I clattered down the stairs, ready to confront Zoe in a calm and appropriate manner, but was brought up short by Jake – who was climbing up them.

"Ah!" I said involuntarily, and almost ran back up the library. Thankfully, however, I managed to get myself under control. I gripped the rail. "Uh. Um. Is Team Asshole here?

"Is Paige here?" Jake asked at the same time.

We both looked at each other in awkward silence for a few moments. I realised that this was the first time we'd been alone since The Incident.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Uh, yes. Library. I'm going to yell at Zoe about teaching her how to shoot."

Jake smiled slightly. "You don't yell."

I was shocked into silence by his expression. There was another pause. I realised that even though I was two steps above him, we were only just eye-to-eye. Jake looked away from me. "You might want to wait till the others have gone," he said. "And don't say Team Asshole in front of any of them if you want to live. Except Derek. He'd probably love it."

"Ok," I said awkwardly. "I'm – I'm going, now." I squeezed past him, taking care not to touch any part of his body. I started to walk down the stairs, expecting to hear his footsteps start up again, but there was only silence, as though he was still watching me.

I walked along the long metal corridors, following the sound of voices. They were in the cavernous area we used as the meeting room.

I was paused outside, gathering my courage, when I heard Zoe say my name.

" ... called Anna –"

An unfamiliar voice with a pronounced Irish accent interrupted her. "Ooh, is she pretty?"

"Shut the fuck up, Burns – you sexist fucking leprechaun –"

Derek Burns didn't sound offended by her use of national stereotypes. "Us leprechauns always find the gold under the rainbow." I made a horrified face, flattening myself against the wall and out of sight. Somehow, his emphasis made that sound like a dirty joke, even though I didn't understand what he could possibly be implying. Zoe made a sputtering noise, but Burns continued blithely on. "I was just wondering why El Capitan got such a funny look when you started telling us about her. Isn't that right, Jake?"

There was a silence.

"Jake?" he repeated. "Where are you? Jake? ... Jesus, for a large person, he's very quiet."

"This is why you're never on watch," said an unfamiliar female voice. "He left five minutes ago, you idiot."

"I'm observant when it counts. I observe what counts, I mean. Particularly when a lady is –"

"Pathetic attempt," that was Mila's voice, sounding warmer than I'd ever heard it before.

"Jake left me!" said Burns plaintively. "Rao's gone too! Christ help us, Hikaru, we're outnumbered. We're the only men here!"

"I wouldn't call you a man," was Zoe's quick response.

"That's not what you told me when I –"

He was cut off by a loud clatter – which sounded suspiciously as though Zoe had thrown a chair at him.

"Enough!" ordered the unfamiliar female voice.

"So this new Waker," persisted Burns, after a brief pause. "Is she any good?"

"She's alive, isn't she?" replied Mila shortly.

There was a silence. Burns tried again. "Where's she from? Has she been hiding with some rebels we don't know about? Why haven't the 'Rarchs found her before now?"

"This is the best fucking part," said Zoe, "She's from virtual."

"Jesus. How old is she?"

"Early twenties," supplied Mila grudgingly.

"And she didn't know? Jake was what, eight, when he came across the first time?"

"Seven," said Mila.

"How'd she find out? Did a Hound snatch her?"

"A Hound tried," said Zoe with satisfaction. "Anna-Banana hijacked the immersion. Killed her, and every single fucking slaver on board."

"Jeeeeeeeeeesus," said Burns reverentially.

I swallowed and pushed my spine harder against the cool solidity of the concrete wall. They might not be dead, I told myself. Jake explained it to me. Hijacking didn't always result in death. They might still be alive. Insane, but alive. I tried to convince myself that that was the better option.

I decided to stop listening and turned away to disappear unobtrusively up the corridor.

Instead I came face-to-face with Jake and Rao.

I jumped violently, and only just stopped myself from shrieking and ruining my covert operation. Instead, I settled for an indignant glare. It's not polite to sneak up on someone when they're eavesdropping! Rao gave me a blank look, but the corner of his mouth twitched very slightly. Jake scowled at me. Without further ado, Rao strolled past me and into the meeting room, reaching casually up to pull the shard needles out of his hair.

"Ah, hah!" cried Burns.

Jake placed his hands on my shoulders and propelled me into the room after Rao, as though I was a trolley. "Excuse you!" I snapped.

My affront at his invasion of personal space was cut short when I felt the electric buzz of manifestation. It was occurring on two different frequencies. There was the sharp, rapid feeling of Rao's connection to the unworld; and there was another: silky, deeper, smooth. I didn't recognise it. Someone in Team Asshole must be a Waker, I realised. I felt a spike in the energy, and stepped back, bumping into Jake, who was still holding onto me. Someone was about to use their shard.

A rapid river of silver flashed across the floor – towards Rao's feet. It was so fast I was barely able to track the movement. It wriggled up Rao's leg like a snake, up his arm, and to his neck.

But Rao had already flicked one of his shard needles, sending the other arrowing through the air and towards the young man slouching on the lounge next to Zoe.

There was a loud, grating metallic sound as Rao's shard hit the man's hand.

