Judging by the apprehensive looks on a lot of the soldiers’ faces, they’ve also done the math. They don’t know Six or some of the others, but I’m sure they’ve seen footage or heard rumors about what I did in New York City.

They know they can’t win.

I think of Sarah. I know she’d tell me to stay calm, and she’d be right. I don’t want to hurt anyone. We need to work with these people if we’re going to save the planet. I know that. But they also need to know just what we’re capable of, especially General Lawson. He needs to know that we aren’t his asset in the war against Setrákus Ra.

He’s ours.

I stand up very slowly so that no one gets more jumpy. As I do, I look around and use my telekinesis to eject the cartridge from every firearm in the room. The soldiers’ eyes widen when their ammo spills across the carpet.

Everyone is watching me now. Good. I step around the table and approach the two guards holding on to Adam’s arms.

“Step back,” I tell them.

They do.

Adam catches my eye, and I see him subtly shake his head, like he doesn’t want me to make a bigger scene. But I’ve got to get my point across.

I ignite my Lumen, my hand white-hot in a matter of seconds. I reach out and carefully melt through Adam’s chains so that his hands are free.

With that done, I turn around and look at the others. The government types all wear the same expression, caught somewhere between anger and fear. Some of our people—like Daniela and Sam—look nervous. Others, like Nine and Six, look at me with devilish encouragement. Agent Walker, surprisingly, hides an amused smile behind her hand.

I focus on Lawson. His expression remains completely controlled and neutral.

“You could’ve just asked for the keys,” he tells me.

“We don’t answer to you,” I reply, putting my now-cool hand on Adam’s shoulder. “You don’t get to make decisions about us. Do you understand, sir?”

“I understand, and it won’t happen again,” Lawson replies without even an ounce of bad feeling. His mellowness is almost worrying. “You need to understand, we had to make sure your . . . your friend here was on the level.”

“And you need to understand that we’re going after Setrákus Ra as soon as my people are well enough,” I say.

And as soon as I’m strong enough, I almost add. As soon as I’ve added as many Legacies to my arsenal as possible.

“We’re going to kill him and bury him inside that mountain of his,” I continue. “How does that align with your plans for a counterattack?”

“Sounds pretty darn great,” Lawson says, and motions for me to retake my seat. I nudge Adam and let him take my chair at the head of the table instead.

With the situation relatively defused, Six and the others sit back down. The soldiers around us don’t make a move to pick up their ejected magazines. While everyone’s getting settled again, Six leans across the table to Adam.

“You all right?”

He nods quickly, brushing the whole thing off, even though there are still handcuff bracelets around his wrist. “All they did was ask me questions, Six. No big deal.”

I fold my arms and look down at Lawson. “So what else is there to discuss?”

Lawson clears his throat, still unperturbed. “While we support your assassination of the Mogadorian leader wholeheartedly, we do have some timing issues that need to be ironed out. As well as some other questions and concerns.”

“Timing issues,” I repeat dully. “Questions and concerns.”

“For instance,” Lawson continues. “I’m aware that you recently used a sort of extrasensory perception to communicate with what’s believed to be hundreds of LANEs around the world.”

I blink at that. He’s talking about the telepathic summit that Ella dragged us into. For a second, I’m off balance, not sure how Lawson could possibly be aware of that. Then I glance over his shoulder at the two stone-faced twins—Christian and Caleb—who have been hovering around Lawson constantly since we got here. They’ve got Legacies, so of course they were in the room when I met all the newly powered-up humans. They must have reported the details to Lawson. If not them, then maybe it was the president’s daughter.

“What about it?” I ask him.

“Well, John, these are hundreds of minors who you’re recruiting from all over the world. There are concerns for the safety of these children.”

I shoot a meaningful look at the twins flanking Lawson before responding, hoping that he appreciates the irony.