“Yeah.” He pushed himself up from the bed and caressed where his nails dug in too deeply. “Thank you for coming with me.”

  Brendan reached over and kissed him on the forehead. “Happy to.”

  • • •

  Aiden stared down into the basement. Lowering his head, trying desperately not to pant, he descended down. His steps slowed, flinching at the creaks of the stairs. They reminded him of the tight space, cold air, and dim lighting of the basement that imprisoned him. His hands latched to the railing, and for a good second, he contemplated running back up the stairs.

  However, a different reality confronted him when he found the courage to look up. The basement was wide with shining, clean floors. Bright lights illuminated the walls, and items were stored in meticulously labeled storages.

  A line of weapons hung on the walls: daggers, swords, and weapons he only thought existed in fantasy. A tray of guns and bullets displayed themselves on the table in the middle of the room. A dehumidifier hummed in the corner. Brendan was already sitting at the table, eyes scanning the large basement, filled with a mixture of fear and wonder. Brendan reached out his arm to Aiden.

  His hands grabbed fast, and Brendan’s arm pulled him like a life raft through crashing waves.

  Celia entered without acknowledging his presence. She opened a drawer of bullets and loaded the gun. She slid it across the table to Aiden and marched back into the basement’s closet. Her heeled boots clicked against the ground.

  The two boys stared mystically at the gun. “You gonna grab it?” Brendan asked.

  Aiden nodded. He wrapped his fingers tightly around the handle, memorizing the grip. “Do you want to feel it?”

  Brendan shook his head. “I’d rather not chance with something like this.”

  Aiden leaned against Brendan’s shoulder, while Brendan’s arm remained wrapped around his waist. His hand pressed against the chilling, smooth metal of the weapon, and he replayed the echoes of a gunshot inside his head. The plan, Aiden ensured, did not include either him or Celia having to personally take a life. However, as long as he pulled the trigger, he knew he would feel the full impact of the weapon’s charge against his hand.

  “Make sure to get all your nerves out,” Celia said, walking back into the room.

  The two of them blinked at the stranger that stood before them. Dressed in complete black with several guns hanging from her waist and pockets lined with other weaponry, Celia had disappeared in place of another woman. She wore a pixie, black wig, tightened her skin that made her eyes naturally curl upward. She had also drawn thicker lips and dotted freckles across the bridge of her nose. “Are we supposed to call you something else?” Brendan asked.

  “Yes. From now on, you’ll refer to me as Diane.”

  “Is that your field name?” Aiden asked.

  She scoffed. “If I only have one field name, I’d be a horrible assassin. No, this is just the name I like to use when I’m using guns.” She walked back into the adjacent closet, and Aiden pulled away from Brendan. He peered into a room of clothes. Black-heeled boots lined an entire shelf, and she kneeled down to inspect them.

  That’s not what I was expecting. He wandered in with wide eyes. Women’s and men’s clothes hung from two walls, displaying suits, dresses, casual wear, sportswear, and in all manners of colors, shapes, and sizes. He watched the western style suits transition to festive dresses, stopping when his eyes caught sight of a familiar hanfu.

  The hanfu was the color of midnight with silver swirls of wind embroidered. The Hui family symbol dotted amongst the stars sewn in. Layers of meticulously stitched cloths folded into each other, and unlike the hanfu he had worn to prom, this one was traditional. His mouth slightly agape, he carefully touched it, surprised that the texture matched the feel of his own hanfu. “My mother made this…” he said.

  Celia—or Diane—picked her pair of black heeled boots. She glanced over her shoulder. “Yes, she did. Your brother kept it in his secret warehouse of clothes, and I took it with me after he died. Do you want it?”

  “Can I?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “This belongs to your family. It doesn’t belong to me.”

  “I thought you kept it because—”

  “I kept it because I liked it and thought it’d be a shame for it to go to waste. I remember your brother well enough with the ring.” She walked out of the closet. “Come, we have to go.” Aiden’s body split in two when he separated from the hanfu. He continued watching it, even after stepping out of the closet.

