MARCH 3, 2022

"Sabrina, you're going to get us all killed!" Jake said, speaking English now.

He had conversed with Don in Soynite. The former High was, if Sabrina was lucky, still handcuffed elsewhere.

Jake was wrong.

Sabrina Sam sat on one of the two sofas in the room. Jake sat on the other. Doug Scape stood.

Three Soynites.

Two Highs.

One Sabrina.

Sabrina, she was one person, but one person can do much. Theo Majestic had done a lot. He had made Sabrina into what she was, and he had made Jake into a High before that, then Theo had left. His legacy stuck around.

Reese Low.

The girl in the room no longer went by that name.

As for Kevin Sam, he no longer went by Ken Herman. He no longer went by Dave. His charge, Sabrina, no longer went by Charlotte. Sabrina and Dave weren't in that big city with many people. Not anymore.

Sabrina didn't sit in a city. She sat in a room, and it was within a Freeman base.

Jake and Doug were positioned in the building, friendly to Sabrina, not hostile. They weren't Freemans. The boys didn't aim guns at Sabrina.

Doug kept his ear close to the door, ready to alert his blond-haired allies if he heard a Freeman enemy. He wielded his Freeman rifle. Sabrina's laser pistol rested next to her, idle. It sat on the sofa's black cushion. The gun's red metal reflected the light coming from above. Jake's blue laser pistol remained next to him.

Good, the three teenagers had guns.

The Soynite pistol next to Jake had been used to kill a Freeman when its owner was intangible. Sabrina had made Jake that way. Thanks to her, a Freeman hadn't shot her friend to death. The girl's power was a good one.

Jake didn't have the optimism Sabrina wanted him to have, needed him to have.

Sabrina had ordered Don Ascend to make Lock Tannis travel to Earth, because the girl wanted to kill Lock.

It was as simple as that.

"We're not ready to fight Lock Tannis!" Jake said.

Why didn't he realize how wrong he was? Sabrina could become invincible by becoming untouchable. She could make others become intangible. The blonde had saved Jake's life by making him as untouchable as she could become.

"Unfortunately, we're not ready to leave this bad place," Doug said. "Either way, I don't agree with you, Jake. If Sabrina believes we can kill Lock Tannis, I believe it."

"What happened to you, Jake?" Sabrina said. She leaned forward a bit. "You used to be so hopeful."

"That was before Maggie..." Jake said. He ran a hand through his blond hair. "Look, we can't kill Lock."

Maggie.

Jake had mentioned her name before. Whatever that girl had told her best friend, Sabrina would make him find hope.

Maggie was with Peter, Jake assumed.

Sabrina hadn't forgotten the man. Peter Wayne was one of the six Watchers who had lived with Sabrina, five other Highs, and a pilot. They had lived in a spaceship.

A Freeman had shot Jake in the arm. Sabrina had learned that, then her hatred for the Freemans had deepened.

Jake didn't bleed. Hope had bled out of him, but Sabrina would fix that problem.

A Freeman had leveled his gun at Jake. He had shot him. He had done the foul deed on purpose. If Sabrina killed Lock Tannis, no Freeman would try shooting Jake to death. If Sabrina gained the right to sit on the Freeman throne, the Freemans would obey her. She didn't want a pale Freeman to harm her best friend.

With his blond hair and blue eyes, Jake had the typical look of a Hase Majestic descendant.

Theo Majestic had made Jake the first person in the current generation of Highs to be made into a High. It was true.

Sabrina was sixteen years old. She had been five years old when she met Jake. The girl had known the boy for most of her life. She loved him. But it was important for him to put his trust in Sabrina. He had to.

Jake had pointed his blue eyes at Sabrina many times, and he had embraced the girl. Yes, Sabrina and Jake were like brother and sister, but they weren't siblings. They weren't related. But they were Soynites.

They were warriors.

Light cloaked Sabrina as she sat, but she would stand and face Lock Tannis, her biggest enemy.

Because of him, red laser beams had rained destruction on Soy. No Freeman fired a laser turret at Sabrina. No Freeman stood in the room she sat in.

Sabrina was a fine fighter, and she would kill Freeman fighters. She had already done it.

Often Sabrina fantasized about slaughtering Freemans. Freemans fantasized about slaughtering Soynites, so it was only fair for the blonde-haired girl to imagine herself killing Freemans.

Jake sat across Sabrina, near his gun.

The girl named Sabrina couldn't complain about being away from her closest friend.

