Chapter 105

FIVE AND A HALF MEMBERS

The team shifted, exchanging uncertain glances. Nobody seemed sure what to make of Spencer’s announcement.

“What does that mean?” Alexander asked. “Paths ending?”

Spencer straightened slightly in his chair, seeming to gather himself. A smile spread across his face. “That’s my power. Reveal the Path. Know the Path. Walk the Path.”

Augustus’s hand went to his face with a long-suffering sigh.

The others just stared at Spencer, expressions flat and unimpressed.

Spencer’s smile faltered slightly. “Right. Sorry. I’ll explain properly.”

He shifted forward, resting his forearms on the table. “My power is called Path to Desire. It’s selfish. That’s the first thing you need to understand. All powers are selfish to a degree, but mine takes it to another level. I see only paths that matter to me. To my goals.”

“What does that mean practically?” Talia asked.

“I have three abilities,” Spencer said, ticking them off. “I can sense if someone’s path is important to me when I look at them. Then, I can track people who have a useful path, though I have a limited number of spots. Doing that gives me flashes of insight. Things I need to do or say to achieve what I want through them. And once I have a path tracked, I can walk it. Teleport to where they are, where they’ve been, sometimes where they’re going to be.”

Annie frowned. “And the ending thingy?”

Spencer’s expression grew more serious. “Because I can walk their path, I can sense when it’s coming to an end. Maybe they’re going to die. Maybe their path is no longer useful to me. I don’t always know which.”

“That’s vague,” Talia said.

Spencer laughed. “Exactly. Is a person’s path valuable to me because they can help me achieve world domination? Or because I’m thirsty and they know a great smoothie joint?”

He looked directly at Alexander. “Is your path ending because I just needed a ride to The Nexus? Or because you’re going to die? Or because...” He hesitated, then the words came out in a rush. “The first thing I want to tell you is that I’m sorry I got your parents killed and I really hope you’ll forgive me but when I blurt it out you’re totally not going to forgive me.”

Silence settled over the room.

Spencer gestured weakly. “You know what I mean?”

The silence stretched.

Augustus broke it. “Alex, you need to understand something. Spencer is an idiot.”

Alexander stared at him.

“And while his existence caused it, their deaths were not his fault.”

“Auggy...” Spencer started.

Augustus talked over him. “Our unit was among the first to get superpowers.” He paused. “And once they knew what he could do, they quietly removed Spencer and stuck him in a box for testing.”

Spencer’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t interrupt.

“Because Spencer is a self-centered idiot,” Augustus continued, “the first and only person he’d used his power on by that point was himself. So he couldn’t escape.”

“Hey!” Spencer protested. “Knowing your own path is—”

Augustus kept talking. “Our unit broke him out. It was a unanimous decision. It could have been any of us being experimented on. But our mistake was staging the breakout to look like he’d done it himself.”

He looked at Alexander. “Spencer is basically the first supervillain.”

Spencer looked almost proud.

“The incident was classified, of course,” Augustus continued. “They’ve been hunting him ever since. Your parents didn’t die because of him. They died because superhumans had been sent after them. To use as leverage against Spencer. But members of our unit fought them and there was an accident that caused the building to collapse. I was already out by that point, so I wasn’t involved.” His voice dropped. “But I heard about it.”

The weight of that settled over the table.

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“When Frank learned a couple of years later that you’d survived,” Augustus said quietly, “that you weren’t home when it happened, he reached out and offered you a job.”

Alexander was silent for a long moment. Everyone watched him, the tension in the room thick enough to cut.

Finally, he met Augustus’s eyes. “You knew all of this the whole time?”

“Yes.”

Alexander’s voice dropped, quiet but carrying weight. “You and I will talk about this later.”

Augustus nodded, the acceptance grave on his features.

Alexander turned back to Spencer, his expression controlled. He didn’t address what had been said about his family. Didn’t acknowledge the apology or the guilt. Instead, he focused on what mattered right now.

“So you came here because you’re tracking my path, and it’s going dark. How, exactly, are you going to help?”

Spencer’s earlier levity had vanished. Whatever he sensed in Alexander’s tone, it had stripped away the casual humor. “Hopefully just warning you is enough. If not, maybe being here can help.” He paused, then admitted, “Without knowing what the threat is...”

