Chapter 118

In a nondescript room, a ring of simple cushioned chairs held the remnants of the Phalanx, with Jase at its head. He glanced around at the people there - Ryder, aka Manifest, Aubrey, aka Itera, Meadow, aka Scattershot, Niko, Randy, aka Magnetic, and of course June, aka Mist. The girl had pulled her chair as close to him as possible - he was pretty sure she'd use his shoulder or leg as a pillow at some point. 

Jase let out a sigh as he took another mental tally of his resources - human and otherwise. 

"Well?" Ryder asked anxiously, shifting in his chair. 

"We've more or less confirmed that Angela's making moves. Seems she got her own Miracle beast," Niko said with a sigh. 

"Jacob Hinton," Jase said, narrowing his eyes. He remembered the man well, and he didn't want to deal with him. 

"Remind me who Angela is again?" Ryder asked sheepishly. Right. He was basically the only one who'd joined Jase's crew after they'd split off from Angela's. 

"They call her the Angel," Aubrey said bitterly. "I didn't deal with her very much, but apparently she screwed over more than one of her own people to save her own skin." 

"I'd say she's worse than she was when you guys knew her," Randy said. "I know now that the loan shark who screwed me over was one of hers. If I couldn't make a payment, I'd be lucky to walk away without a limp." 

"She's ruthless," Niko added. "Screwed Jase over, which is why we split. Our loyalty was always to Jase, not Angela." 

"She didn't take our separation too kindly, though," Jase sighed. "I've always had to watch myself so she doesn't catch up to us. Niko's basically the reason we can live somewhat freely. Not just out of sight of the military - I'd be more concerned about what Angela would do to us." 

June sat silently, watching the conversation. Her expression seemed blank, but Jase knew the fire burning in her eyes all too well. She hated Angela, despite how hard he'd tried to keep the two away from each other. 

"What happened exactly?" Ryder asked. 

"You don't need to know that. All you need to know is that she's vicious and she's got it out for me." Jase didn't want to tell the story, especially not with June here. He knew she blamed herself for it all, even though he was the one to make the decisions leading to that point. 

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it in an attempt to comfort her. 

"The big problem is, Angela now has at least one Miracle super-freak," Niko said. "If she has more, like we do, we'd be in deep shit. I barely managed to identify Whiplash, but I'm sure he's Jacob. Her little attack dog." His face twisted into a grimace. 

"So are we going after them?" Ryder asked nervously. 

"I hope so, but what's the plan Jase?" Meadow asked, folding her arms and crossing her legs. 

"We can't stay underground forever, but I'm nervous about even trying to surface if Angela's keeping an eye out for us." Jase heaved another sigh. 

"I can pull something more subtle," Randy offered, showing off his trinket. Today it was a small gold ring. 

"And you will. But we also need something else. I'd like to make a move to restrict Paris and his new buddies. They've gone too far with everything. I wish I could predict them as easily as I can predict the Legion, but not even Niko can trace them. Ferry makes everything even more complicated." 

"Anyone else wish we could go back to the simple cons?" Aubrey asked with a laugh. She glanced at Niko, who'd pulled out his phone and started tapping on it. 

"Those were the days," Jase said, smiling fondly. Even if they'd been working under Angela, it had been a simpler time. 

"Speaking of the days, Jase," Niko said, looking up from his phone. "You remember Amias and Rayne? Well, I found them and from what I can tell, Angela's targeting them too." 

"Those are names that bring back memories," Jase said, surprised to hear them. "I guess they'd be out of prison by now, wouldn't they? Any idea where to find them?" 

"Working on it, but I'm not sure I can find any digital trace of their plans. If it's just the two of them, they might just be making plans verbally, so we'd have to bug them to find them." 

"How do you know it's them?" Meadow asked. 

"Well, I've only found Amias, actually. But considering what he and Rayne were like, I can't see her not being nearby. Remember the news about that Sleeper guy? I managed to get enough security footage to figure out his face, and it looks a lot like Amias. One bank even has audio of him talking with Hot Rod, and it sounds like him too." 

"Sleeper..." Jase said, searching his brain. Right, the guy who put people to sleep. Seemed like a Miracle that suited Amias if he was being honest. 

"And one more thing," Niko said sheepishly. "I think Angela just found us." 

"Jacob." 

Jacob - dubbed "Whiplash" in the media for his chain-manipulating Miracle - sat across from Angela, his boss and leader of most of the underworld. He knew not to say a word; Angela would talk when she was ready. 

"It seems we've found Jase and his pack of cretins. Would it be possible for you to wipe them all out?" 

Jacob froze, staring at her in disbelief. Sure, he had a powerful Miracle, but he could barely hold his own against two Legion members. Jase had...at least four Miracle holders? Off the top of his head. 

"I see that look," Angela said, leaning forward in her chair until her elbows rested on her knees. Jacob tried to swallow his fear. He felt like a cricket being sized up by a giant fish. 

"I could take all of them out except Mist if it were a one-on-one fight," he said quickly. 

"That one is the pain in the ass, isn't she?" Angela asked, leaning back and heaving a sigh. "Ever since Jase picked up that broken brat, she's been a thorn in my side. Really, if he wanted to adopt something, all he had to do was ask and let me have some fun with it at times. But no, even when I tried to get rid of him, she'd thwart my plans." 

"If we caught her by surprise it might work," Jacob volunteered. "Any idea where they're hiding?" 

"No, and by the time we figure it out, Niko will probably have caught onto us and they'll all have flown to a different hideout. We need a way to lure them out, and then we can pick them off one by one. Remember Justin? Turns out he got his very own special little Miracle just last night, so you'll have a partner to play with. We're going to flush Jase and his people out, then crush them like the pathetic little insects that they are." 

"Understood," Jacob said. 

"Oh, and of course, I want Jase and his pet alive. I'll make him watch while I torture her. He'll regret the day he crossed me." 

"I'll see what I can do," Jacob replied. How to take out Mist without killing her? Sleeping drugs would probably be best, though it would take more setup. 

"Good. Maybe if we think a bit more long term, we can have Amias bring her in for us. Wouldn't that be delicious? He and Jase used to be friends of a sort, didn't they? Either way, we just need the pet. Jase will come to us as long as we have her hostage. If you ever get a chance to take her, do it without hesitation. In the meantime, I'll have Callan keep an eye out. He'll let you know if there's any noise from Jase's whelps." 

Jacob nodded, stood and left. Not once did he turn his back on Angela, not until the door was firmly closed.