Emma hesitated for just a heartbeat, her crimson eyes flickering between Julian’s calm expression and Vex’s calculating smile. Then she shrugged and moved forward, flames still dancing at her fingertips—a silent warning.

"Alright, alright. Hands up, Commander. Let’s see what you’re hiding."

Vex raised her arms with an almost amused grace, allowing Emma to pat her down with practiced efficiency. The other Greenday fighters, seeing their leader’s surrender, slowly lowered their weapons. Fey’s liquid tendrils relaxed but didn’t release them entirely—just enough to let them breathe, to let them think about resisting.

Zoe remained in her massive wolf form, blue eyes fixed on the prisoners with predatory focus. One wrong move, and she’d be among them before they could blink.

Dori pressed close to Julian, her gentle face troubled. "Julian... can we really trust her? She was trying to kill us minutes ago."

"Trust is earned," Julian replied quietly, his gaze still on Vex. "But opportunity doesn’t wait for trust to mature. We’ll use her information, verify what we can, and keep her close enough to watch."

Vex, overhearing, smiled wider. "Smart. Very smart. I’d do the same in your position."

Emma finished her search, producing a small knife, a communication device, and a few other odds and ends. "Clean. No hidden surprises." She glanced at Julian. "Well, except the obvious one."

"Bind them. Gently." Julian’s eyes never left Vex. "We’ll move at nightfall to a secure location. Then we talk."

-----×-----

An hour later, they had relocated to a collapsed building several blocks away—far enough to avoid immediate pursuit, close enough to observe any Greenday search parties. The captured fighters sat in a loose circle, their hands bound with Fey’s liquid restraints. Vex sat apart, her bonds slightly looser—a gesture of tentative trust, or perhaps just a practical decision to allow her to talk freely.

Julian stood before her, the data chip in his hand. "Explain this."

Vex leaned back against a broken wall, seemingly unbothered by her captivity. "That chip contains everything you need to neutralize Greenday’s main base without a prolonged fight. Defensive layouts, patrol schedules, guard rotations, even the access codes for the inner sanctum." She paused. "I’ve been collecting it for months. Waiting for the right opportunity."

"The right opportunity being a group of strangers who happened to attack your outpost?"

"The right opportunity being anyone strong enough to actually use it." Vex’s eyes met his, unwavering. "I’ve seen a lot of would-be heroes come through this territory. Most die screaming. A few join Eclipse. None..." She gestured at him, at his women, at the evidence of their capabilities. "None are like you."

Emma snorted from her perch on a collapsed beam. "Flattery. Nice tactic."

"It’s not flattery. It’s observation." Vex’s voice hardened. "You moved through my outpost like ghosts. You fought my elite guards like they were children. And you..." Her gaze settled on Julian. "You had me dead to rights and didn’t kill me. That’s either incredible stupidity or terrifying confidence. I’m betting on the latter."

Fey, lounging nearby, raised an eyebrow. "So what’s your endgame here? We take Greenday, you get your revenge on Eclipse. Then what? You expect to walk away? Join us? Take over?"

"Survive." Vex’s answer was simple, stark. "That’s all I’ve wanted for years. Survive, protect what’s left of my people, and maybe—maybe—make the bastards who took my daughter pay." Her voice cracked slightly on the last words, just enough to be real, not performative. "After that? I don’t care. Die, live, whatever. As long as they burn first."

Silence settled over the ruined building.

Dori, who had been quietly watching from Julian’s side, moved closer. Her gentle face held an expression that was rare for her—not fear, not worry, but something harder. Something that understood.

"My friends..." she began softly, then stopped. Swallowed. "The Blight took them. I know what it’s like to want... to want someone to pay."

Vex looked at her—really looked, seeing past the gentle exterior to the pain beneath. For a moment, her cold mask slipped, revealing something almost human.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "You do."

Julian watched the exchange, cataloging every micro-expression, every shift in posture. If Vex was lying, she was the best actress he’d ever encountered.

He slipped the data chip into his Inventory and met Vex’s gaze.

"Assuming your information checks out—and we’ll verify what we can before we move—here’s how this plays out. We take Greenday’s main base. You and your people are freed, unharmed. In exchange, you provide ongoing intelligence about Eclipse’s operations. You become our eyes inside their network."

Vex’s eyes widened slightly—surprise, quickly masked. "You’d trust me that much?"

"No." Julian’s voice was flat. "I’d watch you that closely. But I’d also give you the chance to prove yourself. To earn what you want."

A long moment passed. Then Vex smiled—a real smile, cold and sharp and hungry.

"Sure."

Emma hopped down from her perch, landing lightly. "So we’re really doing this? Making friends with the lady who wanted us dead an hour ago?"

"Allies," Julian corrected. "Not friends. There’s a difference."

"Allies huh..." But Emma was grinning, her earlier suspicion fading into her natural optimism. "Alright, fine. But I’m sleeping with one eye open."

Fey stretched lazily. "You always sleep with one eye open. You talk in your sleep. It’s weird."

"I do not!"

"You absolutely do. Last week you kept mumbling about ’spicy chicken’ and ’Julian’s muscles.’"

Dori giggled, covering her mouth. Even Zoe’s ears twitched with amusement.

Emma’s face went scarlet. "THAT WAS—I WAS DREAMING ABOUT—UGH!"

Julian, for once, allowed himself a small smile—directed entirely at his women.

Then he turned back to Vex, the smile fading into something more calculating.

"Now. Tell us everything about Greenday’s main base. And don’t leave anything out."

Vex nodded, settling into a more comfortable position. "Alright. Let’s start with the commander—a man named Mike. He’s competent, cruel, and absolutely loyal to Eclipse. Killing him won’t just break their chain of command; it’ll demoralize the entire force..."

She talked for an hour, laying out the entire structure of Greenday’s operations. Julian listened, absorbed, cataloged. His women listened too, occasionally asking questions, occasionally sharing glances that said everything words couldn’t.

When she finally finished, the light outside had shifted to the deep gold of late afternoon. Soon, dusk would fall—and with it, their window of opportunity.

Julian rose, his decision made.

"We move at midnight. Fey, review the defensive layouts with Vex—identify the best infiltration route. Emma, you’re our distraction; study the patrol schedules and find the moment of maximum chaos. Zoe, scout the perimeter when it gets dark; I want eyes on every entrance. Dori..." He paused, his voice softening. "Rest. Conserve your strength. Tonight, we’ll need your Conceal more than ever."

Dori nodded, her gentle face set with determination. "I’ll be ready."

Vex watched the exchange with something like wonder in her cold eyes. "You actually listen to them. Trust them. Treat them like..." She trailed off, unable to find the right word.

"Family," Emma supplied, grinning. "He treats us like family. Because that’s what we are."

Vex was quiet for a long moment. Then, softly: "I’d forgotten what that looked like."

Julian met her gaze. "Maybe tonight, you’ll remember."

He turned away, moving to the window to watch the fading light.