She could complain about being away from her Watcher. Kevin, the man who had raised her, might be lifeless as he remained in a puddle of his blood.

Every second Sabrina spent away from Kevin made her life harder.

The gray ceiling above her head was not the ceiling of her bedroom in California. She was not home. As long as she was in the Freeman base, Sabrina was not safe. Freemans made Soynites unsafe.

"We can kill Lock," Sabrina said. "I can kill him. When I do, the Freemans will obey me. They follow power. If I kill their leader, I will become their new leader."

"I know how it works, Sabrina," Jake said. He ran a hand through his blond hair. "But you have to think. The Freemans have Strife. Even if you can become intangible, Strife will take your power away from you. If Lock Tannis brings Strife with him, you're going to be in trouble. Strife can get you killed. How many times do I have to tell you that? If I have to, I'll tell it to you thirty-three times."

Doug sighed. He shook his head, but didn't look at Jake. The scarred boy didn't move away from the closed door.

"You got me stressed out and I'm not even Sabrina," Doug said.

"Anyway, Sabrina," Jake said. "You know I'm right."

No, Jake wasn't right. Sabrina didn't believe Lock Tannis would kill her. It was why she had told Don Ascend what she had told him.

Sabrina would meet Lock.

She would kill him.

When Sabrina killed the Freeman ruler, she would prove Jake wrong.

Their hugs had made their bond stronger, but Jake's pessimism didn't make Sabrina smile. She frowned. Jake saw it.

"I'm right," Sabrina said. "You're the one who is wrong. You know what I can do. You saw me use my power, and you know what it's like to be intangible. Lock Tannis won't be able to touch me. Plus, if he does bring Strife, I'm still going to kill him. I'll do it. He won't be able to stop me. When I kill him, everything is going to be fine. I'm going to kill Lock. You'll see."

Jake tapped his fingers against the sofa's armrest. He should sit next to Sabrina, his best friend. But he didn't.

"I'll see Lock Tannis win a fight against you," Jake said. "That's what I'll see. I love you, but your way of thinking is dangerous."

Sabrina didn't scoff, but there was the urge.

"Hey, Doug," Sabrina said. Maybe having a conversation with Doug would ease Sabrina's stress. "You should tell us about yourself."

Doug smirked.

"You want to know more about this scarred boy?" he said. "You're too nice, Sabrina. If you want to know how I got my scar, I'll tell you. And I'll tell you more. My parents are dead. They got killed by Freemans, then they captured me and my sister, Allison. One of them cut triangles into our cheeks. Eventually, they sent me here, to this base. I'm going to keep this scar, because I want it to always remind me of the unfinished business I have with the Freemans."

Sabrina examined Doug's triangular scar.

The boy had shown a photograph displaying his twin sister, Allison Scape. Her cheek hadn't worn a scar in the photograph. The girl had one now. Or maybe it was gone. Like a Soynite with the ability to heal wounds, a Soynite healing glass could make a scar vanish.

"I'm sorry," Sabrina said.

"Me too," Jake said.

The Freemans had destroyed a planet. They had driven the Soynite population to near-extinction, and a Freeman had scarred Doug and his twin sister.

Freemans, they viewed Soynites as people who didn't deserve to exist.

Sabrina deserved to exist. But a Freeman, a Freeman like Hush Warden, wouldn't agree. Lock Tannis, the worst Freeman, had lost his right to live. He didn't deserve to exist.

Lock was strong, powerful.

Sabrina could turn intangible. She could become untouchable.

The girl could kill Lock. No matter what Jake believed, Sabrina could kill their worst enemy and end the war. Yes, Lock was powerful and had too many Freeman warriors in his arsenal, but he could die. Someone could kill him.

Sabrina had to do it.

"The Freemans freed Allison," Doug said. "They wanted her to live in misery, knowing that her parents were dead and her brother was locked up in a Freeman base. Allison is alive. When I get out of this place, I'm going to look for her."

If Path Seekman were with Doug, the Bloodhound could find his absent twin.

Sabrina hadn't seen Path in almost eleven years. Happiness had flowed through her when she hugged Jake earlier, but Sabrina's reunion with Path hadn't happened yet. It could.

At least she had Jake.

Ten years had passed without the two seeing the other. Sabrina now sat on one sofa. Jake now sat on a different one. A divide.

Life had fled Jake's father, but life had never gone from the boy. He wasn't dead, but he didn't sit next to the friend he liked most. It was bad. It wasn't as bad as almost taking a laser beam to the head, but it was still bad.

