8: INTRUDERS

Hikaru walked up coffee table and placed his palm on the edge. The glass glowed blue in response, casting a visual image of the area around the house.

He watched for a while with a beer in one hand, as Neon checked his bearings outside. Then he got on one of the mobikes and took off, out of sight of the cameras.

"You are one hell of a brother," Hikaru muttered and took a swig of his beer.

"Hey, douchebags! You've got a lady in here, remember?! And I've got to use the fucking toilet!"

His brows shot up in his head as though he only just remembered his captive. He took out another bottle in addition to the one he held and headed into the adjoining room.

Her expression hardened as soon as he walked in.

‘She didn't expect to see me,' he thought.

He couldn't sense any emotion coming off her, as opposed to the fear that had leaked off her earlier.

"I'm impressed," he said, "Youmask your feelings properly."

He set the bottles on the bed and took a knife out of his back pocket.

"What are you doing?" She said quickly as he leaned down behind her, "Hey…"

She flinched when she felt the blade's pressure on her hand, but the ropes began to loosen until they came free.

"Bathroom's right there," he said, pointing at the adjoining door.

She rose consciously, rubbing her wrists with a slight frown squeezing her brows. Then she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

When she was done with her business, she walked out and paused when she spotted him lying on the bed.

"Hungry?" He said without staring at her. "There's a bit of cherry cake left over from lunch…"

"There aren't any windows," she said.

He sat up slightly, raising a brow.

She cleared her throat slightly. "There's no windows. In the bathroom, in this bedroom…"

"Hoping to escape, were you?"

"How does the air get in?"

He lay back on the bed and pointed at the ceiling and at the walls. "There are venting spaces that are covered up. Can only be opened by the palm print of a designated field agent."

He gave her a look and added, "You should know this, you were a Hunter too."

"If you had researched me deeply enough, you would have known that all my field missions were in Niglekin. I never had use for a safe house."

"Fair enough."

She sat down on the chair with a sigh. "Well? What now?"

Hikaru gave her a glance. Her hair was jet black and cut short to her nape, with snowy streaks slicing through the ebony like shards of ice. Her features were just as sharp, her eyes were dark green with a piercing gaze that didn't seem to miss anything. She sat upright, like she was awaiting an attack at any moment or like she was about to pounce on prey…

Like a hunter.

There was a beauty to her, but it was cold and distant.

"You have beautiful eyes," he said at last, "Icy, but beautiful."

Her features didn't change. "If you're going to flatter me, you could at least make sure I'm not your prisoner. Otherwise, it's just creepy."

"I wasn't flattering you," he said and tossed her one of the beer bottles he came in with. She caught it deftly, with her eyes narrowed. "I was merely making an observation."

She stared down at the bottle for a while, without moving or saying a word.

Then she looked up and asked. "How do you do it?"

He sat upright, reaching for his drink on the floor. "Do what?"

"Get into people's heads?"

He gave her a searching side glance, but said nothing.

"I heard the other Rogues talked about it once. At the Enclave. How you tortured one of them with his past memories…"

"Do you think I enjoy it?"

His face was blank, wiped clean of any expression but his eyes penetrated hers with a steady intensity.

She clenched her jaw, trying not to grip the bottle tighter than she should. "Yeah, I think you do."

He squinted, narrowing his gaze for a while. Then he chuckled loudly. "Of course I do. It's fun burrowing into the maze of people's minds. And as for HOW I do it, well…It's a natural talent, I assume. The more I level up, the more skills I unbox."

She popped the bottle open with her thumb. "So it is true. Your systems still level up even after being graded as Alphas."

He stared down at his tekhan. It glowed a dull amber on his wrist, a giant band that displayed his customized combat system whenever he wanted, a giant restriction that limited the amount of energy he put out.

"Well, Akira, if there's one thing you must know…" he said and took a sip of his beer, "... it's that my brother and I are anomalies among Hunters."

He caught something flickering across her eyes, at the same time an alarm went off in his head.

"Is there something you didn't tell us?"

She stared down at her drink for a while without saying a word.

"He wasn't just an Enti-"

They both looked up when the lights in the room flared red twice and the alarm went off in Hikaru's head again.

"Proximity Alert," rang out a mechanical voice from all around them.

He shot a dark stare at Akira and she flinched involuntarily as he rose, towering over her in a second.

"Stay here," he told her in a cold voice, and headed out of the room.

"Lexa, give me a visual sweep now," he called out as he stepped into the main room. A screen shot up from the coffee table, detailing the four corners of the house outside once more in red light.

The low bushes were still, the tiled edges were lifeless, the entire area was empty. There was no one in sight.

"What the-"

Four figures moved into view swiftly, appearing out of thin air as they ran up to the walls and attached devices at strategic angles.

He dashed back into the room, yelling, "Get down!"

She barely had time to turn and he saw the surprise register on her face just before the explosion rent the air.

He dived straight for the ground, covering his head as debris scattered all around him. He had put up his body shield just before the blow-up, but his ear still rang with the aftershock.

Akira was lying still by the bed, and the wall behind her had been blown open.

He started to reach for her, when a figure, all clad in black leapt into his line of view, striking for his neck.

He twisted to his left, held up his tekhan at the same moment and shot a hole through his attacker's chest.

Hikaru rose to his feet, a low hiss escaping his teeth as two more entered the room. They wore tight black clothes too and wielded piolets that glowed the same color as the tekhan gloves they wore.

Rogue Hunters, he thought. But why were they here? How did they find them? Where did they get that kind of equipment?

"Okay, Lexa, what am I up against?"