Rio took her gaze off the Prime Minister’s house and swallowed, wondering for the fifth time if robbing the most powerful Untalented person in Japan was a good idea.

Even if the client paid well.

A heavy summer wind rustled the bushes she hid between, several branches picking at her dark-green tank top and the skin exposed by her shorts. They swayed more and more until they tangled in her shoulder-length hair.

She should have tied her hair back. With the cicadas screaming into the night, she wished Leo hadn’t moved from their hiding spot on the edge of the park. She needed her twin brother’s support. Wanted to be reassured this was the right thing to do.

It had to be, right? Maybe she should grab Leo and run. Pretend they tried. Lie.

Focus! As she glared at the top floor of the six-story house, her heart pounded in her chest, and icy chills rolled down her thighs.

Across the street from where she crouched, the large stone wall surrounding the Prime Minister’s house stretched to the sidewalk. Each side other than the main entrance should — according to their client’s intel — hold a garden between the wall and the house. A way in, despite the guards. But. There would have to be guards outside the walls, as well. Where were they? Could they see her? Or her brother, who wasn’t in the bushes anymore?

Her breath caught. Guards … . She dug her foot into the dirt and glanced over her shoulder, muscles tense.

Did the guards patrol the park? A flash of light stung the corner of her eye, drawing her attention.

Her head jerked to the left.

The convenience store on the other side of the park glowed in the night, neon lights dampening her night vision. One of the store workers — probably — held a flashlight by the trashcans, and its light reflected off the wind chime that hung above the doors. The lampposts spastically positioned throughout the park cast shadows in every direction. Guards could be anywhere. But nothing moved.

Maybe her gut was right. Maybe she should run. But their debt was so heavy. And if they failed to complete the job without even trying and ran, their pack would find out and rip them to shreds. Sweat beaded across her skin, and a lump caught in her throat.

In front of her, Leo — her only living family — peeked around a park bench and tapped his foot. His short hair, the same jet black color as her hair, bristled with perspiration. His navy t-shirt clung to his muscled back, and unlike her shorts, his reached his knees. When she focused on him, a mist-like aura appeared around him that tasted like peaches.

Peaches … .

No. Strawberries were the best. Like the ones her teacher from junior high school a few years back, Zack, had always given her after lunch.

Leo lifted his left hand, each centimeter-long section of his shiny black plated-gauntlet that reached his elbows catching the light. He waved for her to come forward.

On trembling legs, she edged from the bushes and made her way to the park bench. “Are you sure Prime Minister Bea’s not home?”

Leo nodded, dark brown eyes — a shade lighter than hers — never leaving the target. “According to the other members of our pack, the clients for this job said he took most of his guards — the Talented ones — to meet with this New Emperor.”

Her lips quivered. The Foreign Emperor.

After pulling his left hand out of the plated-gauntlet, he turned and placed a soft finger against her lips. “Calm down.”

A jolt of pleasure raced through her body, and her toes curled. No! She should slap him. Like the last time. He should know better. He shouldn’t have touched her. Not like that. The only one she wanted to touch her lips was Zack. Strong. Handsome. Kind. He —

Leo coughed before replacing his plated-gauntlet. “Focus, Rio.” Like how she imagined a father would, Leo used a commanding yet kind voice. “Remember why we were chosen.”

“Sorry.”

“You need to watch for the guards.”

Her hands brushed past a small Hello Kitty bag tied to the back of her stolen leather belt before caressing the power-forged daggers strapped in sheaths at her sides. “Will we fight with —”

“No. When the ones on the outside are out of sight, swallow a cat spirit into socket five.” He brushed his armored fingers across the orbed necklace around his neck. The fragments of animal spirits glowed inside the marble-sized white orbs connected by a black-steel chain. “The cat’s strength in our legs should give us enough speed and lift to clear that wall.”

Rio arched an eyebrow, trying to act cool. Relaxed. “But wouldn’t it be better to use a crow?”

“No. The crow’s flight wouldn’t get us over the wall fast enough, and we should save it for our escape from the sixth floor despite how bright it is tonight.”

Leo-nii is so smart. With him around, the fear stabbing into her gut vanished.

A group of Untalented guards wearing suits — even though it was so hot — marched along the sidewalk outside of the wall. One wore sunglasses like a fool, and he kicked a small stone. Clang! The rock hit one of the lampposts. The second guard elbowed the first and shook his head as they turned the corner, the one with the kindergarten across the street.

Unprofessional. Rent-a-guards. No real threat if handled right. Perhaps this job wouldn’t be so bad.