  “It’ll be yours the second this whole thing is over,” Diane promised.

  “Are you staying?” Brendan asked.

  “Me? No. Is there a reason for me to stay? Everything after the fact will just bore me out of my mind.” She switched to her new heeled boots.

  Brendan blinked. “Is there a reason why all your boots are heeled? Wouldn’t it be more comfortable without them?”

  “Yes. Did you know butchers wore heels back in the day?” When Brendan shook his head, she continued, “It allowed them to avoid stepping in blood, and I find that fact to work out particularly well. Might as well take advantage of this invention for its original purpose, no?”

  She tossed a bag to Aiden. It sagged in his hands, and he scrambled to hold it tightly. He opened it to find specialized electronic locks.

  “This should ensure no one leaves their designated room, as we discussed. Of course, I’m the only one who holds the key to the locks.” Diane held up the electronic key for all to see. “Questions?”

  “The equipment won’t slip out of place?” Brendan carefully felt the wires hidden underneath his clothes.

  “It won’t.” She swept her gaze across both of them. “Feeling scared?”

  “Of course,” Brendan laughed with a shaky breath. Beside him, Aiden nodded.

  “Well, pretend you’re not. It’s time to go.”

  Brendan stood up, but his knees gave away the trembling. His own hands shaking, Aiden grabbed Brendan’s arm, rubbing it. Their eyes met. Laughing, Aiden’s hands stilled, and Brendan’s knees stopped jittering.

  “Boys!”

  Jumping, they followed her into the garage.

  Diane’s heeled boots made no sound against the hard floor when she walked around to the license plate and tore off a thin sticker to reveal a completely new license plate number. She placed stickers of various scratches against the veneer of the car, replaced the decorations hanging from the window, and added a three-dimensional sticker to the bumper that made it appear dented in.

  “Gloves.” Diane tossed them both a pair. “I’ve informed the Guo agents about the plan. They’ll take you to safety once I’ve ensured we have everything to bring Infinite down.”

  “And to bring He Bao and Zhu Zhu with me.”

  “Ah yes. That too.” She dropped herself into the driver’s seat and unlocked the rest of the car.

  Aiden lost track of time the second he sat down in the back and Diane started the engine. He vaguely remembered grabbing Brendan’s hand. He believed he counted his breaths. He thought that Brendan’s body began trembling again beside him, barely concealed. The ringing in his ears clouded his vision, leaving him blinking in shock when Diane parked the car in a public parking lot.

  They had arrived.

  Am I scared?

  It didn’t feel like nails scratching against a chalkboard.

  Am I excited?

  It didn’t feel like the bouncing bubbles dancing inside him.

  What exactly do I feel?

  Diane motioned for the two to follow, and they trekked the remaining journey to the formidable Chen family mansion. In the darkness of the night, Aiden realized it looked more gothic than it had during the day. With pointed roof tiles and a dark stone color, he mused at the perfect combination of eastern and western palaces the home seemed to represent.

  “You’re certain there will be fewer guards in the smaller garden?”

  “The smaller garden exists only for the children to run around. They don’t put too much protection around that area, and it conveniently leads right into the playroom. It’s a perfect place to enter now that everyone’s in the middle of eating.”

  “Such little emphasis on protecting children. It’s like they forget they have them,” Diane mused. They avoided the front yard, taking a roundabout way around the large house and through wall-like bushes to sneak into the smaller garden of the ginormous backyard.

  At first glance, it looked perfectly normal with toys scattered across the grass, a swing propped up, and a small swimming pool for kids to kick their small legs and feet in. Only two guards patrolled it, and even from where they hid in the foliage, Aiden could tell they were more inexperienced by the way they almost tripped over the toys when walking.

  Diane sprung toward one of the guards.

  The guard had just managed to pull out his gun before she swiped it out of his hands, wrapped her legs around his neck, and pulled him down to the ground while covering his mouth. Aiden stepped out and shot the silenced gun at the other guard, who dropped instantly when hit with the tranquilizer. Beside him, Diane stuck a needle into the guard’s neck and stayed wrapped around him until he stopped struggling.

