I leaned back in a wooden chair and tried to stay awake; it was hard to fight the onset of exhaustion from Suzaki’s healing. All of the remaining Cultivators and Lieutenants of the Seventh Division crammed together in the back of the bathhouse. Eve leaned next to me, equally exhausted. Smacking into the wall had broken some of her bones, so she now paid the price of healing. Captain Atkins paced in front of us all. I’d just finished giving my report.

“You’re sure the Fourth Division’s Captain has provided information to the Crimson Eagles?” Captain Atkins asked with a deep-set scowl.

“Yea, that’s what the psycho said. Went on some long-winded rant about how street rats should know their place and about wanting to make an example out of us.” It still didn’t sink in and worry as much as it had, now that my friends were here. But someone was missing. “Where’s the big guy?”

“The Getsu Sect has him.” Kayson shuffled unhappily. “We’d thought they were holding you too since you were also involved with that young master. But now we know better. Tristan tracked you and used the information to make a deal.”

“This is inexcusable.” Captain Atkins stopped pacing to kick a table over. Blood ran down her face. At her directions, Suzaki prioritized far more wounded members of the division. In the process, he hit his Soul Seed’s limit before closing the cut over her brow. It gave the woman a terrifying visage. “The bathhouse is flooded with bodies—sixteen dead on the Lantern Festival. There is no way in hell the Sects are overlooking this, and we’re attached to it. Hell, even if we explain ourselves, the Viceroy or Brass King himself is likely to throw us to the wolves then deal with the repercussions.” She tensed and spat on the ground. “Desperate bastards.”

“Well, they fucked themselves over too. Listen, I know this is bad—but if we’re already screwed anyway, might as well press forward. Immortals knows Tristan aint gonna stop with this, especially since we made it outta his trap. They got Bruno, and I aint about to let my friend remain in the hands of a shitty little sect. I say we bust him out, then take the fight to the psycho sparking all this shit before he can cause more damage.” I stood up from my chair, and my head spun. If not for the weeks of exhaustive training, I don’t think I’d have been functioning.

But I’d pull it together. I had to. No way in the hells I’d be leaving Bruno alone like that.

“You’re suggesting that we attack a sect during the Lantern Festival.” Captain Atkins laughed; heat flooded my face at the mocking.

“Luca’s right. We’re not leaving him there.” Eve shot up. She was the last person I’d have expected to take my side in an argument.

Kayson rubbed his eyes. My poor Lieutenant looked like he’d aged a couple of years in a few minutes. “Captain, this is my squad. I’m not going to subject you or rope you into the affairs my subordinates are suggesting. But instead, I will lay out the facts about the situation. I’ve looked into Yang Pengfi after the fight in the Lantern District. He’s the grandson of a high-ranking cultivator in the Getsu Sect. Yang is notorious for crippling their outer disciples over petty spats. No doubt he intends to force Bruno into a duel after the festival and will end up crippling him. I’d be failing him as a leader and violating what we stand for as a gang by leaving him to that fate.”

“How do you have that much information on the Sects?” Captain Atkins jabbed a finger toward Kayson. Her scowl had only grown more profound with each of his words; Kayson met her eyes but refused to answer the question. Slowly, Captain Atkins dropped her hand and sighed. “I’m washing my hands of that part of this mess—I’ll tie up what I can with the Brass Kings. We’re going to have the upper ranks, the Sects, and probably the fucking Segreto breathing down our necks in a couple of hours. Do whatever the fuck you wanna do, Kayson. But I don’t know a damn thing about it.”

Kayson gave her a firm nod. Captain Atkins gave us all one long look before gesturing for the rest of her Division to follow her out. I supposed that was the best we were going to get.

When push came to shove, the Seventh Division left us on our asses. I clutched my hand, a wave of anger rolling over me. Why did I expect anything different? Just when I thought I could rely on more than myself, it always turned out the same. That’s the way the world worked. Power was absolute. Tristan knew that lesson, so why didn’t I?

Kayson cleared his throat. “First piece of order, Eve will help you get your bike back. Then we meet up and come up with a solution to the Bruno situation. After getting him back safely, I’m sure the Captain will turn around to help us deal with the Fourth Division.” As if the lady wasn’t more concerned with the fallout, but sure, I wasn’t about to bet on that chance, but I let Kayson have his beliefs.

“Let’s just get our friend back,” I said, not having the energy to fight with my only allies.

We reached the Lantern district after a quick ride to Kayson’s place to grab my spare keys. Eve was uncharacteristically quiet. I felt that same burning anger in her and let the quiet companionship be enough. I wasn’t alone in this anymore. Even if the rest of the Division turned their back on us, I knew Kayson and my squad wouldn’t.

Eve let me off the bike. “Hey, dumbass. Get cleaned up, alright? You’re a mess, and if we’re headed to the Sect, you walking around like a corpse will be a massive tip-off.” She shook her head, the smile on her face undercutting the harsh language. “I’m glad, by the way.”

“About?” I asked, flipping my bike on. The beautiful white stallion came to life; the engine purring between my legs still made me giddy.

“I’m glad you made it out all right. I know sometimes I can be a bitch; I don’t trust new faces. They make me nervous. My whole life has just been me—I don’t got a family like you do to fall back on. I’ve fought and stole for everything I have. But I do like you, Luca. You’re really fucking dumb, don’t get me wrong, but I still like you.”

“I—thank you,” I said back, for some reason, the words felt heavy to say. Damn, since when did this girl make me get sentimental?

She looked me up and down. “You wrecked your Kimono, real nice, slick. Here’s a bit of advice, I don’t think you’re the type that should invest in a suit because something tells me it’d end up the same way.”

“Yeah, yeah. Keep on yapping, Southside girl. See ya in a bit at Kayson’s, aight? Gonna go grab my shit.” I gave her a wave and drove off, there wasn’t much more to say, and I didn’t wanna come off as sappy. It’d been a long day, and a nice shower would be the exact thing I needed to reset before we sprang Bruno.

This day wasn’t done, but I’d push until I made my way through it.

Romeo often went on and on about the difficulty of a Cultivator’s path. Understanding your dao allowed you to make the most of the obstacles that came your way so that we might grow past them. Each of us had our path. What marked you as a man was your ability to weather the difficulty and push forward despite setbacks. I needed to handle this situation and get all my friends out of their deep shit.

Then the reality was that Tristan needed to die, there wasn’t any malice attached to that thought, but it was a fact I’d come to accept. I didn’t doubt that he’d keep targeting my friends and me in his psychotic obsession. I realized we couldn’t both exist in this world.

I pulled up in front of my Ma’s house. The windows to the house were busted open, and glass was thrown all over the lawn. Among the refuge outside were bits of broken furniture. The door hung wide open. Even bits of food were stomped into the dirt to ruin them.

The sound of choked sobbing came through the open doorway.