Rio glanced to her right towards the corner with another convenience store — probably a 7-Eleven, but she couldn’t be sure. Though, if she swallowed a cat spirit into her first socket, she could enhance her vision enough to — No. Not worth it.

Voices behind the wall grew louder before diminishing. A fancy-looking red car drove past on the road then all fell quiet save for the noisy cicadas trying to find mates.

So annoying.

Leo held his hand up and made a fist. Time to dance. To steal the flash drive and deal with their spirit-crushing debt. He sucked the spirit of a cat from his orbed necklace and swallowed it. His hair gave off a faint blue light — his power residue. A translucent alley cat, the size of a large hamster, appeared beside him, walking on the air around his waist as if the air were solid ground. It phased through the park bench without concern and continued its stroll around his body.

Rio reached out with her mind, using her thoughts like an extra hand. To think this motion used to hurt more than touching her toes before she had become flexible. An image of each spirit fragment touching her skin appeared in her mind, and mentally, she embraced the orb holding an alley cat. The euphoria of connecting with another spirit was like eating fresh strawberries or winning a dance competition. She inhaled, swallowing the cat spirit. The aftertaste of stringy, unsalted meat stuck to her tongue and carried a hint of rotting garbage. Why did they always have to take the spirits of alley cats? Even if doing so removed the animal’s aches and pains to help it live longer, they still tasted disgusting.

“Meow,” the cat’s spirit said as it fell into her fifth socket.

The euphoria expanded as power surged through her legs. Her usually black hair glowed a bright purple and illuminated the darkness around her. For Talented eyes only.

Her translucent alley cat, as large as a fat toy poodle, pranced around her body and mentally meowed at Leo’s cat.

“I’m ready.” Rio breathed through her nose and scraped her tongue across her teeth, trying to ignore the lingering taste of cat.

Leo pointed at the wall.

Ahead of him, she sprinted across the street and leaped over the three-meter wall with ease. Wind whipped at her hair as she descended, spinning around in mid-air to land on her tip toes like a ballerina. Or at least how they looked on posters.

Her brother’s body crested the wall, and he placed his gauntleted hands atop it, without making a sound. He flipped over the wall to land beside her, panting. “The difference in our power is stupid.” His petulant tone reminded her of how other siblings spoke to one another. “So stupid.”

“Oh?” She matched the tone of his voice. “Jealous?”

“Hardly. Your stupid amount of power is the only reason you’re here. While you’re not angry or frustrated, at least.”

Around them, not a single blade of grass to dampen the heavy scents of flowers. The gardener had to be a fool to plant so many roses, dianthuses and phloxes so close together and kill the individual fragrances of each flower. Though, the pink and purple color combinations were awesome. Maybe they formed a picture if seen from above. She would have to — No. She had to focus.

After taking the lead, Leo led her through the Prime Minister’s flower garden and to the backdoor. “And besides, I don’t like it when we’re sent on different jobs. I … . Never mind.”

Silver English letters scrawled something she didn’t understand along the top of the door, and on top of that, a golden knocker in the center screamed waste of money. It made her sick. How could rich people live with themselves? This was ridiculous. But. Maybe they could pry them off. They could —

Clatter! Something hit the floor on the other side of the door, and Leo’s hand froze a few centimeters away from the door handle.

Rio’s heart rate spiked, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Her heart pounded harder and harder in her ears.

This wasn’t good. If the rent-a-guards stationed at this door were guarding entrances rather than just patrolling, getting inside without taking center stage would be impossible.

Her feet began shuffling across the stone patio behind Leo while she chewed on her lower lip. She opened her mouth.

“What do you mean you saw something, Funa?” a husky, female voice asked from the other side of a hedgerow.

“I swear, Juri. I saw something above the wall just a few minutes ago,” a man — Funa — said in a squeaky voice. “I think someone was climbing —”

“No one is fast enough or dumb enough to climb that wall,” Juri said. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Hey! Who are you calling stupid?”

“You, fool!”

Smack! The sound echoed through the garden. They were going to get caught. Even rent-a-guards could be troublesome. Guards outside. Guards inside. Not good. Terrible actually. This was —

Leo grabbed Rio by the wrist and pushed the door open.

What was he thinking?

Sour gunk worked its way into her mouth.

The blinding lights of the hallway bit into her eyes. A bulky shadow on the floor.

She stepped inside as her vision adjusted. Empty … .

A large vase, painted in a beautiful purple, lay sprawled across the fancy-looking blue and green carpet.

Lazy Rent-a-guards. Shaking her head, Rio stopped herself just before she clicked her tongue. Didn’t even bother to pick up the mess they made.

