“But sir, Dragonblade is in play,” Nathan turned to his partner and his face dropped. “We're not going to be able to extract the Black Hood with him in play. He’ll look to bring him in himself.”

  Mario swung his arm across his desk, knocking everything onto the floor. “Listen to me. You're the ones with the badge, the ones tasked with upkeeping the law, not him.” Mario ran his hand down his face until his hand reached the bottom of his chin and grabbed a handful of his beard. “He’s a vigilante and the last time I checked, that's illegal. He holds no jurisdiction or domain here or anywhere, so get rid of him or arrest him.”

  “Yes si—”

  Click.

  The phone line went dead. Mario had heard enough and cut off the phone; the rest was in their hands now. Nathan’s face looked like he’d seen a ghost. “So, what did the boss say?” but there was no reply. Nathan just continued to stare at Lance in a zombie-like state.

  Apprehend? Stop him how? He isn't going to stop. I've been on the Miami police force for over twenty years and we've never come across something like him—a superpowered dragonfly—and this fool Lance is no help, he thought to himself.

  “Watch out!” Lance shouted, lunging over Nathan as he grabbed the steering wheel, swerving the car out of the way and narrowly missing the white SUV in front of them. “Have you lost your mind, Nathan? You almost killed us!”

  Well, if I didn't have such an incompetent fool of a partner like you, Lance, then we wouldn't be in this predicament now, would we? he thought.

  “You're right, Lance. It won't happen again.”

  “So what did the boss say that had you so shook up?”

  Lance’s stomach was in knots. Nathan was always the cool, calm, and collected one under pressure, and now he nearly got them killed. Nathan’s foot slammed down on the accelerator as he moved in and out of cars. “He wants us to get rid of Dragonblade or arrest him.”

  Lance’s mouth hung open, his eyes widened as his head slowly turned away from his partner. He sat there, eyes on the road, speechless. What have I got myself into? he thought. I'm in way over my head. First a notorious thief that escaped the clutches of the Miami PD for years, gone without a trace, then randomly pops up again. But yet here I am trying to catch him and bring him to a kingpin and frame someone else as the Black Hood, all just so Mario can have a stronger stranglehold over Miami. I wonder why I lost all of my hair so young.

  Lance was warned about Mario, to stay away, but he was desperate. With his daughter needing life-saving surgery, he tried everything, but no matter what he tried, nothing seemed to work. His daughter was getting more ill with each passing week and time was running out. That's when he turned to Mario and made a deal with the devil.

  Everything went smoothly at first, plain sailing. The odd job here, the odd there, nothing crazy. But then he began to witness the price of failure, having to watch his friends he went through the force with killed and being tasked with burying their bodies at Grave Digger Mountain.

  Mario’s way of keeping a tight leash on their necks, with their DNA the only DNA that forensics would find on the bodies, everyone was stuck with no choice but to do as they were told. A web of the best criminals and corrupt cops. For Lance, he was always given his task by one of Mario’s soldiers, never allowed to have access to Mario until today, and tasked with the impossible.

  Lance’s mouth shut and his eyes looked down at his hands in front of him as he ran the tips of his thumbs across his fingers. He could still feel the dirt that clung to his nails, the smell of worn metal and the copper as he dug his friends' graves. No matter how many times he had done it, it never got easier.

  For Nathan, on the other hand, there was no ill family member, no financial struggle, no valid reason other than power for embracing the darkness. Politicians answered to Nathan, the criminals respected and answered to Nathan; he was a part of the criminal underworld heartbeat, and it paid well.

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  Gabriel finally clocked his father's car. His wings, tucked like a rocket behind him, soared rapidly through the cars until he came level with the vehicle. With the red, white, and blue lights blaring behind, he had to move fast. Robert hadn't noticed the huge dragonfly next to him; he was too busy keeping his eyes on the road. When Dragonblade's wings fluttered, the shadow's darkness caught Robert’s attention and he turned slightly to look. Stunned, he jumped to the side in his seat, his arms extended, just about keeping a hold of the steering wheel.

  Crap, what's Dragonblade doing out here? he thought. Robert adjusted himself properly in his seat. Ignoring Dragonblade hovering right next to him, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and began to move frantically in and out of cars.

