by Tonya Kuper
“Likewise,” Kat said through a smile, her cheeks rosy. She tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear.
I dropped my gaze to the floor, averting my eyes from the obvious instant connection between two people. It didn’t necessarily make me uncomfortable or embarrassed. It was more like I wanted it. I wanted that look they exchanged. I had that with Reid and I couldn’t wait to stop hiding it. I couldn’t wait until we left the Hub or the Council somehow deemed me no longer a trainee. I didn’t even know what I had to do in order for the Council to make that decision.
We stood in a circle, in the middle of the practice room, on top of pretend skyscrapers. Cohen cleared his throat, breaking the staring fest between Zac and Kat. “Zac and Josie, these two will be helping you acclimate to your new home. They’re close to where you are, Zac, with their abilities. They’re still training and honing, but know the ins and outs of the Hub.”
They all seemed nice and welcoming, but they were all here, in the Hub, which meant any one of them could’ve been the mole. And this room was not only a great place to hide if in trouble, but it could also harbor the mole, especially if training was taking place. Simultaneously a safe haven and potential deathtrap.
Cohen hit a few buttons on the control panel, making the holograms vanish and the props disappear into the floor, walls, and ceiling. The room was a blank slate again, white and empty.
Cohen headed toward the door. “Let’s chow.”
The Chase guy whooped and ran out the door, and we followed. I wasn’t in any kind of mood to socialize, let alone pretend like I was excited about eating with a bunch of people I didn’t know. And I just performed a trick of some kind, probably a not-good one, and had no idea how I’d done it.
This unique ability was just added to my list of things to worry about. This was enough to move my freak-out meter from “I have a bad feeling about this” to “so overwhelmed I can’t even.”
That’s all I’d had for two weeks. Life-altering change after life-altering change. My life was standing on a sand dune; one move and everything shifted under my feet. I’d adapted and readapted and I wasn’t sure I could do it much longer. When was this going to end, or at least slow down?
My lungs squeezed. I inhaled deep and exhaled slowly. It’s okay to feel this way. You will get through this. Everything will stabilize eventually.
As soon as we were in the hallway, Reid grabbed my arm. “Hey. My dad.” He pointed down the hallway to where his dad and Max stood talking. “Cohen, can you stay with Josie? Like, don’t let her leave your sight. I need to get Dad to convince the Council to launch a real investigation for the mole and I need to check the status of your family. They have to be close.”
“You got it, bud. Josie, let me introduce you to the hot spot in the Hub.”
“’Kay.” This was the first time I’d not been with Reid since I killed Santos, and I wasn’t ready for it. My lungs squeezed again as I watched Reid turn to catch up with Max and his dad.
“Reid.” My voice stretched his name.
He swung back to me, his face only inches from mine. “I know. You can do this, though.” He knew I was hesitant without me saying anything but his name. “It’s also making a statement to the mole—that you are more powerful than them because you aren’t letting fear control you. Remember that, Josie.”
I nodded, he pivoted, and I turned to follow Cohen, who was patiently waiting about five feet behind me.
Reid was right. Even if this was all destabilizing, I wouldn’t give the mole the satisfaction of seeing fear affect me.
6.
Reid
My footfalls echoed in the hallway, alerting Max and my dad to my approach. They paused their slow walk toward the garage, and dad waved me to them. Max clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes on me as I matched their stride. His position as Speaker of the Council seemed to have elevated to something of more responsibility since I’d last lived in the Hub. It had to be because of the increased threats by the Consortium in the last couple of years.
“Reid.” Max drew out my name. “We need to know if Josie is stable. We need to make sure there are no more ‘accidental’”—he gestured air quotation marks—“victims. After the news we received of the Consortium’s advances, we can’t afford to have another Nick on our hands.”
I knew exactly what the Council would want to do if I said no. They’d eliminate her. The very thought made my stomach turn and my pulse skyrocket.
“No need to worry.” My words were sure and voice confident. “She is mentally and physically stable. She’s grown exponentially in less than two weeks. Josie’s Pushing and Retracting are already superior to Nick’s, which means they are superior to almost everyone else’s here.”
Max tilted his head, as if processing these facts, or maybe he was trying to read between the facts. I continued to explain, not wanting Max to get the wrong idea about Josie. “At the same time, Josie knows and obeys the rules. She’s not a risk.”
“Okay,” Max said, glancing to Dad, “then we will need her to develop and master her Pushing and Retracting skills, including the use of her shield.”
Max turned right toward the Council rooms as we entered the garage. “In addition, you’ll need to ready her close contact and combat skills. We need to make sure she can handle being provoked, especially after what happened a few days ago.”