Doug. He wanted to leave the Freeman base and find his sister.

"You should stay with us," Sabrina said. "If you stay with me and my people, you'll have a better chance at finding your sister."

"Even without your help, I'll find her," Doug said. "But that still sounds like a good idea. I'll do it. For now, until I find Allison, I'm with you."

He looked at Jake.

"And I'm with Jake," Doug said. "Both of you are my Highs. I'm not going to let the Freemans kill any of you. They're not going to stop us."

"Thanks, Doug," Jake said.

As her shoes pressed against the gray floor, Sabrina shrouded her mind with Lock Tannis.

The invasion hadn't been Sabrina's work. It had come because Lock Tannis had made it happen. He had formed a plan. That plan, that dreadful plan, had caused many wonderful men, women, and children to die. They had lost their lives.

Bowie Low and Prim Low had died. It had happened a long time ago, before Sabrina's reunion with Jake, but it had happened. Sabrina had mourned.

The Freeman who had murdered Sabrina's adoptive parents, he was absent.

His absence made unease take up residence in Sabrina, but it wasn't due to love Sabrina had for the murderer. Sabrina hated him. She wanted to kill the Freeman who had killed her mom and dad.

Jake's parents were dead. He hadn't avenged their deaths, but his friend Sabrina had to punish her loved ones' killer.

The Freeman whose name Sabrina didn't know, he had to die. The Freemans needed to have their lives taken from them. Sabrina's parents' killer was no different. He was like the other pale morons, and Sabrina didn't forget.

Hush Warden.

That Freeman had spoken to Sabrina. Hush had departed from the other Freemans, so he could fight Soynites elsewhere in the base. Sabrina hadn't seen a good Soynite who wasn't Jake or Doug. Maybe Hush had found the Soynite intruders he had mentioned. Maybe they had killed him.

Sabrina needed to kill Hush.

"The two of you are great people," Doug said. "I should be thanking you, because I get to be in the same room as you two. Jake, you're as optimistic as a lifeless Freeman. The Freeman you killed, you're as optimistic as him. That's not a good thing. Dead people can't be optimistic. It's hard to be hopeful when you're dead. But you're still good. You're here. Sabrina is too. This is a big universe we're in, and this is a big Freeman base. But we're going to kill all of the enemies here. Dying won't be fun, especially with all these great things happening. I met two Highs. Those two Highs, the both of you, are going to help me find my sister. I miss Allison. But I won't be away from here forever. The Freemans separated the two of us, but I'm going to get my sister back. I will. I think everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine."

Like Sabrina, Doug invited in hope. He gave it hospitality.

"You can't know that for sure," Jake said. He ran a hand through his hair. "You and Sabrina keep talking about hope. It's not right. We're fighting against awful people who destroyed a planet in one night. Not only did the Freemans destroy Soy in just a few hours, but they killed most of our people in just a few hours. They did that. What did we do?"

Doug moved his ear closer to the door.

Jake's idle gun, Sabrina brought her concentration to it.

"We killed Freemans," Sabrina said. She gestured to the room surrounding them. "We're here. This is a Freeman place, and we're going to kill more of them. You should've seen me and Kevin at that base in California, Jake. We killed so many Freemans. It was great."

"You and Kevin didn't kill enough," Jake said. "While we're in here, the Freemans are out there. There are three of us. There are billions of Freemans. How do we even know if the good Soynites are still alive? What if the three of us are the last good Soynites left? We saw Don Ascend, but he was going to use his power to crush me and Doug to death. He turned bad. We all saw what he's like now."

Doug moved away from the door. He set his laser rifle on the floor, stretched.

Sabrina, Jake, and Doug had seen what Don was like.

Don had prepared to crush Sabrina's closest friend by using his power. Sabrina had restrained the former High with the Strife handcuffs she had been restrained with.

Wonderful irony.

The teenage girl had spared Don, a man who worked for Lock Tannis. But it was so he could do Sabrina a favor. The High hadn't let Don live because she cared about him, and she would never care for someone who liked Lock.

Don had earned Sabrina's hatred for him. The man deserved to die, but Sabrina deserved to fight and kill Lock. In order for that to happen, Don had to live.

"You let him live, Sabrina," Jake said. "You shouldn't have done that."

"I had to," Sabrina said.

"You should've killed him."

"When I see him again, I'm going to k-"

A yell sounded, coursing with frustration, as if someone had learned they would never be happy.

