“It was perfect.”
Liam parks the truck in front of the library and kills the engine. “You were amazing.” His gaze dances around my face like he either wants to say something else or kiss me again, and I’m really hoping it’s the latter.
“Let’s go say hi to our aunt.” He slips out of the truck, and I blow out a hard breath. We’re here to find my dad. I need to focus.
Roswell is the first city I’ve been to outside New Portland, and I’m not impressed. It’s more like a small town than a city. The population seems just big enough for the city to operate and support the military complex, which is strange, considering how we’re packed inside our walls in New Portland like an overstuffed teddy bear that’s ripping at the seams. The buildings are dated, with flat roofs and peeling paint, and the roads are littered with more potholes than I’ve ever seen. The residents must have been assigned here, because I can’t imagine anyone wanting to move to this place on their own.
The library is a squat one-story brown structure with small dirty windows. As we enter the building, the musty scents of mold and old books greet us before the librarian raises her head. She adjusts her glasses on her nose and squints like she needs a stronger prescription.
“How can I help you?” Her nametag says “Edna,” and her rumpled cardigan appears older than she is. A kind smile warms her face.
“We need to use a computer with internet access,” Liam says.
She looks us up and down, and the corners of her mouth drop. We’re dirty. My shirt is ripped at the shoulder and stained with blood, Liam’s pants are torn, and he has a huge bandage wrapped around his arm. I can only imagine what she must be thinking.
“Don’t all you teenagers have cell phones these days?” She adjusts her glasses again and glances at the phone on her desk.
“I’m grounded,” Liam replies. “Too much texting.”
“And my mom won’t let me have one until I turn eighteen.” I look her in the eyes as I say it because it’s the truth. I leave out the part about my mom being dead.
She presses her lips together and studies us so long I’m afraid she’s going to kick us out. “Good for your parents. They’re doing their jobs. Except for your clothes, but . . .” She motions toward a table set up with three ancient-looking computers and shakes her head in disappointment.
“Thank you, ma’am,” we say in unison.
Liam logs in and searches a public database for information on my father. Nothing. Of course his information would be unlisted. He works in a top-secret military facility. He’s not going to post his name and address for all the world to see.
I drum my fingers on the desk. “Why didn’t we look up this information before we got here?”
He flicks his gaze to me before focusing on the screen. “We don’t have computers at camp, and if I hacked into their system days ago, they’d have that much more of a lead on us.”
“They already have a lead on us.” Thanks to Seth.
“All right. You keep an eye on old Aunt Edna. Let me know if she decides to come over here.” He pulls a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. “Let’s hope this still works.”
“What is it?” I position myself so I can see the librarian from the corner of my eye while watching Liam.
“It’s an old log-in and password for the Energy Manipulation Lab’s system. Missy took it when she escaped the facility years ago. She said it might work.” He punches in the URL, and a log-in screen appears.
“Escaped? I thought she said she worked there.”
“She did. But you don’t think they’d let her just walk out the door with all those secrets, do you? She had to disappear.”
“What secrets?”
He types in a code. “I don’t know. She tells me what she thinks I need to know, and I don’t worry about the rest. Got it. I’m in.”
Multiple windows appear on the screen, and Liam shuffles through them, dismissing the unhelpful ones.
“It looks like you’ve done this before. Are you a hacker too?”
He grins. “I’m a jack-of-all-trades. My mom was into computers, so she taught me a lot. Here’s his email. I saw a café on the corner. We’ll send him a message and ask him to meet us there in an hour.”
He types the message and hovers his finger over the “Send” button. “You ready for this?”
I take his hand. “I’m scared. What if he doesn’t have a cure? What if my mom was delirious from losing blood and she sent us on a wild goose chase? What if he can’t help me? Then what?”
Liam places his other hand on top of mine and looks into my eyes. “If he has a cure, he’ll give it to you, won’t he? You’re his daughter.”
“You’re right. Send it. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Liam
I hesitate before I press the button. I hate lying to Wren, especially after I told her I never would. I suppose it wasn’t technically a lie. I didn’t say her dad had a cure . . . I said if.
It still eats me up, though. I don’t care what Missy says. A lie of omission is a lie just the same. It’s true she only tells me what she thinks I need to know, and most of the time I’m fine with that. She’s got some plans in the works to start a revolution, and I try to stay out of her way for the most part. She’d get on to me for calling it a revolution, though. It’s a “calculated removal of the powers that be” or something like that.
I do whatever she needs of me because it’d be nice to live in a real town with electricity again. I wouldn’t even mind going back to school if it meant I could live my life—Sense and all—in peace and quiet.
I hit “Send,” and Wren lets out a sigh of relief. My stomach ties in knots, though. It’s one thing for me to put my own life on the line. But now I’m endangering Wren. I couldn’t live with myself if she got hurt again because of me.
“I guess we should head to the café,” she says. “I’m nervous.”
“Or maybe we shouldn’t. We could go back to camp and figure this out on our own.”
“Are you kidding? I’m not giving up now. My mom told me to come here. My father has a cure.”