The carpet looked like it was some work of art, but the swirling design of colors didn’t make any sense. Pictures and enormous scrolls lined both walls, most of old men doing old-men things. One had a man writing at a massive desk. One a man hunting. Another had a man sitting on what had to be a toilet.

Rio covered her mouth as she began chuckling.

Click. The door shut behind them, and Leo motioned down the hallway. “We need to hurry.”

Nodding, Rio fell into step behind him, using the cat’s grace to avoid making any sound.

After the entryway, there was a closed door on the right and an intersection just ahead of it. Left at the intersection. Right around the next corner. Voices ahead. A lot of voices. Leo opened the second door on the right and led Rio inside.

She sighed as she shut the stairwell door behind her. The first floor, the most dangerous of the six, was behind them. She would laugh with joy if no one could hear her. Focus.

On the second floor, Leo peeked out the door leading from the stairwell then motioned for her to follow. Left out of the stairwell. Left again. At the end of the hallway, they took a left for the third time then opened a door on the right, next to a massive statue of a naked woman, rather than going straight through the double doors in front of them.

Clicking the door shut behind her, Rio glanced around the massive kitchen area while continuing to follow Leo.

A long, wide counter filled the center of the room with six stoves on the left wall and three massive ovens along the wall to her back. Including the door behind her, there were four doors that led from this impressive, restaurant-sized kitchen.

Mumbling voices on the other side of the door that was on the left end of the room. The door handle turned, and the door began to swing open.

Leo skidded to a stop.

The voices grew louder. Six distinct voices. All men. Wider and wider the door opened.

Almost bumping into Leo, Rio’s hands trembled. Not knowing what else to do, she twirled towards the counter slid under it, barely avoiding the pair of hanging pots she passed between. She contorted her body into a ball and edged into the center of the cramped space. I hope Leo-nii made it out of sight.

“What do you mean?” one of the six men asked. His icy voice made the skin on her arms feel like the rough side of a sponge.

“I mean what if this Foreign Emperor gets tired of being put off by Prime Minister Bea’s fake meetings and decides to come here directly?” a slightly boyish voice asked.

The Prime Minister was putting the Foreign Emperor off? He could come here? How soon would he be there?

“Then we shoot him,” the first voice said. “Might be nice to have something other than walking around to do.”

A heavy pressure closed in on Rio’s chest, and the pots hanging from the counter’s edges spun. Faster and faster. The Foreign Emperor. This couldn’t be happening. If the Foreign Emperor were coming here, they would all die. He was a monster. A horrible monster. He killed everything in his wake and left nothing behind. Each inhalation wheezed through her contracting throat.

Was she still breathing? Nothing seemed to reach her lungs. She was suffocating. But. But maybe it was for the best. To suffocate to death rather than fall prey to the horrors of the Foreign Emperor.

“Stop,” the first voice said.

“What?” all five other men said.

The first voice growled before a thwapping sound slammed against the counter top just above her. “Shit! This whole business is driving me insane! Come. Let’s finish this waste-of-time patrol so we can go upstairs to the bar and grab a drink.”

“Yes, sir,” the five other men said.

Feet appeared in front of her.

The Foreign Emperor is here! She opened her mouth to scream.

Leo bent down and reaching between the hanging pots, placed his hand over her mouth. The power-forged steel of his plated-gauntlet was cold yet soft against her skin. “Quiet,” he said in a hushed voice. “The Foreign Emperor isn’t here. They were just talking about what-ifs.”

She lunged from her hiding spot, lucky not to hit any pots, and wrapped her arms around his neck as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Leo-nii. Leo-nii, I —”

“Shhhhh. It’s alright now.” He wrapped his arms around her and patted her on the back. “I’m here for you now. No need to worry.”

She sniffled. “But —”

“No buts. Just calm down and relax. We have a job to do. Be professional or getting out with that flash drive won’t be easy.”

After wiping her tears away, she pulled away from the comforting hug. “You’re right.” I really hope this job pays well.

He straightened and offered her his hand.

Shaking her head, she stood on her own and pointed to the door. “I’m fine now.”

“Okay?” He shrugged then walked through the far door on the right. He crept through the lounge attached to the kitchen and the dark bedroom attached to the lounge. Once again in a hallway, he looked left then right before scratching his chin.

Was he lost already?

“Follow me.” He turned right then left at the next intersection. With three doors close together on their left and a towering door on their right, they moved towards the left curve in the hallway ahead of them.

Footsteps from behind.

Opening the last of the three doors on their left, Leo gestured inside as the footsteps grew louder.

