The sun had already set, leaving in its wake a crisp, cool evening. It was perfect for a night spent clubbing. Or for a strenuous workout. Or a fight.
The latter was exactly what they found.
Adele appeared behind one of their assailants, lashing out with her foot to the back of his knee. It broke with a loud SNAP. As he started to fall, she grabbed him by the back of the neck to slam him headfirst into the wall of the narrow alleyway.
A second thug, a Togrutan, had been trying to take aim at her brother, but quickly realized there was a threat that was significantly closer. She started to turn her blaster, her finger already on the trigger.
Adele grabbed her wrist and dragged her arm downward. The blaster fired three times, red bolts searing into the filthy pavement. Drawing on the Force to add to her strength, she struck the Togrutan’s jaw with the heel of her palm.
Despite her pain and a now broken jaw, the Togruta maintained her discipline. She shifted her weight, trying to pull free from Adele's grip. But Adele was stronger, her abilities enhanced by the Force itself. She kept her grip on the woman's arm, dragging her forward to drive her knee into the woman’s solar plexus. The Togrutan doubled over, gasping for air.
Anselm, meanwhile, was having his own fun. He whirled in a roundhouse kick that slammed into a thug’s chest. The kick was accompanied by a ball of fire that seared his face. The thug stumbled backward, blinded and burning.
Movement out of the corner of his eye alerted him to an incoming attack. He made a sharp gesture, and the burning thug began to fall sideways, as if gravity itself had been altered for him. He slammed into another assailant who had his blaster raised to shoot. The red plasma missed Anselm by inches, leaving a scorchmark on the wall behind him.
The two assailants were now pinned to the wall, one stuck under another as if weighted by immense gravity. That slacked only for a second as Anselm held up his hand and made a fist. Their cries abruptly became silent as an invisible Force slammed in on them from all sides, accompanied by the breaking of bones. Anselm relaxed his hand, and the two men fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
For a moment, the only sounds that could be heard in the alley were the distant thump of the bass coming from the nearby club and their own heavy breathing.
It was Adele that broke the silence. “I told you it was an ambush.”
“And I told you we could handle it,” Anselm replied, flashing her a grin.
Adele tsked under her breath and knelt by the now unconscious Togruta. She rolled up the woman’s sleeve to reveal a tattoo on her forearm. It was similar to the one that each of the twins had, though it was not nearly as intricate. It was the marking of their former syndicate, the Ember Flame. “I thought I recognized her.”
She’d been hoping that she was wrong, that maybe this was just a band of cutthroats looking for a couple of easy marks. But no. The markings indicated that they were part of the syndicate’s hit squad. Part of their father’s hit squad.
“It’s a moot point. I doubt she’ll be bothering us anymore tonight.” Anselm brushed off his clothes, checking to make sure he hadn’t got any blood on him. Satisfied that he hadn’t, he hiked his thumb in the direction of the alley entrance. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Adele tore her eyes away from the tattoo and whatever thoughts that threatened to drag down her mood. “Go where?”
“Into the club. That’s why we’re here, right?” Anselm tilted his head, listening to the throbbing bass. Even from here, he could hear the melody of the upbeat dance music playing inside. “You’re gonna love Club Fallen, Dele. I was just here a couple days ago with a few other Arconans. It’s really great.”
Adele frowned slightly. “You still want to go? Annie, that’s probably not a good idea. You know they’ll have a fallback team. We should track them down and deal with them. Or at the very least, we should get out of here. Who knows how many they brought?”
“Sure, there’s probably more of them. But I’m not gonna let that ruin our evening. Why bother hunting them down, when we both know they’ll come looking for us? We can deal with them then.” He crossed the alley to extend a hand to help her up. “Besides, we deserve a break after everything that’s happened.”
“I’m not sure how relaxing it’d be, knowing there’s a pack of people watching the doors, waiting to kill us.” Adele reached up, grasping her brother’s hand and letting him pull her to her feet.
“We’ll make it work.” Anselm offered her another grin. “He’s already ruined so much. I’m not going to let him ruin our evening too.”
There was no need to ask who Anselm was referring to. Adele already knew that he was talking about their father. She let the comment pass. “That’s short-sighted, Annie. Listen. We need to be strategic here. All it’d take is one minute of inattention for them to get the drop on us.”
Impatience flashed in his eyes. Adele recognized the look easily enough. He used to get it all the time whenever Father tried to teach him anything. He folded his arms over his chest. “I get it, Adele. But the way I see it, it’s always going to be dangerous. So, I refuse to let either him or fear rule me. He wants us to be frightened. Well, I’m not going to let him stop me from living my life.”
Adele gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing at his words. But she refused to lose her temper. She took a deep breath. When she spoke, she did her best to keep her voice even. “I’m not afraid, Annie. I’m just trying to protect you.”
“No, you’re letting him dictate our actions! We’re free of him, sis! We’re free to live our own lives. So, let’s live them! Let’s go and have fun and actually enjoy ourselves. We can handle whatever he throws at us.”
Adele pressed her lips together as she studied her brother through narrowed eyes. There was no arguing with him when he got this way, she knew that from experience. For her part, she was getting tired of listening to him talk about their father, talk about their old lives, as if it was some awful experience. Sure, it was hard, but it was not nearly as bad as he insisted it was. “Look,” she said, her voice heavy with anger. “I need some air. You want to run away and ignore the situation? Fine. Go on into the club. I’ll do a sweep of the area and join you once I’ve taken care of things.”
She could see the hurt and anger at her words, but was in no mood to placate his feelings. She started to turn away, but he grabbed her by the shoulder. “No. We’re not done here.”
