[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGfpQjKaQQw]Exhaustion.[/url]

The longer Zimmy had been in the truck, the more exhausted she felt. Maybe the rest of them were gods among men, but she was just a girl who may or may not have come very close to being burned by the Mist. She had overexerted herself, and as they drove along, she had to constantly fight down an urge to pull on more of the magical world surrounding her. Some base part of her was urging her on, wanting more and more power at the cost of everything else.

As she fought back against the energy, it slowly slipped away. It was after that that she realized how dead tired she really was. Sore, probably hungover...she was in no mood to be productive.

When they stopped for gas and Darryl got them actual beds to sleep in, she just about whined with relief. "Fuckin' hell," she mumbled, stumbling from the car with no grace whatsoever. "You," she said, whipping a finger over toward the princess they had just rescued. "You can take a room with me if you want. Least then you won't have to deal with any horny bastards." She glared at the Lee. Lookin' at you, bright eyes. Plenty of girls in your league."

"Or I guess anyone can sleep with me if they want." She looked down at the ground, swore, and the back up. "Bunk with me. I meant bunk with me. Whatever." She grumbled again and left them, heading for the nearest room available. Once inside, she barely had the energy to unlace her shoes before she fell to the mattress. She fully intended to be dead to the world in minutes.

So when the bracelet on her wrist warmed against her skin, she took a few moments to process what was going on. "You fucking kidding me?" The bracelet began to hum, and Zimmy wanted nothing more than to throw it in the trash. Instead, she groaned and sat up. "What do you want?"

"Morander. Report in." It was the same voice as the guy who had met her after graduation. The one who had given her that stupid bracelet.

"My party plan is ruined. I'm a bit hungover, nearly died a few times today from bad judgement calls. Your turn, shadowman. What's up?"

"Any news on the Palatine? Princess Colette?" Zimmy froze at the words. How the fuck had they known about the princess? Alarm bells went off in her head immediately. There was no way they could have found out so quickly. Suspicion flared in her gut, and she was glad that she hadn't mentioned anything damning before.

"Come again? Dunno if you've been keeping tabs on me, but my friends and I have just been out in the woods partying. Or something, we got pretty drunk."

"Princess Colette was aboard a Vangar Envoy with the name Palatine. A few hours ago, all contact with the ship ceased. Do you have any information that might be of use? The princess was arriving under a statement of peace. If something has happened to her within our borders, then...shit is about to go down, if you'll pardon the expression."

Still those alarm bells in her head. Zimmy wasn't sure why: maybe it was because, now that she thought about it, all she really knew about this man and his bracelet was that he had stepped out of the shadows, said he was part of an intelligence agency, and given her the bracelet. Why the hell had she been wearing it all this time without even thinking about it? "Uh...no. Don't think so. I feel like if I'd been near anything like that, we would have sensed it. Sorry."

"Of course, of course." The man on the other end sounded deflated. "You will tell us if you learn anything, though?"

"Uh, yeah. One thing though: how the hell do I contact you? All I have is this bracelet thing." Zimmy peeled the band off her wrist and tossed it on the bed. "You have a phone number or something?"

"Oh, yes. Apologies. If you have your cell-phone on you, you'll see that we've sent you a number which you can use to contact us if need be. We don't send out that information until an agent has been activated. Which is what this conversation is, by the way. Welcome to Rassvet Collections Institution." The voice cut out, and the glowing bracelet became dull once more.

Zimmy checked her phone. Sure enough, there was a new number there. How had they gotten her number in the first place? "Fuck my life," she sighed, before putting the phone on the nightstand and lying down on one side of the bed. Maybe someone else would come in, or maybe they wouldn't. Right now, she had bigger things on her mind.