Rio blinked. “Why a closet?”

He stepped inside. “Just get in here.”

Sighing, she joined him in the closet.

After pulling the door shut, he caressed her hands.

“If you’re thinking of doing something perverted like touching my lips again … .” Frustration ground her teeth together, and she shook her fist under his nose. “I —”

Leo grinned. “Sorry. Just trying to bring the real you out.”

“I don’t have to be angry or frustrated to be strong.”

“You do.”

“No, I —”

“I know they must do it,” a familiar female voice — the rent-a-guard, Juri from the flower garden — said from the hallway, “Wait. What are you eating?”

“I’m not —” Slap! Funa, Juri’s partner, grunted. “What did you do that for?”

“Because you’re eating while we’re working,” she said.

“It’s just a stupid temp job.” He made a smacking sound. “Besides. I’m not eating anything.”

“Gum? How many times! Have I told you! Not to chew gum! At work?” She sounded angry.

But why would anyone care if someone were chewing gum?

Several other footsteps followed Funa and Juri then the large group divided into two, moving off in different directions. One of the groups passed the closet.

After counting to one-hundred, Leo opened the door and peeked outside. “Clear.”

“Let’s get this flash drive and get out of here.” Rio shivered. “This place is starting to tap-dance across my skin with insect legs.”

“Me, too.” He hesitated when he stepped into the hallway, facing the direction they had been heading in. He sucked on his upper lip.

Something was wrong.

“Leo-nii?” she asked.

“Got it. I know —” His voice cracked. “— the way.” He followed the curve in the hallway to the left and broke into a run, stopping at a dead end. He opened a door on his right and entered a stairwell.

Another flight of stairs up. Outside the stairwell, a long corridor stretched from dead end to dead end. There was a door right across from them.

Leo turned right then left at the first intersection. After passing through four more intersections, he opened the first door on his right. Another stairwell, and up they went.

A giddy smile tugged at the edges of Rio’s mouth. Only two more floors. They were so close she could taste the strawberries of victory, overwhelming the sour gunk of fear and the stringy garbage of cat. She had been wrong to doubt Leo.

Stepping out of the next stairwell, Leo glanced left and right. “Hmmm.”

She had been wrong to doubt him, right?

He strode to the door across the hallway and opened it, proceeding upstairs again.

Last floor. Soon, they’d be able to put a huge dent in their debt. Maybe enough to give her the courage to find Zack and confess her feelings to him. That would … be wonderful.

Tsking, Leo froze in the hallway outside the stairwell. “I — No. This way.” He turned left then left again once he reached the end of the long hallway.

At the end of the next stretch, a wide open space spread out in front of them with a statue of a man strangling a bird in the middle of the space. Or maybe he was releasing the bird. Tapestries, like on the first floor, covered the far wall. To the left, another statue Rio couldn’t make out down the hallway.

Leo strode into the open space and moved to the door on the right.

The final stairwell.

Rio exhaled in relief. Safe. She followed him up the final flight of stairs.

Just outside the stairwell was a wall painted with men and women in awkward positions. So … perverted.

Rio covered her eyes, peeking through her fingers only one time. Well, two times. Just what are they supposed to be doing?

“Come on.” Leo dragged her into an expansive room with two massive bar-counters on both sides of the room, the shelves behind the bars covered by bottles of liquor. There were even fridges filled with beer, and several couches strewn throughout the room. Three doors on the other side of the room faced them. Which one would lead them to the flash drive? Lead her to Zack? The plush carpet underfoot made her feel guilty for wearing her sneakers inside.

“Of the three?” Rio moved around Leo and approached the door in the center.

Leo swore.

She spun on her heels and put her hands on her hips. “What is wrong with you? Didn’t Yuuki-sensei teach us not to use such foul language?”

Face turning red, he rubbed the back of his head as if he were the younger twin rather than the older. “Sorry. It’s just. Just. In the layout of this house. According to our client. There. There should only be one door from this room.”

“So?”

Leo opened his mouth.

Rio held up a finger. “If you say another bad word, I’ll punch you in the nose.”

His mouth snapped shut.

“Good.” She glanced over her shoulder at the staircase behind them. “Let’s go back and see if we can find the right —”

Clack-clack-clack. Footsteps echoed up the staircase. Crack-crack-crack. All three doors on the other side of the room slammed open. Guards poured into the room, surrounding Rio and Leo. By their lack of auras, all were Untalented with either a club or a knife in their hands.

Gut clenching, Rio wanted to swear for the first time in her life. No. That was wrong. Instead, she balled her hands into fists and prepared to fight.