Sabrina, Jake, and Doug grabbed their guns. The blond teenagers moved toward the door, ready to see the person who had yelled.

"Sure, let's go to the angry yelling," Doug said.

Still, Doug joined Sabrina and Jake in the hall outside the room.

"Where is she?!" Hush Warden yelled, speaking Freeman.

He stood between two Freemans, the enemy warriors clad in black combat uniforms. They wielded red laser pistols in their hands, weapons that could blast lasers through hands and heads and hearts.

In one of Hush's hands was a blue backpack.

"I'm right here!" Sabrina said.

Hush narrowed his eyes.

"You're a familiar Soynite!" Hush said, speaking English. "I am pleased to see you, but I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to a different she. She reminded me of you, actually. I was able to steal her backpack from her. Unfortunately, the girl escaped."

"My name is Sabrina," Sabrina said.

"Sabrina," Hush said. "Sabrina. I have a question for you. What do you know about this?"

The Freeman holstered his gun. He unzipped the backpack, bent down and rotated the object. Its contents dropped.

Hush grabbed the sheet of paper that had fallen, stood. He pointed it at Sabrina. The paper had Soynite text on it, but it also showed a drawing.

The paper displayed a black double triangle.

Purple liquid filled three syringes. They were on the floor now, shrouded in light.

Vamp.

Lock Tannis had invented Vamp. His loyal Freemans mass-produced it. With Vamp, a Freeman could render a Soynite unconscious and powerless.

"He is always with us," Hush said. "That's what the paper says. What does it mean, Sabrina? What about the two of you? Do you boys know what all of this means?"

"It means the girl you're looking for likes to draw," Doug said.

Sabrina smiled.

"You need to take a dagger to the heart, Soynite," Hush said. He glared at Doug, who grinned. "If I don't do it to you, a different great warrior will."

Hush made eye contact with Sabrina.

"You said that you were going to kill me," Hush said. "When we were in the spaceship, you told me that. Why are you Soynites so sure that you will beat the best fighting force in the universe? There are probably only a few thousand of you. There are billions of Freemans. We are more numerous than the weak humans. Soynites are outgunned. They are outnumbered. Isn't that obvious? Why do you people believe you will win against Great Leader Lock Tannis?"

"In our defense, my friend here doesn't believe we can win against him right now," Doug said. He jerked his head toward Jake. "Carry on with your speech."

"I don't care if a Soynite was cut and scarred," Hush said. Doug sneered. "I will hurt any Soynite I can find. What my people did to you, boy, was only a glimpse of Freeman greatness."

"Cutting cheeks isn't greatness," Sabrina said.

"Yes, it is," Hush said. "Hurting and killing Soynites is greatness. What do you feel, Sabrina? When you killed my people in California, it filled you with joy, didn't it? I feel that joy each time I kill a disgusting Soynite. Almost every former High made the right choice. Don Ascend isn't a foul Soynite. He's a great one. He's a wise one. Only a wise Soynite would ally himself with the greatest being in the universe. Great Leader Lock Tannis is powerful. He has reigned much longer than the previous Freeman leaders, and he will reign for another million years. You can't stop him. You can't kill him."

A head came into view. A blonde younger than Sabrina pressed a hand against the corner as she watched. She made eye contact with Sabrina, pressed a finger against her lips. The younger girl's long hair was down.

Maybe the syringes and the paper that had gone down to the floor belonged to her.

Jake and Doug saw the girl.

"Keep talking, please," Sabrina said.

Hush released the backpack. It hit the floor, like its contents had done.

"Definitely," Doug said. "I always have time to listen to great Freemans speak. I might learn something."

"Even if I die today, Lock Tannis will live," Hush said. His hand found his laser pistol's red handle. "When he arrives on this terrible planet, which he will, so many foul Soynites will die. And we will celeb-"

Aiming her gun, Sabrina fired.

The red laser beam launched through the air, blasted through blood and bone, creating noise that filled Sabrina with sweet satisfaction.

Hush fell toward the floor. Sabrina aimed and opened fire.

With his gun pointed at the spot near Sabrina's foot, a Freeman took a red laser to the head. He pulled the trigger. While a laser shot through the gray floor, blood fled the Freeman's wound.

Two red lasers created gaping holes in the other Freeman, the younger blonde's eyes being their source.

Her target dropped as his death remained close.

"That girl reminds me of you, Sabrina!" Doug cheered.

The three Freemans on the floor jerked, died.

