Page 204 of Villainous Rise

“The Alliance is responsible! Whatever they did to him, the ‘neural suppression experiments,’ the cover-up, they broke him and then pretended nothing happened.”

Havoc’s eyes widened slightly at my outburst.

“She’s right,” Cipher said quietly.

I turned to him, genuinely surprised. Cipher wasn’t exactly known for his compassion toward other Supers, especially not Alliance Heroes.

“Yes, he should be contained,” Cipher continued. “But we can’t blame him outright. Not until we know whether it was him in control of his actions or something else.”

Havoc ran a hand over his face. “Contained or not, Helios is dangerous right now.”

I looked from Havoc to Cipher, my heart pounding with a terrible certainty. “I need to be there when you contact the Vault,” I said.

Havoc hesitated. “Annie, I understand your concerns, but⁠—”

“This isn’t a request. If Halcyon is somehow reaching beyond those walls, I need to hear it firsthand.”

I could feel Cipher’s eyes on me, watchful and intense. “I’m coming with you,” he said. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

I looked to Havoc but he didn’t argue, only nodded. “Let’s get it over with, then.”

We left the aircraft and as we approached Havoc’s office, Simmons stood from his post at his desk outside.

“Simmons,” Havoc said, “lock Helios out of all Tower systems. Blacklist his credentials across the board.”

Simmons’s eyebrows rose slightly, the closest he ever came to showing surprise, but he nodded. “Right away, sir.”

I touched Havoc’s arm. “Go ahead, I need a minute with Simmons.” Glancing at Cipher, I added, “It’ll only take a moment.”

For a second, I thought he might refuse, but he nodded. “Don’t leave this hallway.”

I waited until they disappeared into Havoc’s office before turning to Simmons. He had been the last one to see Helios before he’d run off last night and I wanted to ask some questions about what he’d noticed.

“You were going to ask me something, Miss Bishop?” Simmons inquired, his fingers already flying across keyboard to implement the security changes.

My mouth opened, the question about Helios’s behavior on my lips, but the elevator dinged. I turned, expecting to see security personnel making their rounds for the evening.

The doors slid open and Helios stood inside, his golden hair loose around his shoulders, his eyes unnaturally bright.

For one frozen heartbeat, we stared at each other.

Then everything happened at once.

“Look out!” I shoved Simmons aside as Helios raised his hand, unleashing a blinding beam of energy toward Havoc’s office doors. The blast hit with a terrible hiss, metal warping and melting, sealing the entrance and trapping Cipher and Havoc inside.

“There you are,” Helios said, his voice carrying an unfamiliar cadence. “I wondered where you’d gone off to.”

He moved toward me with unnatural speed, backing me against the wall. The heat pouring off him made the air shimmer.

“Simmons, run!” I choked out, but the old butler was already in motion.

“Emergency Protocol Sigma,” Simmons called out. The Tower’s security system responded instantly with a blaring alarm as reinforced barriers began sliding down over every exit. Simmons ducked behind his desk, emerging with an energy pistol I’d never seen before.

“Release her, Mr. Evans,” Simmons commanded, the weapon humming in his hands.

Helios laughed, but the sound was all wrong. “How quaint.”

The energy blast from Simmons’s gun never reached us. Helios casually flicked his wrist, releasing a wave of golden light that swallowed the shot mid-air. His eyes were molten gold now, no whites visible. They flickered toward Simmons.