  Brendan popped up from the safety of the shrubs at their cue. The three scurried over to the back door, and Diane looked in through the glass at a playroom devoid of people. “Like you said.”

  She broke them in. After closing the door, she pushed her special lock against it. The lock clicked in activation, lighting up in mild blue.

  They skipped around the game consoles strewn on the ground. Mr. Yang’s children must be here, Aiden thought.

  The wide space reminded him of his living room. The cards crumpled in his grip. Laughing, playing, and unaware. Aiden clenched his teeth, and his steps fell heavier against the carpet. They will not be involved, he swore as they slipped deeper into the mansion.

  The clattering of silverware and the scent of food wafted through the large dining room and into every hallway. Mei cai kou rou. Liang fen. Aiden recited the dishes to himself. He grabbed fast to Brendan’s hand, noticing the boy slowing down, caught by the allure of a feast with people shoving as much food onto the plates and into their mouths as possible. Saliva gathered on Aiden's own tongue as the sound of silverware scraping against plates beckoned to him.

  At least until he turned down the hallway closest to the dining room, and the sounds fell to silence.

  His stomach twisted.

  What am I feeling?

  “I’ll be where you told me to ambush her,” Diane said. “You’re certain you can do this?”

  “Yes. I’ll lead her to you. Take care of the other rooms first in the meantime.” He entered the first room in the hallway, and an array of delicate dishware and shining utensils laid neatly in rows against the walls. He caught Brendan’s whispered words.

  You got this.

  Aiden crouched to the ground, holding a speaker between his cold hands. He closed his eyes, listening to the chatter traveling through the walls. The children babbled a mixture of Chinese and English, the teenagers gossiped while throwing snide underhanded remarks at each other’s families, and the adults whose hearty laughter and strings of conversations would truly fool any stranger into thinking it was a potluck.

  But Aiden knew better than that. He picked up the topics of business, about expansion, and about eliminating competition. Another group targeted assets that rightfully belonged to Infinite.

  “The worst thing about the government is that every time they change, we have to change with them,” Mr. Zhou grumbled.

  “No, no, the government isn’t the problem. It’s the other damn businesses that are the problem. I’m talking about legitimate businesses. They get in our hair far more, and most frustratingly, they’re oblivious to it, so we have to tiptoe around them.” Mr. Yang argued.

  The knotted feeling in his stomach twisted harder.

  As the sound of spoons scraping against bowls slowed, the pattering of feet grew. Children dashed out of the dining room with caretakers chasing. The combination of lax and jaunt footsteps of the young adults followed. Group by group, on autopilot, they did as they were expected without any of the family heads saying a single word. Until all that was left in the dining room was the silence of the four adults.

  Aiden pressed the speaker, and the sound of a dish crashing against the floor rang so loud that the four heads heard it in the dining room.

  “What was that?” his stepmother demanded.

  “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure that’s just a housekeeper who dropped a dish,” Mr. Chen said.

  “You really do hire incompetent people, don’t you?” Mr. Zhou tsked.

  “My people are far from incompetent. They are human. A housekeeper dropping a dish is not an issue in this family.”

  “Well, I think this requires a little more investigation,” Mr. Yang added. Aiden imagined the man was smirking.

  Pick a woman in your entourage of guards. Aiden’s breath quickened. He leaned harder against the wall to pick up the next words. That’s who you are after all. You’ll pick a woman for what you think is trivial.

  “Xiao Hua, go investigate which housekeeper dropped the dish.”

  Aiden straightened his shoulders. He left the room and turned into another.

  “We should not let this little distraction slow us,” Mr. Zhou interrupted with a growl. The chair squeaked against the wooden floor. “Your guard can rejoin us in the meeting room.”

  Aiden’s heart roared in his ears. The guard’s shoes clopped against the wooden floor, and he heard her turn into the room he was just in.

