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explain to Avi about the buzzing in her head that went silent on the plane and how she hoped it would never return. “I’m not going to do that man’s bidding anymore. I’m not killing anyone again.” She felt tears well up in her eyes as she thought of all the people that were dead because of her. It quickly seemed like a movie, like she was watching someone else do it. At the time it was no big deal; her brain filed it away and let it go. Now, they were all catching back up with her. She stared at the dashboard as faces and names came back to her. “Oh God, what did I do?”
    “Deena,” Avi reached out to touch her arm and calm her but she pulled away.
    She closed her eyes to try to block out the memories. “No. No. I’m not going back there. Something about that last hit strained my power and it crumbled. I feel like a rope around my neck snapped and I’m not suffocating anymore. I don’t feel right about anything I used to do. It’s a change in my—I don’t know—in my brain.”
    “You need rest, that’s all.”
    “In all the jobs we’ve worked together, no matter how exhausted I’ve been, have you ever heard me say I wanted to quit?” She hadn’t. Up until an hour ago, using her powers to chase down, maim, injure or kill Marsh’s targets was a thing of joy to her; a job that she was uniquely suited to and that she excelled at. “I called him. I called Marsh and told him I was done.”
    “So you decided all of this? Just decided all of this since you killed that mark on the plane? You went from contract killer to pacifist in a matter of minutes?” Avi took his eyes off the road for moment to look at her. “You’ve thought about the implications? You’ve considered how Marsh would react? He’s not just going to let you go.”
    “I’ll just run. He can send whoever he wants. They won’t find me.”
    “They will.”
    “Let them. I can handle myself.”
    Avi sighed. “You said you had a change in your brain because you stressed your powers. Do you even know if your powers still work? Maybe they’re gone. What then? You can’t handle yourself against his killers if that’s the case.”
    The possibility that she was now powerless never occurred to Deena. She’d lived with the Shadow Energy since she was a teen and assumed she’d always have them. But if she was changing her entire life, it seemed fitting the thing that had made her life hell would be gone. “And if I don’t have powers, I’m no use to him anyway. If I went back and he found that out, he’d kill me. I have to run.”
    Deena could see Avi’s lips press together tightly as he checked his rearview mirror. He flipped the left blinker and passed another car on the highway. To stay inconspicuous he set cruise control to just above the legal limit, as usual.
    “I haven’t heard you mention your sister once. What about Harper? Hmmm? Where does that leave her?”

6
    Stanley Yuko watched as four men led Harper Riordan off the elevator. He’d known it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Harper’s latest disaster with the bus was certain to draw unwanted attention from law enforcement, and in turn, from Marsh.
    Stanley pressed the intercom button. “Harper is here.”
    “Harper is here? You make it sound like I had an appointment or something,” Harper said. The girl sneered down at Stanley in his chair and he felt himself shrink back. He looked away and stared at the tape dispenser on his desk, not wanting to meet Harper’s eyes. He straightened the pens and the staple remover on his already immaculate desk. Stanley waited until his boss’s voice came from the speaker. “Send them in.”
    Stanley nodded to the men. “Go ahead.” He tried to sound cordial as he pressed the buzzer to unlock the door to Marsh’s office. He pulled his finger off the button as they went in. Once the door shut, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial.
    “Hello?”
    “It’s Stanley. They have