“No, he doesn’t.” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but the words just slip out of my mouth. I clamp my lips shut, but it’s too late. I can’t lie to her anymore.
She steps back and wraps her arms around herself. “My mom said—”
“Your mom was wrong. There is no cure.”
She blinks at me, biting her lip like she’s holding back tears. “How do you know?”
I’ve already let it slip, so I might as well tell her everything. “Missy told me before we ever left camp.”
She drops her arms to her sides. “Then why did you bring me all this way if you knew he couldn’t help me?”
The look of betrayal in her eyes makes my heart feel like it’s stuck in a blender on high speed. I try to take her hand, but she yanks it away. “What would you have said if I’d told you the truth back at camp? If I’d said there was no cure, but Missy wants you to go find your dad because she thinks you can convince him to switch sides and work against the government rather than for it. Would you have believed me if I’d told you that?”
“No. I still don’t. And you don’t believe it either.”
“I don’t know for sure that’s what she’s up to, but it’s the only thing I can figure. She thinks you’re the key to bringing down the government. To making the Sense legal again.”
She crosses her arms and digs her nails into her skin. “And you’ve been lying to me this whole time? About everything?”
“No. I mean . . . yes. But not about everything. Only the cure. Everything else has been the truth. Everything we’ve experienced has been real.”
“Why?” She looks like she isn’t sure whether she wants to run or punch me in the face, and man, do I deserve both. I shouldn’t have lied to her.
I’m no better than the stupid enforcers, blindly following orders. I’m no better than my
dad. “I’m sorry. I argued with Missy about it. I wanted to tell you from the beginning, but she insisted I keep it a secret.”
“Then why are you telling me now?”
I sigh and take a step toward her. She doesn’t move away. “Look, I’ve always done whatever Missy asked of me because she took me in when I had nowhere to go. I’d be dead if it weren’t for her and the people at camp.” She lets me take her hand, and I pull her behind a bookshelf, out of Aunt Edna’s view.
“I never cared if there was danger involved because it didn’t matter much what happened to me. According to the rest of the world, I’m already dead anyway.” I slide my hand up the back of her neck and press my forehead against hers. She sucks in a sharp breath and squeezes my other hand, and my heart pounds against my chest like a rubber mallet driving a spike into the ground. My head is spinning with thoughts, and the nearness of her makes it hard to concentrate, but I hold my focus.
“I’m telling you this because it matters now, Wren. You matter, and I don’t want you to get hurt. I care about you, and I couldn’t live with myself if anything else happened to you.”
Her lips are so close I can almost taste them, and when she closes her eyes, I take her mouth with mine. She slides her arm around my waist, and her body seems to melt into me as she returns the kiss. Every nerve in my body fires, and electricity dances between us, making my arm hairs stand on end. She’s warm and sweet like honey, and I cannot let anything else happen to her. I won’t be the cause of any more trouble in her life.
I pull away and brush her cheek with the back of my fingers. “It’s not too late to back out. We can leave right now.”
She inhales a shaky breath, and stubbornness sets in her jaw. “My mom believed there was a cure, and she wanted me to come here. I don’t care what Missy’s plans are. I don’t even care if you come along, but I am going to that café to meet my father, and I am going to find a way to get rid of this wolf.”
She stands there staring at me like she’s challenging me to argue. A fat tear rolls down her cheek, and she wipes it away with the back of her hand. There’ll be no arguing with her on this. Her mind is made up, and all I can do is support her.
“Well, all right. If you insist.”
Chapter Thirty
Elaine’s Journal
Entry Twelve
I finally had my official appointment today. I’ve spent countless evenings with him, and he knows me better than anyone in the few short weeks he’s been here. But it had to be official. He had to document my Sense.
That’s his secret. He can read people. Look into their very beings and understand what makes them tick. I couldn’t hide myself from him if I tried. His mission is simple: to visit every community and examine our powers. Those who possess skills the government can use will be recruited and moved to an undisclosed location. The rest of us will be left alone for the time being.
Children will be taken from their parents, marriages will be ripped apart, families will fall to pieces because the government finds some of us useful.
He doesn’t see it that way. In fact, he seemed disappointed that my healing skills rely mainly on herbs and potions. My spell-casting power is common, he said. Nothing the government doesn’t already have access to.
He ignored my expression of relief when I failed the test. I don’t want to leave my home, but he insisted I must have some other power. Something . . . Anything that might be useful. He knew the truth, though. He could see it in my being. I’m only average, so here I’ll stay with my family and friends.
He’s leaving tomorrow, and I will miss him. I asked him to spend one last evening with me, but he refused. Sadness filled his eyes as he said, “It’s best to make a clean break. This is the last time will we see each other. Goodbye, Elaine.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Wren
Liam has enough money left to buy new clothes and a hot lunch at the café before my father arrives. A shower would be wonderful, but I do my best to clean off the blood and grime in the bathroom sink. I almost don’t recognize myself in the mirror. My copper hair sticks out all over the place, and dark circles ring my eyes like I haven’t gotten enough sleep in days. Now that I think about it, I’ve only slept two or three hours a night since Makka moved in.
