major,” Sveta said.

“Are you telling me that in your current state of mind, you wouldn’t hurt a bystander if it helped her?”

I paused, my thoughts working out the best possible answer, which took some doing, since it was pretty far from what I might have normally said.

“There’s always a chance I hurt someone,” Sveta said. “And I lead the most selfish existence because I go through everyday life and I do the costumed thing despite that chance.”

“I know,” Byron said. “But… would you willingly do it, instead of your body doing it? If it helped her?”

Sveta didn’t answer. I could see her eyes move.

“I might,” I said.

“Then you’re not you,” he said.

Kenzie was in the back, staring. But she was on our side.

Rain was behind Byron, but Rain was limited in what he could do. He was a ghost.

Ashley, too. But Ashley stepped forward, talking. “That’s not the way it works. When your brother said something about leveling the city, she said it wasn’t something he was capable of. It has to be something you’re capable of.”

“You think you’re capable?” Byron asked me.

“I came close with Valefor. Raise the stakes, and—”

“You keep saying that. You got that from the Lady in Blue. You and Kenzie are the good ones. The only ones besides me who haven’t killed. You can’t be so casual about it.”

“It’s not being casual about that,” Ashley said. “It’s about being serious about this.”

“I was thinking about what we could do. She wanted the connection so she could get people right?” Lookout asked. “If they see her on camera, she can take control over them. If we do that enough times, we can get an army.”

“See, that? That’s terrifying,” Byron said. “That doesn’t sound like you, Kenz.”

“It’s a plan,” Sveta said.