  Her feet froze upon realizing there were no broken dishes.

  And that’s the bait. Aiden purposefully stepped out a little from the new room and swung his elbow to hit lightly against the wall. He made his escape down the winding hallway.

  Not too fast. Not too slow.

  His entire body pulsed to his heartbeat. His breaths puffed through his nose. He needed her to follow, but he needed to set the pacing. The sound of the woman at his back faded. Too fast, he realized and forced himself to slow down.

  Her shoes caught up with loud determined steps.

  Too slow! His throat clenched. Sweat beaded his forehead, and the paintings decorating the wall leered at him with sideways glances, condescending smiles, and glowing eyes. Is she catching up to me? His ears roared with thunder as he continued to walk closer to where Diane waited. Or did she fall behind?

  He sensed no physical presence behind him. He desired to snap around, but he forced his neck to stay straight with increasing agony. The lights dimmed and flickered before his eyes. Internal screams clawed at his lungs. Where is she? Is she still following me? Am I going too fast? Too slow? I can’t tell. I can’t tell at all.

  “Stop!” she yelled in Chinese. The unmistakable click of a gun followed her words.

  Aiden’s heart sunk. Too slow. He yearned for the few extra steps he needed to take for Diane to rush out.

  “Who are you? Turn around this instant.”

  Then, I’ll buy time for her to join the fight. Aiden swiveled around, revealing his face to the guard. I can take the gun from her.

  Her face paled upon seeing his face. Aiden slid on the smooth wooden ground, stopping below her arm, jumped up, grabbed her hand with both of his, and forced his full body weight onto her.

  They crashed to the ground. He seared his fingers into her hand, pressing a pressure point on her wrist with every ounce of strength to force her to loosen her grip on the weapon.

  She bucked underneath him, and the ripple of her strength sent Aiden flopping against her like a dead fish. Shit. Hurry. He leaned harder, and his fingers dug into the guard’s wrist. Diane, hurry!

  She bucked again, and Aiden flopped off of her and sprawled on the ground, heading straight for a wall. Warm hands caught him and kept his head and neck safe, stopping his slide at the last second. Aiden looked up to see Brendan holding him from behind as Diane ran out. Her heel sliced into the guard’s hand. She grabbed the woman by her short hair and shoved a piece of cloth into her mouth before the guard could scream. The gun slipped from the guard’s hand. Diane kicked the weapon away and jammed a needle into the woman’s neck not a second later.

  She dropped to the ground, incapacitated.

  Seconds ticked by before Aiden realized he was panting. He glanced up and felt Brendan’s face. Brendan nodded and leaned into his hand wordlessly. Aiden’s heart slowed. He stopped gasping, and he allowed Brendan to help pull him up from the ground.

  Diane moved the unconscious guard back into the dishware room. She closed the door, and her electronic lock clicked. “I’m dressed like her with her hairstyle, but I don’t actually look like her. Is that okay?” she asked, checking the placement of her wig.

  Aiden nodded. “They’re in the meeting now, so Mr. Yang won’t even glance at you when you enter. Mr. Zhou will lecture you for being late, but he’s not expecting to recognize you. You’re not one of his.”

  “Then let us not waste any more time.”

  “Were you able to lock all the other rooms?”

  “Your instructions of the rooms were clear, so it was easy to do.” Diane shrugged. “More than enough time to put the locks on and be at the spot while the four dawdled in the dining room a bit longer.”

  She walked past the two without any further comment. With the adrenaline squeezed out of Aiden, he summoned his remaining energy to force his feet forward. Brendan’s pinky finger linked to his, and he stopped in surprise at the calm gesture. He’s…not scared, Aiden marveled. He glanced at their interlocked pinkies and his gaze traveled up to Brendan’s face. “Are you ready?” Brendan asked with a gentle hum.

  Aiden turned around to an empty hallway filled with screaming silence. He grasped Brendan’s full hand. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But we must go regardless.”

  The two walked hand in hand, following Diane for the final step of their mission—to tear Infinite apart from within.