There have been quite a few times over the past two years when Taylor felt like the world was picking on her for shits and giggles. She was well aware that there are others who have it harder, but perspective can honestly eat a bag of dicks.

  She wasn’t living their lives, and they weren’t living hers. And, right now, it felt like her life was a reenactment of every Greek tragedy ever.

  “You’re Seraph?” Her words were faint, even to her ears.

  “Yes,” the dark-haired boy said. “And I can’t apologize enough for everything I put you through, Taylor. Things weren’t supposed to happen this way.”

  Apologize? The cape that had been haunting her nights is apologizing?

  “I only wanted to help you that night with Lung. I didn’t know how my power would affect you, and I certainly didn’t intend for you to be kidnapped because of what I did.”

  What was going on? Why was this happening? How did he know her name?

  “I promise you that I’ll make this right, Taylor. Whatever it takes, I’ll make this right.”

  She didn’t realize that he had already gotten so close. Seraph, or Alfred as he introduced himself, was crouched an arm’s length away. Despondence radiated from his youthful face, making him look pitiful. The cracking voice only completed the picture of a supplicant begging for repentance.

  None of that mattered.

  “‘Make this right’?” she repeated in a dead voice. “What exactly are you going to ‘make right’? This whole city is scared of me, because of you!” The scream that tore out of her throat nearly surprised even her, and Lisa flinched back in shock. “I was supposed to be a hero! I had to tell my dad the truth before I was ready to! I got shot at, beaten, and kept in a windowless box!”

  The whole time she was shouting, Taylor had forgotten who the target of her tirade was. All she saw was a boy who was very much human, brown eyes squeezed shut, and almost shrinking into himself in contrition. It felt good to berate him.

  “Coil had Lisa shot and threatened my dad,” she whispered hoarsely. “He was going to torture me! All because he wanted to get to you.”

  Memories of her recent torment flooded her mind, forcing her to relive every agonizing moment. Then, when she got to the end, she remembered what she had done.

  “I’m a monster.” The voiced realization escaped her lips without her meaning to.

  “No!” Came the vehement denial from the recent recipient of her spleen. “No, you are not. Never believe that, Taylor.” His eyes echoed his words, beseeching her to listen. “Everything that happened was my fault. Everything. None of that was on you, please believe me.”

  Taylor then stared at this boy, this stranger, who almost seemed to be in physical pain in the face of her suffering. Fists clenched so tight over bent knees that they were shaking. The hunched shoulders made him look smaller than he actually was. All of this made her ask the biggest question that’s been occupying her mind recently.

  “Why?” His furrowed brow expressed confusion, so she clarified. “Why me? You were on that rooftop for me, weren’t you? Then you were near Winslow. Coil made it sound like you chose me, specifically. Now I’m here after –” a living mountain of flesh coiling up from an outcropping of rocks, impossible abominations zipping through a stormy sky “– after using monsters to escape, and you came for me… You came for me, I know you did. So, why?”

  Seraph’s face contorted, shifting into different expressions, as if he were fighting an internal battle. Taylor waited for him to answer, but every time he looked like he would, something changed, and his mouth would click shut.

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  “Answer me!” she shrieked.

  “I –” he tried again, raising her hope, only to then dash it against the rocks. “I can’t.”

  “Why the hell not?!”

  Taylor was taken aback, because it wasn’t her who screamed, this time. Lisa jumped in with murder in her eyes.

  “You owe us some fucking answers! It’s not just Taylor who got shit dumped on her because you couldn’t come up with a halfway decent plan without fucking everyone else over!”

  Preoccupied as she was with her own dire situation, Taylor missed Lisa’s state. Now that she was paying more attention, the blonde seemed to be doing about as well as she was. What exactly happened between these two?

  “It’s not that simple,” Seraph tried.

  “No shit! We’re up to our elbows in conspiracies, unexplainable power interactions, extra-dimensional fuckery, how you seem to know a frankly creepy amount about me and Taylor, and your brand of insanity that goes against everything we know about parahuman science. I know it’s not that simple! But, for the love of God, at least give us something! Anything!”

  That was a lot for Taylor to process. What conspiracy? And did Lisa say something about extra dimensions?

  “Fine!” The boy groaned, sounding as if the concession was costing him a limb. “I can’t tell you everything. Can’t! Not won’t, can’t. I mean that literally,” he hurriedly added, preempting any objections. “But there are some things I can say without tripping my proverbial chains.”

  “Wait,” Taylor jumped in. “What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean that there are subjects I am literally restricted from talking about,” he explained.

  “Like a geas?” she asked, calling on her vast knowledge of all things English literature.

  This caused Seraph to blink in astonishment before nodding. “Exactly like a geas.”

  “Just a fucking minute!” Lisa interrupted. “Are you talking about that curse from Celtic mythology? The one where you die if you violate the rules?”

  Taylor had to actively stop herself from correcting the other girl. She wasn’t technically wrong, but her interpretation was vastly oversimplifying the subject. This wasn’t the time, anyway.

  “My case isn’t that bad,” Seraph admitted. “I just can’t say anything, even if I wanted to. The words won’t come out.”

  That explained the facial ticks and twitches. Why he kept opening and closing his mouth. He tried to answer, but couldn’t!

  “What the fuck,” Lisa breathed, seemingly coming to the same conclusion.

  A necessary pause was required for both girls to digest what Seraph had just told them. He was cursed, or was as close to it as to make no difference. Was he lying? For some reason, Taylor didn’t think so. What would be the point?

  She had never had the chance to speak with him in a cordial fashion. When would she have been able to? Between chasing him away with her swarm and then trying to smash him in the middle of the sea, opportunities for civil conversations were quite limited.

  Yet, the earnest way he spoke to her. The genuine regret in his voice. Taylor couldn’t bring herself to believe that he could be so good at pretending. She certainly had enough experience with fake personalities thanks to the trio’s pathetic attempts at acting innocent to anyone with the authority to stop them.

  “Okay, moving past the absurd comparison to magic bullshit,” Lisa spoke up. “What can you talk about?”

  Seraph didn’t answer right away. Instead, he fell deep in thought. While he did so, Taylor took this chance to actually observe the cape who, until recently, was the subject of her fears and interest.

  While he had been standing, she remembered that he was taller than her. The plain shirt he wore stretched over his pecs and biceps. Not a lot, but enough. Fair skin, short hair, and rosy lips. Lips that he seemed to be chewing while mulling over Lisa’s question.

  Heat rose up Taylor’s neck as she realized that she had been staring at Seraph’s mouth for far longer than appropriate.

  “Okay,” he said, breaking Taylor from her trance. “I can talk about my powers, how they affected Taylor, my plans, such as they are, and the group pulling the strings behind the PRT and the Protectorate. Take your pick.”

  He’s actually willing to talk about his powers? That went against everything she’s read about parahumans. Taylor would also really like to know what’s going on with her abilities, and what they mean for her future.

  Wait…

  “What’s this about the PRT and Protectorate? I could’ve sworn you just said some group was pulling their strings.”

  That couldn’t be right.

  Taylor did not like the way Lisa and Seraph were exchanging dark glances. She especially didn’t like the way the blonde gestured toward the boy, as if giving him leave to keep talking. A task that he very much didn’t want to undertake, if his scowl was any indication.

  “About that…”

  What followed was a deconstruction of everything Taylor thought she knew about the world.