Hellion caught his breath, hands on his knees. His entire body felt like it was burning. Ever since awakening his abilities he hadn’t experienced heat like this. Running through a burning building had been no different to a casual walk down a sunny path. This was a different kind of heat, though, a heat beh his skin that spread like an iion. His lips curled down a bit at the thought and how accurate it was. He dropped to a knee and pulled up his pants leg, examining the spot where the vilin had hit him. The skin had begun to turn a sickly reddish purple color.

  “Fever,” he muttered as he sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall. He reached into his shirt and pulled out the device he’d been given by Max. It was some kind of hand-radio but worked with mana to send signals. He flicked it on as he stared at the shape ying on the ground in front of him in the abaudio apartment. “It’s me,” he said breathlessly, “I got him.”

  The radio crackled for a moment before Addison’s voice came through, “That’s great news, Hellon. Your first solo mission was a success, great work. Are you alright?”

  He frow his ankle, “Poisoned, I think. Got a fever.”

  “Sending Faux your way, you’ll be alright. What’s the targets dition?” Addison asked.

  He let out a breath of relief and leaned his head against the wall, “He’s not going anywhere. Still breathing too,” he said but kept his mouth shut from saying anything further. He didn’t want to jinx it.

  Just a few feet away a rail-thin man with deep-set eyes and a shock of lime-green colored hair y on the ground. Thick s ed around his body, sm slightly each time he tried to move. His escape attempts were rewarded with brief moments of pain that elicited a sharp hiss, indig he was still very much alive. The man turned his head towards Hellion and s him despite his predit. “Looks like I got you,” he ughed, “You’re a dead man, Hellion.”

  Hellio out a sigh and shook his head, “Uhuh, I haven’t heard that before,” he said and reached into the satchel on his hip, pulling a small transparent bead out and popping it into his mouth. It began to dissolve slowly, releasing water into his mouth that he swallowed that had far more volume than the size of the bead. He wiped his brow and savored the cool feeling for a moment, “How do your powers work, Hugo?” he asked.

  The man scowled at him, “I am the Marais Pgue-”

  Hellion cut him off with a raised hand, “It’s a stupid vilin name,” he said tiredly, “Makes you sound like a serial killer from an Ameri crime show.”

  Hugo spat on the ground and turned his head away, “Shut up.”

  “e on, Hugo, walk me through how your ability works,” Hellion asked again, rubbing his temple. “Not much we do until my friend shows up.”

  Hugo barked out a ugh, “You aren’t going to get a cure out of what I have to say. There is no cure. Yonna die.”

  “You sound pretty certain,” Hellion said.

  “Of course I do! I create poisons that target a person's strengths aaurning them on the victim,” he said with a grin, “I dunno what your powers are but from the looks of you and these s you got something to do with fire. Now you’re burning up inside, right?”

  “So you have no idea what the poison is going to be, even if you use it?” Hellion asked.

  Hugo clicked his tongue and looked away, “If I know the person's strengths and weaknesses my ability is far more potent.”

  “What about on normal people?” Hellion pressed.

  “It varies based on their biology, I guess,” Hugo said with a nonittal grunt, “Normally it just triggers anaphyctic shock.”

  “Allergen,” Hellion said with a dismissive wave of his hand, “Sounds much better than ‘the Marais Pguebringer’.”

  “Says you,” Hugo snarled.

  “You know, you should be thanking me,” Hellion pointed out, “Do you know what happens to vilins that operate at night here in Paris that we don’t catch first?”

  The vili quiet and leveled a cold stare at him, his light-browurning yellow for a moment. Hellion smirked at him and shook his head, “Yeah that’s right. They get eaten by the demons prowling the streets. You had a pack hunting you for a while.”

  Hugo scoffed, “You pying yourself up as a hero or something?”

  Hellion frowned, “Not a hero.”

  Hugo grinned, “Did I strike a nerve? Didn’t make the cut?”

  “If that was the case, you got caught by a wash-out,” Hellion shot back.

  The vilins eyes turned yellow again aruggled against the s, they turned red-e and he hissed out a gasp of pain before stopping his test attempt to flee. Hellion shook his head and closed his eyes. The heat beh his skin was starting to get worse even after hydrating himself with the pill Max had given him. He reached up and pihe bridge of his nose before taking a look around the room. The old dusty sofa in the er was the only decoration besides the boarded up door.

  He reached for the hand-radio again when he felt something off. He tensed and gnced around again, f himself shakily to his feet. The first thing he did eer through the window that he had brought his quarry through. No demons. Definitely lost them. He thought before turning back towards the ter of the room. He froze, his eyes going wide as he took in the dark shape looming o. He took a shaky step bad raised his fists. He tried to make out what the creature was, it was vaguely human-shaped but he couldn’t suss out the details. It was like a living shadopeared in the room.

  He gnced down at Hugo who was staring up at him, wide-eyed, “What? What is it?”

  “Don’t. Move,” Helliohed, “Don’t speak.”

  Instead, Hugo started tle even more in his s, his eyes going frantic as he tried to get a good look at whatever was standing over him. That was when the shadowy thing stepped down onto the back of Hugo’s head and pinned him to the ground. Hellion snarled, We’re not losing another one! He charged towards the figure that tilted its head as if perplexed by his behavior. The hing Hellion knew he was falling through the coldest water he’d ever touched. A chill washed through his everything, even his bones before he hit the ground from a height. He gasped and rolled onto his back, shivering, his eyes flitting around.

  Wait, I fell. How? His mind struggled to catch up as he took in the same room as before. It was like he’d fallen through the floor and then out the ceiling. He turned his head and looked up to see the shadow still standing there, eyeing him curiously. He met its gaze and he felt a cold lump form in his stomaausea came and he rolled onto his side and coughed, terror seeking to quer his mind. He wao scream, to run away, but between the fever and the chill rendering his muscles useless he could barely thi alone move.

  The shadowy figure strode towards him and looked down from above. He averted his gaze, shaking. “You are sick,” the voice of a young man came out of the shadow. It was distorted, wrong in some way.

  He looked up at the shadow again, f himself not to look directly into its eyes, “Who are you?” He asked.

  “A supervilin,” the figure said quietly.

  “You’re a vilin?” Hugo blurted, “Th-then we’re on the same side, right? Yeah! Get me out of here and we’ll kill this viginte ahe hell out-” he was cut off as shadow stuff ed around his head, sileng him. Hugo squirmed and threw his head about, his chest heaving with screams that Hellion could not hear.

  “Vermin,” the supervilin said before extending a hand towards Hellion. A violet colored needle extended from its fiip before ung itself. It embedded itself in Hellions leg. Hellio out a cry of pain and doubled asping as the needle melted into his flesh. He could feel it spreading throughout his body. More poison. He cursed his luck, why ervilin here of all pces? Now he was going to die and- he blinked. He felt… better? The shadow loomed over him, “Epinephrihe shadow said.

  Hellion rolled onto his back, his breathing easing. He looked up at the shadow. “Who- why?”

  “You work with Mimir?” the shadow asked. Hellion could only manage a mute nod before the shadow raised its hand and shadow stuff swirled above it. A moment ter, a thick manil envelope appeared in its hand. “I am here to deliver a message to him and his associates,” the shadow said and dropped the envelope on Hellion. Hellion grabbed it and scrambled up into a sitting position, he looked down at the envelope. It in with only the word ‘Vigintes’ written on the side. It felt like there were papers and small objects inside.

  He looked up from it to the shadow man and opened his mouth to ask a question, but he was gone.