A nagging feeling tugs at my mind, whispering that Liam is right, but I ignore it. Missy may have had a different motive for sending me here, but my mom wouldn’t lie. There is a cure, and this is where I’ll find it.
I situate myself in a booth near the back exit so I’ll have a quick escape route if things go wrong. Liam sits at the bar a few feet away—my backup in case it gets ugly. I’m wary now, with the new information he told me, but I have to see this through. I have no idea what to expect from this meeting. Aside from the few random journal entries I’ve had time to read, I don’t know a thing about my father. He has the Sense and can read people’s powers. He seemed to care about my mom, but she still didn’t trust him completely.
From his online profile, I gathered that he’s the senior energy analyst, whatever that means. He’s won some awards and done some “exceptional work in science,” but I know nothing of his character.
I smooth the red-checkered tablecloth with my hands and try to calm my breathing. A dull ache throbs at the base of my skull—Makka signaling he’s ready to come out and play. Hopefully he’ll stay tucked away until dark. I can’t afford another episode like this morning’s. Especially not in front of my father.
Liam clears his throat to get my attention and motions toward the front door. A tall man with short salt-and-pepper hair enters the café. He looks exactly like the picture on his profile.
Thick black eyebrows sit like asps above his chocolate eyes. Years of stress or worry have etched lines in his forehead, and his lips are pressed firmly into a frown. He wears khakis and a light-blue button-up shirt that needs to be ironed.
He scans the room, his eyes settling on me for half a second, but he quickly dismisses me. He’s looking for an Apache girl like Mom. I stand and raise my hand in a timid wave.
“Michael Crane?” My voice sounds small and scared.
He looks at me again, narrowing his eyes, and hustles toward me. His gestures seem excited, jerky, like he’s had too much caffeine. I feel myself shrinking away as he approaches.
“Wren Lewis?”
I try to step back, but my calves meet the vinyl seat and I stumble. I catch myself on the edge of the table. “Yes.” My voice comes out in a squeak. I clear my throat and try again.
“Yes,” I say in a semi-confident tone. “Please, have a seat.” That’s better. I’m in charge here. He may have a cure, but I have Makka, so I’ve got the upper hand. I need to remember that.
He sits on the bench across from me and folds his hands on the table. His mouth quivers like he’s not sure whether he wants to smile, and he stares at me with eyes full of wonder.
I try not to squirm under his heavy gaze. I can’t imagine what it must feel like for him to find out he has a daughter after all these years, but right now, that doesn’t matter. Lives are at stake, but I can’t bring myself to ask the question. I’m afraid I already know the answer.
An eternity passes before he finally speaks. “Your boyfriend notified me two days ago. I thought the shock would have worn off by now, but seeing you here . . .”
I clench my jaw. Of course Seth contacted him. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
Michael shakes his head. “I had no idea I had a daughter. If I would have known, I—”
“You would’ve what? Read my power and carted me off to some government facility to enslave me?” Anger sparks in my heart, and I’m not sure whether I’m mad or whether Makka is trying to come through.
He looks at his hands on the table, all the authority draining from his posture. “I could’ve helped you.”
“The way you helped Mom? Leaving her on the reservation to watch everyone she cared about die?” Venom drips from my words. Makka is channeling
my emotions, trying to control me. Clutching my head, I squeeze my eyes shut and try to force back the intruding spirit.
Liam approaches from the bar and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Well, you can help her now, can’t you?”
“Help her?” My father blinks, his gaze cutting between Liam and me. “I . . . Yes. She needs to come back to my lab. Wren, if you’ll come to my lab, I can explain everything.”
Liam takes a step closer. “She’s not going anywhere near your lab. We know what kind of stuff you do there.”
Michael shakes his head. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”
“His name is Liam, and you’ll listen to him if you know what’s good for you.” How dare he talk to my friend that way? I want to attack him. I want to wrap my hands around his throat and choke the life out of my father for everything he’s put my mom through.
He sits up straighter. “Is that a threat? Look, I came here on peaceful terms, and I can keep you safe if you’ll come to the lab. If you refuse, I will force you.” He says it like a man who’s used to getting what he wants.
A rumble starts in my chest and turns into a low growl as it resonates in my throat. No one forces me to do anything. I start to rise when Liam grabs me by the forearm. Fiery heat courses through his hand, singeing my skin beneath his palm. I yelp and yank my arm away, revealing a bright-red hand-shaped burn.
“Ouch! Why’d you do that?”
“To calm you down.”
“I’m calm. You didn’t have to burn me.” Why did he think I needed to calm down? I was having a conversation with my father when . . . oh . . . I must have temporarily checked out when Makka took over. The memories of the last few minutes run through my mind, and I’m horrified.
“Are you back?” Liam’s eyes are full of concern.
“Yeah. Thanks.” I turn to my father. “Sorry. Sometimes my temper gets the best of me.”
Liam touches my forearm again and heals the burn. I start to protest that he shouldn’t use his powers here, but I guess there’s no hiding from my father.
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