A car ride, a back alley, and another car ride later, a bruised Levi dropped into a cell, more exhausted than anything else. He sat down on the cot and sighed, leaning back and tipping his head against the cinderblock wall.

“So many new people on the list,” he murmured to himself, patting at a black eye. Cuffs still dangled from his wrists, glowing with a faint blue light. Suppressors.

“Totally unnecessary,” Levi muttered, glancing at the cuffs. “Suppressors are bullshit anyways. They barely work.”

“Work on me,” a man beside him commented.

Levi turned, looking through the bars. A man with strange, long limbs sat in the cell beside him. “You’ve never broken suppressors before?”

“No. It’s not possible,” the man replied.

Levi shot finger guns at him. “Haha, yep, can’t be done! Can’t be done.”

The man squinted at him. “But you just said…”

“What, you think I’m gonna give out my secrets? I’m not stupid. If I tell everyone how to break out of suppressors, they’ll fix my gimmick, and then I won’t be able to escape them, either.” Levi rolled his eyes at the man.

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Doubt it.”

“Ten k.”

“Uh huh. And I’ve got oceanfront property in Arizona.”

The man squinted at him. “What’s Arizona?”

“God! Public education in this city!” Levi shouted, raising his hands to the sky.

“Quiet down in there!” one of the officers shouted.

“Wait, I remember. It’s one of the old states, right? From before the System. Did it have good beaches, or something?”

Levi sighed heavily. “Yeah. Mountains and mountains of delicate sand. Sand just everywhere.”

“I like a good sandy beach,” the man replied, smiling.

An officer walked down the hall with the keys in hand. Levi sat up. He grinned. “Call for me?”

“Call for Leviticus Jones.”

“Not Leviathan Smith? I like that name better,” Levi said.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The officer fixed him with a blank stare. “We’re aware of your aliases, Mr. Jones.”

“Clearly not all of them,” Levi said, grinning.

The officer raised his brows. “Is there something else you’d like to tell me, Mr. Jones?”

“Hell no. C’mon. I got a call waiting.” Levi gestured for him to unlock the door.

The man sighed. He unlocked the cell and grabbed Levi out by the neck. The telltale firm grasp of superstrength pinned Levi to the man’s side. They marched over to a phone, where the man sat Levi down in a booth and shut the door behind him, locking him in with the receiver.

Levi picked it up. “Leviticus Jones, monster hunting services. You bite it, we fight it.”

“Levi. Levi, what the hell happened?” a female voice demanded.

He sat up. “Ms. Roche?”

“Kella caught the live show. She’s been inconsolable. She’s so worried for you. Is he hurt? Was he arrested? Was—”

“Who is this? I don’t recognize your voice,” Levi said, cutting her off.

“Levi—”

“You must have mistaken me for someone else. I’m a Levi, but I’m not your Levi.”

“…”

“Tell her not to worry. And don’t you worry, either. She is still safe. Probably. You won’t be spotted.”

“…My mistake. I thought I knew you.”

“Hey, don’t worry. Any excuse to get out of the cell.”

The call ended with a click. Levi listened to the dead tone, then pulled it away from his ear.

“Levi.” A male voice. Young.

Levi pulled the receiver back toward him. “There he is. I thought I recognized the hand of destiny.”

“…The Hand of Destiny? That’s not bad.”

“It isn’t, right? I impress myself with my names, sometimes. Your sister, on the other hand… tacking an ‘a’ onto her powers, how lazy.”

A snort. “Listen. I’m sorry about this. But I’m glad you caught on. I was worried, the probabilities were…”

“Hey. Now that we’re finally talking, you wanna tell me what this is all about?”

Silence on the call. At last, he heaved a deep breath. “It’s almost time. Trust. Everything is as it should be. The time is almost upon us.”

Levi glared at the phone. “Do you know how annoying that shit is?”

“Yeah. I do. Sorry.”

“Nothing for it, huh? Alright. Well, do I sit in here, or break out?”

“Just…do what you want. It’ll all fall into place.”

“As long as I know it’s the Hand of Destiny that guided me here, huh?”

Ethan laughed. “Yeah. I just—I need you to know that.”

“Ha. Alright. Well, while you’re on the line…tell me. Is this all a ploy to get your sister away from your parents?”

Silence. “It’s not—only…”

“Knew it! I knew it. Alright. I’ll hang up before the officers take me out back a second time.”

“Don’t worry. It won’t be long.”

Levi went to put the phone down, then pulled it to his ear again. “Maury, is she—”

“Alive. Yes.”

Levi leaned back in his chair. A long, slow sigh escaped his chest. He closed his eyes. “Thank everything.”

When he lifted the transceiver to his ear again, silence met him. Levi hung up. He rubbed his face, then laughed. “Jeez, kid. Giving us the runabout even now, huh?”

“At least I’m in the right place, I guess. That’s more than most people know.”

A knock on the booth. The officer with superstrength marched into the booth and grabbed Levi by the neck, pulling him upright.

“Do I get an attourney?” Levi asked him.

The man scoffed.

“What about…knowing my charges?”

Another laugh.

Levi clicked his tongue. “Fucking bullshit.”

“Back in the cage.” A push sent Levi stumbling into his cell. He caught himself against the wall and lowered himself back into the cot.

“Twelve k. How about twelve k?” the man with long limbs offered him.

“Go fuck yourself on a sandy Arizonian beach,” Levi replied, tilting his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. All I gotta do now is kill a few hours. And if nothing happens…then papa Levi starts cooking.