Important: please reread the last part of Chapter 6 because I changed it, yet again.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Tye.

(PS, sorry that it's so short, the next chapter will be longer and I'll have it up in a week.)


"Shalimar, Brennan, Emma; I need you in the control center now!" Adam's voice came franticly over the com system and in a mater of minutes the three members of Mutant X were gathered around him.

"What's up?" Brennan asked, seemingly annoyed. He had been in an intense sparring match with a hologram of Jesse and wasn't thrilled with being pulled away.

"Safe house twenty eight is under attack, the message that Kris got off was brief but she got enough out to let me know it's Ashlock. I need you three there now; we don't have a lot of time."

"We're on our way," Brennan called as they headed for the Helix.

It took them ten minutes to arrive at the safe house, on the way they had formed a plan and were seemingly ready for anything. Emma would go in first and set up a mental shield to keep Ashlock and anyone else out of their heads. Brennan and Shalimar would then come in and take down anyone and everyone. It was a good plan on the surface, but if you looked closely it involved a lot of luck.

Unfortunately for Mutant X, Ashlock was looking closely.

Inside the safe house it looked like a bomb had gone off. The house was almost completely destroyed; there were holes in the drywall where people or things had been tossed through it. The ceiling was cracked and had plaster falling from it. Not a single chair or shelf was untouched. There was the smell of smoke and, worse yet, blood thick in the air. To top it all ff, it was disturbingly still.

"There's no one here…" Emma said as she cast her mind out.

"Are you sure?" Brennan asked.

"She's right," Shal supported, her eyes flashing gold, "I can't smell anyone."

"Adam," Brennan said into his com, "We're too lat…"

But before he could get his last word out Emma gave a blood curtailing scream.

"Brennan, I didn't hear you….Can you repeat what you said?...Brennan, can you repeat?...Brennan are you there?...Shalimar…Emma…Are you there?"

"Oh, they're heat Adam," Ashlock's sadistic voice said over the com, "But they won't be for long. I f you want them back, you know what the price is."

With that, he was gone and Adam was left horrified.