Smoke clouds arrived, coming from lifeless Freeman flesh. Sabrina and the other girl had worked together to kill three Freeman enemies.

"Nice shooting, Reese Low," Jake said. "Things were better when that was your name, Sabrina."

Sabrina didn't look at Jake. She looked at the girl with the power to fire lasers from her eyes. The kid seemed to be eleven years old.

"Hey," Sabrina said. She waved at the girl with her free hand. "My name is Sabrina. Sabrina Sam. The boy with the blond hair is Jake. Jake Wayne. The other boy is Doug Scape."

"I'm also the funniest boy with a scar," Doug said.

"My name is Anne Majestic," the girl said. She spoke with a Soynite accent. "I'm the youngest child of Theo Majestic and Lilly Majestic."

"What Jake said was true," Doug said. "Theo really did have children."

Theo Majestic had children.

Anne Majestic, the man's youngest child, stood not far from Sabrina and her friends. Jake had stopped clinging to hope, but another great thing had happened. Sabrina had killed Hush. She had met Anne, living proof Theo and Lilly's love for each other had brought at least one child.

Jake inspected the backpack. He bent down and picked up the paper. After that, he moved the paper and the syringes into the backpack's biggest pouch. He zipped it.

"Is that your backpack?" Doug asked Theo's daughter.

Anne approached Sabrina and embraced her. The older girl dropped her gun, hugged Anne back.

Footsteps sounded.

Sabrina and Anne separated. The girls and the boys turned. The sound of the urgent footsteps shot from a neighboring hall.

They heard more footsteps. These footsteps emerged from another neighboring hall.

"Jake," Doug said. "If we don't make it through this, I want you to know that I think you're a great person."

A Freeman rounded the corner, armed.

"We will make it through this!" Jake said.

He opened fire. A blue laser ended the running Freeman's life.

"They're going to surround us!" Sabrina said.

"You and Anne will focus on the other hall!" Jake said. "Me and Doug will focus on the one that Freeman came out of."

"Touch me!" Sabrina said. "I'll make everyone intangible!"

Sabrina turned her back on Jake. The Soynites pressed against Sabrina. She went intangible, made the others the same way.

Freemans poured into the hall. Light glinted off their laser rifles and laser pistols.

The teenagers and the kid couldn't let the two Freeman mobs get too close to them. They had to fight.

The Soynites and the Freemans had to fight.

"Kill them!" Sabrina said.

Four people opened fire, the Soynites unleashing lasers. Anne fired from her eyes. Freemans dropped.

"Keep shooting!" Jake said.

Sabrina's red laser blasted through multiple Freeman heads, wounding, killing. Lasers passed through the girl, but they didn't harm. They couldn't harm her.

Lasers passed through Anne. Lasers passed through Jake and Doug.

Lasers blasted through the Freemans.

While laser beam fire sounded in the air, Sabrina kept firing. She shot and killed Freemans as she smiled, her slim body flowing with sweet happiness.

"We're unstoppable!" Doug said, excitement rushing through his voice. Freemans ran through smoke. "Sabrina, you're awesome."

"He will protect us!" Anne said. "His greatness is extreme!"

Whose greatness?

A Freeman bolted through smoke. He wielded a red laser pistol and a Strife dagger.

Sabrina's power fled.

"He has a Strife dagger!" Sabrina said.

The three Soynites stepped away from Sabrina, as if she carried the Strife weapon.

Anne picked up a Freeman laser pistol. Without her power, she pulled the trigger as Freemans charged toward her.

Sabrina aimed at the Freeman with the Strife dagger. She fired and missed.

As the red laser beam devoured a chunk of a Freeman's head, the enemy with the Strife weapon disarmed Sabrina. He turned her around. The Strife dagger came close to the girl's neck.

"Jake!" shouted Sabrina and Doug.

Anne, too busy to stop firing on the more dangerous Freemans, couldn't help Sabrina. Freemans blocked her path to Sabrina.

The girl needed her best friend.

She faced Jake, unable to run. Another Freeman stood behind an unarmed Doug, holding a Strife dagger close to his neck.

Jake, aiming his blue gun, had to save someone.

He fired a laser into the Freeman behind Sabrina. The dagger fell. The Freeman dropped, no longer a threat. Lifeless.

A dagger pierced Doug's heart.

The Freeman holding the weapon tugged it free. He smiled. That smile vanished when Jake shot him.

With her heart pounding as if it wouldn't beat tomorrow, Sabrina turned to the pale mob surrounding Anne.