Talia leaned forward. “When did his path change? And why did you say most of our paths are ending?”

“I already had Augustus and Alexander tracked,” Spencer said. He gestured to Talia and Annie. “I added the two of you once you entered the room.”

He frowned, thinking. “I knew you were going to provide me with a ride to The Nexus. I didn’t know how you were getting a ship or why you were going, but I knew I could hitch a ride. Your path changed while I was waiting for you to swing by Astra Omnia to pick me up.”

Talia turned to Alexander. “It has to be the mandatory defense quest then. Nothing else has changed about our plans in that timeframe.”

Alexander thought that was the most likely answer.

“You said most of Grimnir. Who exactly?” Augustus asked.

Spencer’s expression remained serious as he lifted his hand. His finger pointed directly at Alexander.

It swept past Annie to Augustus. Then continued to Talia.

“Three of you.”

Annie’s voice broke the heavy silence, almost plaintive. “What? Why am I the only one that survives?”

“What about Felix?” Talia asked, ignoring Annie, gesturing to the golden retriever that had been sitting quietly the whole time.

Spencer laughed. Then glanced between them when nobody else laughed. “You serious? I’m not wasting one of my tracking spots on your dog. I can’t remove a tracked path until it ends. As in dead.”

Felix looked directly at Spencer. “That’s fair. I wouldn’t waste a slot on me either.”

Spencer stared at the dog. Then at the team. Then back at the dog.

“What the fuck?” he said. Then realization crossed his face. “You must be the alien the Queen was talking about.”

“You’re the Ace of Spades,” Augustus said with a groan. “The mysterious fourth member of The Royals. That’s why she’s been helping us.”

“Well, yeah,” Spencer said, still glancing at Felix with lingering confusion. “I mean, the King handles most of the planning. And the Queen handles the people, while Jack handles the businesses. But it’s all me. My vision.”

Annie crossed her arms. “That doesn’t explain why I’m the only one who isn’t going to die.”

“Nobody is going to die,” Alexander said firmly.

He turned to Spencer. “There must be some point in your being here if you think we’re all going to die. Some plan beyond just warning us.”

Spencer’s smirk returned, just slightly. “Well, seeing as warning you hasn’t changed anything, and you’re probably right that it’s to do with the System quest, I do have one other idea.”

Augustus groaned again. “Here we go.”

Alexander waited.

“I figured I could moonlight as a member of Grimnir for a bit,” Spencer said. “You know, like an honorary member or something.”

Silence filled the room again.

Talia’s gaze moved to Alexander. “Is it that simple?”

Annie’s eyes moved between them. “Is what that simple?”

Alexander frowned. “Even if it was, his powers aren’t exactly combat-focused.”

“What about the others?” Augustus said. “The crew, the aliens. We could provide them with enchanted weapons. And you Ensouled the ship, right?”

“We hired them as crew,” Alexander said. “It hardly seems fair to put them at risk.”

“On the other hand,” Talia said, “they accepted a job with us knowing they’d be in regular contact with supervillains. They’re bound to awaken as Dreamers if they haven’t already.”

“Gilly and Krrsh will help,” Annie said. “Some of the others too, I bet.”

“I would like to join as well,” Felix said.

All eyes turned to Alexander.

He hesitated. “We don’t even know if it works that way.”

“Only one way to find out,” Spencer said, looking at Alexander expectantly.

Alexander turned to Augustus. “You trust him? His powers?”

Augustus nodded slowly. “For something this serious, yes.”

Alexander turned to the others. “Are you okay with this?”

“Yes,” Annie said immediately.

Talia considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”

Alexander turned to Felix. “We already agreed you could join. We were just waiting until you were ready.”

Felix lifted his head, tail wagging.

“Felix,” Alexander said. “I formally invite you to join Grimnir.”

Felix cocked his head, his eyes staring into the distance. Then his tongue lolled out in what might have been a grin. “I accepted. And I got the multiversal invasion defense quest.”

Annie pumped her fist. “Yes!”

Alexander turned to Spencer and sighed, clearly not entirely pleased with what came next. “I invite you to join Grimnir. Temporarily.”

Spencer went quiet for a moment. His eyes gained a distant look, reading something only he could see. Then he glanced back up and smiled.

“Looks like I’m officially a member of Grimnir. And part of the defense team.”

“Temporarily,” Alexander said.