  Dragonblade looked to the sky then followed him. They were coming to the end of the underground road and Lance, Nathan, and the rest of the police cars were in pursuit, and Robert wasn't slowing down. Gabriel’s vision came in and out; he was running on fumes and could hear the static of the police radio in the distance: “Spikes deployed at the exit, there’s nowhere for him to go, we got him! We got him, boys!”

  The celebrations rung loud in his ear. He was out of time. He pushed his wings harder, his heart hammering against his chest until his vision started to flood with darkness and the light started to fade. But then he remembered what he was fighting for: he was fighting for his family. He quickly snapped back to consciousness, lifting his body as the tip of his wing sparked as it narrowly scraped on the ground, just in time to avoid the oncoming car and level out with his father's car.

  With a screech of tearing metal, Gabriel ripped the driver’s side door clean off its hinges. “Listen! You need to come with me now!” he shouted.

  “Go with you? No way!” Robert yelled back, his fingers wrapping tightly around the wheel as he swerved around a sedan, nearly clipping the bumper. “I’d rather take my chances!”

  “I’m not your enemy! I’m here to help you!”

  Robert let out a harsh, jagged laugh. “Of course you are, Dragonblade. I bet that’s what you say to all the criminals you send to rot behind bars. But I’m not like them!”

  Before Gabriel could respond, the screech of tires revealed a new player. Nathan and Lance’s car pulled up on the passenger side, sandwiching Robert’s car between the police and Dragonblade.

  “Stand down, Dragonblade!” Nathan shouted through his open window. “Or you’re under arrest!”

  Gabriel blinked rapidly, momentarily frozen by Nathan’s words. “Under arrest? I’m one of the good guys! What reason could you possibly have to arrest me?” he said, pointing to himself.

  Lance looked down and shook his head, unable to meet Dragonblade’s eyes, while Nathan’s glare carved even deeper. “We don’t need a reason,” Lance said calmly, his voice filled with guilt. “You’re a vigilante, Dragonblade. And in the United States of America, that’s a crime.”

  Dragonblade’s eyes widened. “Crime!” he shouted out in shock. “All I've ever done is try to help this city.”

  “Well, Dragonblade, that's what law enforcement is for. So either leave now, or you're under arrest. I won't ask again,” Nathan said.

  Man, oh man, what do I do? Gabriel thought. I can't let them arrest my dad, but if I stop them, they'll paint me as a criminal.

  His heart began to race out of control, a decision to make with so little time to make it.

  “Gabe,” Jai-lee shouted down the comms, a calming voice during a chaotic time. “I know you're worried about the repercussions, but you need to get your dad out of there, now.”

  Gabriel's eyes widened, his senses heightened. He shot across his father's body, ripped his seat belt off, then grabbed a hold of him and pulled him out of the car.

  “What are you doing, Dragonblade?” Robert asked as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.

  Dragonblade cast him one glance as they stood suspended in the air, then shot forward out of the tunnel as the police waiting on the other side could only helplessly watch as the empty car rolled over the spikes and he flew off into the distance.

  For a moment it felt like the world went silent. To the police, Dragonblade just rescued a criminal, but to Gabriel, he was just saving his father. As Robert hung in the air, he didn't fight back or try to escape. He simply pressed his face into Gabriel's skin, hiding away from the world.

  And below, sitting in the police cruiser looking like his life had just ended, Lance took a huge gulp, his face looking like he swallowed a fistful of glass. “I’m not being the one to tell Mario,” he whispered, his voice cracking under the pressure. “No way.”

  Nathan cast Lance a side-eye, a look of sheer disgust and second-hand embarrassment etched across his face. He reached over, his hand lashing out to grab a fistful of Lance’s shirt, nearly pulling him across the center console. He gave him a sharp, brutal shake.

  “Shut up. Just shut the hell up... okay?” Nathan shouted. They had lost the Black Hood; they had let Dragonblade escape with the asset. Two failures in one day. In Mario’s world, failure didn't often result in a chance for redemption, and in this case, they were about to find out something they thought they’d never have to face. No matter how careful they had been, no matter how many years they’d played the game right, they were about to learn the true cost of making a deal with the devil.