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"And I told you not to touchsnapped Kavi hadn’t just shattered the tight reins of Mae’s discipline; she’d also opened up all those boxes that Mae had used to lock up her feelings All the grief, all the fury, all the guilt…every emotion that Mae had carefully packed and filed away since she’d learned of Porfirio’s death caates burst, and Kavi was in their path

Prætorians were fast, their reflexes surpassing those of ordinary soldiers It hat defined them and hat the implant enhanced When Mae struck out and punched Kavi in the face, Kavi should have at least seen it co Maybe she wouldn’t have had a chance to react fully, but she should’ve had warning It was clear fro of her eyes as she flew backward into a row of chairs that she’d been completely unprepared for the attack

Once the action started, though, her reflexes kicked in She juain Kavi ed each ti she’d ever done in the canne coave Mae the opportunity to shove the other woracefully than any prætorian should have They were usually like cats, but Kavi had trouble righting herself Her response was still fast by other people’s standards--but it took a couple of seconds too long by theirs There was no chance for her to defend herself when Mae shot forward and kicked her in the stomach It was immediately followed by a hit to the knee Mae heard a crack, and Kavi screaround

Battle mode kicked in so automatically that Mae was barely aware of what she did, only that she had to keep fighting and make sure Kavi stayed down Endorphins and neurotranser and faster--but there was so her senses and urging her to destroy It overshadowed her like a cloak, an outside power that insidiously crept its way into her, letting her revel in the joy of violence and pain Panic briefly seized Mae as she recognized the unwelcoain But her mental protests were soon sed in the haze of battle

Kavi struggled a little, vainly trying to get up, but Mae kept her foe pinned down as she punched again and again Mae became dimly aware of blood on the other wo louder and louder around the, Porfirio is dead, Porfirio is dead…

She didn’t knoared with red, and adrenaline, urged on by the ionizingly, the world cae faded, and more important, the dark power that had descended upon her lifted She saw regular gray-and- with h Two prætorians restrained her, the only ones who could hold her in full fight-or-flight mode

"Easy, Finn Easy" Mae realized one of her captors was Dag "You won It’s over"

That hen Mae finally dared to look down to the ground Kavi wasn’t dead, though her breathing cas was bent at an unnatural angle, and blood covered her swollen face It looked as though her nose had been broken Mae stared in horror, unable to believe what she’d done Prætorians fought a themselves roup of people ere so physical and so chemically driven, it was hard for altercations not to break out Usually, opponents were evenly hts were rarely all-or-nothing

But this? It was nothing Kavi was nothing She’d never gotten in a hit As Mae’s implant continued to wind down and metabolize the excess adrenaline, she tried toher finally dee nervously nearby Mae offered no resistance She allowed the Kavi one last, disbelieving look

They left Mae in a cell all day, which gave her a lot of ti it: She’d cracked She’d been weak and allowed her e that point to herself was hu from Kavi, and Mae’s arotten through Even now, Mae felt cold and nauseated as she reht, a force she was certain had nothing to do with her iht frantically Mae’s life was focused on being thecontrol shattered everything she fought for It had to be some trick of her mind…because what else could it be? I should tell soht was nearly as frightening Prætorians who saw psychiatrists usually didn’t stay prætorians for long No one was going to pairimplant

One other question burned in Mae’s mind as she waited out the day Why had Kavi been so slow to react? Or had Mae just been that fast? No, the ht about it, theout of the ordinary about the way she’d fought Yes, she’d been more e Even the rush of that dark power couldn’t create that kind of disparity

Why had Kavi been so slow?

Mae had no answer by the tiain They escorted her to a conference roo table He wore the regular ray, save for the jacket’s upper half, which was maroon It was bedecked with the medals of his rank and a black stripe on the collar that showed he’d once been a prætorian More silver laced his dark hair than when she’d first o, but the constant intensity and purpose in his eyes never changed

Mae’s stomach sank further She’d hoped someone else would be there to chastise her, s It wasn’t his rank she feared so ave a s the door behind the room