Jamie stared at her pork fried rice, unable to focus on eating. Congenial conversation filled the air around her, but she couldn't find the will to enjoy her situation. She was exactly where she'd privately hoped she'd end up since she put on a mask five years before. But it felt all wrong.

Jaccob Stevens had reserved a private room at Hannibal Chou's Chinese Cuisine, with a wide bay window view of Lafayette Park. The presumed reason for lunch at an expensive Chinese restaurant was a send-off for Katherine Wilde and Juliana Vanderkamp. With Imperial Dynamo defeated, they were leaving Cobalt City to return to fighting international supercrime in Europe. But there was also an element of celebrating their victory.

Since Jamie had figured out the identities of the former Protectorate members, J...

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