Red laser beams ruined enemy heads.

"Watch out!" Kevin said.

The man rushed past Sabrina, dual wielding Freeman pistols, unleashing carnage.

Sabrina's Watcher brought death.

Freemans had died.

Doug.

Smoke shrouded the area between the hall Sabrina was in and the neighboring one.

Lifeless Freeman smoke rose in another section of hall, the section where Freemans had died because of Jake and Doug.

The battle in the hall had died.

Kevin approached Sabrina. With weaponless hands, he brought his hands to her cheeks.

"Sabrina, look at me, baby," Kevin said. "I'm here. I'm right here."

They embraced.

After the hug, Sabrina and Kevin inspected their surroundings.

Hands touched the blue backpack. The hands were now free of a Freeman pistol. Anne didn't put the backpack on, but she did make eye contact with Kevin.

The kid grinned.

"That's Anne Majestic," Sabrina said. "She's the youngest daughter of Theo Majestic and Lilly Majestic."

Kevin jogged toward Anne. When he was close enough, he hugged her. The Watcher spun the girl around as she hugged him.

As for Sabrina, she knew who Kevin's sibling was. Kevin's reaction to Anne's existence wasn't unnatural.

Sabrina filled her mind with Jake.

He stood close to Doug's corpse. In Jake's hand was the photograph of Allison Scape, Doug's twin sister. She would never reunite with her brother.

"We couldn't even protect our new friend," Jake said. "What makes you think we can kill Lock Tannis?"

"You saved my life, Jake," Sabrina said. "I'm alive. That's because of you. I'm alive and I can still kill Lock. You can help me do it. My Watcher is here. Right now, Kevin is in this hall, and he's tough."

"The Freeman ruler is tougher," Jake said. Sabrina put her hand on Jake's shoulder.

"But he isn't going to beat us," Sabrina said.

Jake moved. Sabrina followed him. The two survivors came to a stop near a wall.

"Jake, how did you choose?" Sabrina said. "Me and Doug both needed your help, but you saved me. Why?"

Her best friend moved the picture of Allison into his pocket. It had belonged to a dead boy.

Jake ran a hand through his hair.

"I wanted to save both of you," he said. "But you're my best friend. I had to make sure that you were safe first."

"We have to find Doug's sister," Sabrina said.

"We'll try."

If Path Seekman were with the group, finding Allison Scape would come with ease. Path had been born as a Bloodhound. Bloodhounds could find anyone in the universe. Sabrina needed Path. He needed to reunite with the two Highs he had lived with.

"What did that Maggie girl tell you?" Sabrina said. The chatter coming from Kevin's conversation with Anne met Sabrina's ears. "You used to be just like me. You were so hopeful. Both of us were like that, but you lost hope. What happened?"

Jake stared at the wall.

"Go talk to your Watcher, Sabrina," he said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Jake, I want to talk to you," the girl said.

"Just go."

Sabrina turned. She walked toward Kevin. Anne held her backpack's straps and took several steps back. Right, the girl wore her backpack now.

"Kevin," Sabrina said. Her Watcher faced her. "What happened? I thought the Freemans had you locked up in California."

"They did," Kevin said. "I escaped, then forced one of the Freemans to fly me here. I killed him when he did what I wanted, of course. I'm sorry about your friend, Sabrina. I'm sorry about Doug."

"I'm going to kill Lock Tannis for him," Sabrina said. Anne tightened her grip on her backpack's blue straps, turned. Maybe Doug's death had flung anger into her. "Doug was a great person, and I wish that I got to know him better. He has a twin sister. We're going to find her. We owe it to Doug."

Kevin shifted his attention to Anne. He looked at Sabrina, the girl he had spent more than ten years raising.

"Sabrina, we need to have a serious talk," Kevin said. "Right here. Right now. Considering we might get killed today, I have to tell you the truth."

"Can it wait?" Sabrina said. "There's still probably Freemans in here."

"No," Kevin said. "It can't wait."

Sabrina gestured to the man. "Okay, talk to me."

Jake stayed away. Anne's back stayed turned. While four Soynites remained alive and one remained dead, Sabrina and Kevin maintained eye contact.

"Me and you are related," Kevin said.

Sabrina embraced him. She smiled as the good man hugged her back.

Her father had always been her Watcher.

"I knew you were my dad," Sabrina said, shutting her eyes. "It makes so much sense. It explains why you look similar to me."

"No, Sabrina." Kevin said.