"Feck! No need to take my hand off you eejit!" he yelled. A chunky silver ring clattered to the ground – ripped from his finger. It was made of a shard, I realised.

As soon as he lost contact with the ring, the shard that had been crawling up Rao dropped to the floor, breaking apart into pieces. I counted, frowning. Five. Six, including the ring on the floor.

"My lovely hand," the man who must be Burns mourned. I looked at him and bit my lip, thinking. A Waker only gains shards through violence, or inheritance. Either Burns was descended from a family of Wakers, or he'd hunted and hijacked six others of our kind.

He slouched in his chair, looking more like a mischievous child than a hunter. His hair was a coppery chestnut colour, and he had green eyes. His wide, easy smile reminded me of Aiden's.

I was instantly on my guard.

Aiden may be one of my best friends, but I don't exactly trust him. I had the feeling Burns was cut from the same cloth.

"Well, you won that round, Rao, but only because I was distracted by this beautiful new arrival." He winked at me and I supressed the urge to hide. I hate winking. I never know how to respond. What does a wink really mean? I don't know.  It's all very unnerving. Are you supposed to wink back?

When I just stared at him, Burns grinned at me again, in a manner which I imagine was intended to be charming. "Call me Derek. I've heard a lot about you, Anna."

I gave him a polite and meaningless smile back, and extracted myself from Jake's grip: looking around the room for the other newcomers.

Derek stood up, nimbly stepping over the foot Zoe stretched out in front of him –presumably to trip him up – and bounced over to me. "Allow me to introduce you to my unit. Which is far superior to the disorganised rabble you've got here, if you don't mind me saying so. When you decide to escape and come work for us, let me know, it'll be grand –"

"It's not his unit. It's mine." The voice came from next to Jake's coffee machine. When I looked over at the source, I struggled to keep my eyes on the woman's face: mainly because she wasn't wearing anything underneath the fur-lined jacket that swung open around her torso. It revealed olive skin, protuberant ribs, dark nipples and a horrific scar stretching across her abdomen.

I looked into her black eyes, and saw only sharp amusement. She gave me a warm smile. "Renata."

I smiled back, more naturally than I had at Derek. "Nice to meet you."

"This is Hikaru," Renata said before Derek had a chance to open his mouth again. She nodded to a figure on the other side of the room, so still I'd almost missed him.

Hikaru was hunched, thin, and mutilated. Long scars stretched from each corner of his mouth, and one of his eyes was milky white. He turned his head in my direction but didn't smile or speak.

"Hikaru and I are Partials. As you probably noticed from that slightly pathetic display, Burns is a Waker. Who needs to work on his stealth attacks." She glared at Derek, who shrugged at her with a smirk.

"Hi, Hikaru," I said.

Renata tugged at a knot in her hair. It was black, but tinted, so it shone darkly red in the light. "He can't speak. He was taken by the Hierarchs around three years ago. They'd already started to turn him into an Angel by the time Ca found him and brought him back."

Ca? I looked around for another person, but saw no one. Was she part of Team Asshole? What kind of name is Ca, anyway?

I was distracted when Hikaru opened his mouth and grinned at me. Instead of normal teeth, he had metal shark's teeth – made for ripping. I was reminded of the Angel outside the slaver compound – jagged teeth snapping an inch from my face: the screams – I blinked and quickly forced my mind back to the meeting room. I made sure my face didn't betray any of my horror.

"They cut his tongue out," said Renata. "But he's still the best soldier in the rebellion."

"Apart from me," cut in Zoe. "Obviously. But that barely needs mentioning, does it? It's kind of a given –"

Hikaru cut her off by giving her an eloquent salute with his middle finger.

"Fuck you, Tooth Fairy," announced Zoe. "I'm not falling for any of your intimidation shit."

Hikaru grimaced at her, flashing even more teeth.

"Shit," said Zoe, then lapsed into a rare silence: intimidated, evidently.

After meeting the newcomers, the rest of the day passed with minimal trauma: an unusual experience for me in the bunker. Jake and Derek used the coffin to take Renata and Hikaru into the memory of the broken mansion: to show them the shape of the terrain and walk them through the plan of attack.

Apparently Team Asshole are staying at the base until the night set for the 'retrieval mission': which is next week. I'm excited to meet the two new female Wakers once we've rescued – or 'retrieved' – them. Sophie and Jacqueline, Mila said. I have lots of questions. I can't wait to stop being the only female Waker here; it's slightly claustrophobic.

Speaking of uncomfortable sensations, I'm training with Derek tomorrow morning. Jake suggested it, despite me frowning at him significantly. I'm meeting Lily and Aiden tomorrow for lunch – being killed or maimed beforehand in a training exercise with an unfamiliar Waker would be highly disruptive. Despite me making the strongest objections possible, whilst remaining polite, Derek and I are supposed to meet in the training room straight after breakfast. I have the feeling we're not going to be the only ones there: Renata and Zoe looked far too interested in the conversation. I think it's more of a showcase of the abilities I'm learning than anything else. Renata and Derek want to know what I'm capable of.

Wait - someone just knocked on my door –