Fern Dawson's eyes lit up the moment she saw the necklace. "Yes!" she cried, grabbing it with both hands. She clutched it to her chest like it was the most precious treasure in the world. Natalie smirked. "Fern, do you know who I am?" Fern shrank back, shaking her head. "No." Natalie bent closer, her smile turning strange. "I'm a crazy serial killer." Fern's whole body trembled even harder. Natalie tilted the girl's chin up. "Now stand up, run home, pull the covers over your head, and don't make a sound. Otherwise ... " "Yes, yes! Crazy lady—oh, no—killer lady, I'll go right now!" Fern scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping as she bolted toward the outer neighborhood. She had barely run a few steps before she suddenly turned back. Natalie raised an eyebrow. "You really—" Before she could finish, the girl suddenly ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Thank you! This necklace means everything to me. Thank you!" Then she jumped back up, rubbing her head, and ran off again, stumbling as she went. Natalie stared at the sight of her fleeing, then burst into laughter. What a funny little thing. Bending down, Natalie grabbed the corpse on the ground and dragged it toward Villa 18.From the outside, the house looked no different from her own. The front door had only a simple key lock. Natalie found the key on Vernon and stepped inside. The villa was almost empty. There was nothing useful in the villa, except for one room upstairs. Its door had the same fingerprint lock Magnus used. Natalie knew this had to be the place she was looking for. She hauled Vernon's body upstairs, pressed his face and finger to the scanners, and the door clicked open. The windows inside were sealed with black tape. Natalie flipped on the lights—and froze. The room was like a mini-factory. Machines she didn't recognize lined the walls. Metal parts and strange tools were scattered everywhere. The location was where Vernon had been making guns. She glanced around. She didn't know how to use any of the machines, but she gathered every piece of equipment and material into her storage space. After making sure there were no more weapons hidden, she collected the scattered bullets, then left the villa. After leaving Villa 18, she used Blink to jump into a few more houses. But she didn't find anything useful. No surprise there—most of these people only worked for the base to earn their meals. What valuables could they possibly have? Natalie gave up searching and headed back to her place. When she reached the yard, she noticed the Hummer was still parked outside, and the upstairs lights were on. Cassian hasn't left? She thought for a moment, then slung two shotguns over her shoulder and carried a box of shells upstairs. The door on the second floor was open. Cassian sat on the couch, and when he heard her coming in, he looked up. "You're back?" Natalie wondered, So he's not mad anymore? She nodded and glanced toward his room. "Did you move your stuff out already?" "Yeah." His answer came quickly. "That was fast. Then why are you still here?" Cassian stood and walked toward her. "Nothing waiting for me back home. Figured I'd stay a bit and help you carry your things." Natalie froze. Seriously? If you head out now, I could really use that storage space. That would've been a lot simpler. But, he's got good intentions. She eyed his arm. "Your arm isn't up for it, is it? My stuff's heavy. Don't go popping it out again." Cassian met her eyes. "That's twice now." She blinked. "Twice what?" "You said I wasn't up for it." Natalie's face burned. "I meant your injury! I was worried, okay?" Why doesn't this guy get it? Cassian smirked. "Don't worry. I'm more than fine." With that, he turned like he was about to head upstairs. "Wait." Natalie stopped him and pointed to the guns on her back. "Aren't you going to ask where these came from?" In all of Northlorn, he was probably the only one who could act so calm about something like this. These are shotguns! Show them some respect, man! Cassian only shrugged. "No need to ask. Easy guess—you picked them up at Magnus's place." When she told him earlier she had something to do, he figured she was planning to search Magnus's house. And now that she was back carrying shotguns, well, it spoke for itself. Natalie studied him, surprised. There wasn't even a flicker of desire in his eyes. Most people would've demanded their share. Shouldn't the normal reaction be, "Where'd you get that? We fought together, so hand one over?" But Cassian just stood there, calm as ever, like he wanted nothing at all. Natalie finally took one shotgun off her shoulder and held it out. "Yeah, I got them from Magnus. One for each of us. And those handguns I picked up earlier—we'll split those too."