We stopped outside the door leading to the Council rooms. Dad gripped my shoulder for a second. “We need our strongest and most talented Oculi ready, should the Consortium make a move. They’re gearing up for something, I’m positive. Cohen is powerful, but we need as much help with training as possible. We need someone to take Santos’s place.”
The Consortium’s new ability to detect Anomalies and a chemical weapon to disarm them was a serious threat if the Council was asking this of Josie already.
I nodded. “She surpasses Santos’s skills in every way. Once she practices more, she’ll surpass mine. We’ll start right away to make sure she’s ready to take on the Consortium, or the mole. She needs to be able to protect herself against this traitor ASAP.” Plus, to get rid of the traitor, she needed to be consistent and confident in her skills—which she wasn’t yet. She was getting there, but small mistakes could mean she’d lose her family. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Max glanced to my father.
“Agreed,” Dad said. “If she’s this good already, she’ll be a valuable asset.”
Facing both of them, I held my hands in front of me. “In the meantime, Josie is concerned that her mother and brother haven’t arrived yet. Do you—”
Dad was already nodding before I could even get my question out. “I wondered the same thing and sent out a couple of troopers this afternoon to meet Meg and Eli. I’ll let you know when she gets in or if I hear something.”
“I’m sorry, if you’ll excuse me.” Max slowly backed away and turned to scan his retina for entrance to the Council corridor.
“Thanks. What about the mole?”
“Son, I’m on it.” Dad started across the garage, which was definitely quieter in the evening than it was during the day. I watched him for a second, my mind still trying to wrap around the idea that he was alive and right here in front of me, before I caught up to him. He glanced over his shoulder to me. “I already talked to Nico and Shreeya and convinced them the possibility of a mole was worth at least looking into, especially now with the news about the Consortium.”
“Really?” I blew out a long exhale.
Dad turned and leaned his elbow on one of the shiny, black Escalades in the garage. A vehicle somewhere behind Dad rumbled to life.
“Thanks, Dad. Can you help us guard Josie? If they aren’t assigning anyone, it’s up to me and Cohen.”
A ghost of a smile played on his lips. “Of course I will.”
“Talk later or tomorrow about where you’ve been? And why you’re back?” I still didn’t have details, but he showed up just as the Consortium tried to recruit then
kill Josie and we learned they have a weapon to identify Anomalies? That wasn’t coincidence. I trusted my father, but I knew there was something more behind his disappearance. And reappearance.
“Yeah.” He hit my upper arm. “Now go eat. You look like you’re going to fall over.”
“’Kay.”
I jogged across the garage and down the hallway, passing the training rooms onto the Open. A small patch of grass anchored the center of the large open area, along with a couple of benches, flowers, and a small decorative pond. It was our version of Central Park, just inside a mountain. Various businesses and rooms bordered the Open. The Hub Pub, our local bar and grill; the Caf, short for cafeteria; and a coffee shop with pastries were our eating choices. When I was a kid, I thought a coffee shop inside the Hub was odd, but then I started drinking coffee and understood. The Open was also home to our tiny library, a mail room, a small grocery store, one large banquet room, and several smaller meeting rooms which were used as a school for the few Hub kids.
The thing I liked the most about the Open was the natural sunlight. With the use of small reinforced holes in the mountain surface and carefully placed mirrors, we got to enjoy daylight inside the Hub. Sunlight could be found in other parts of the Hub, but the Open, including the shops surrounding it and the Caf, had the highest quantity, helping give the feel of day.
My phone beeped in my back pocket.
Cohen: Eating @ PH.
Of course he’d take them to the Pub Hub. The Hub was where people went when they wanted to be social. It was our version of the corner bar, chain restaurant, and local hang-out rolled into one.
Through the Pub Hub window, Josie waved to me. The person in front of her turned around. Zac. He graced me with his slimy politician smile.
I was liking this jackball less and less by the minute.
I greeted the server at the entrance and found Josie’s table. They sat across from each other, talking and smiling like they were at freaking Chili’s on a date before a movie. I wasn’t really worried, though. I knew how she felt about me, about us. Besides, Cohen sat next to Zac. And I definitely couldn’t let my twinge of jealousy show. It looked like Chase had found some friends to join, and Kat sat at a table with her mom.
Josie caught me staring at her and watched me until I sat on a stool next to her. She pointed at the plate sitting at an open seat next to her. She’d ordered a club sandwich and fries for both of us, one half of her sandwich already gone. “Thanks for ordering me food,” I said.
A corner of her mouth pulled upward, and that was enough to calm my nerves a little. She peeked over her shoulder at someone behind us, then leaned into me. “Everything okay?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“Yep. Fine.” I shoved a fry in my mouth. “So, why are you here, Zac?” Like Josie said outside the mine, everyone was a suspect unless proven otherwise. He did just arrive, but the timing of his arrival was what worried me. Why now?
Josie bumped my leg with her knee. “What?” I asked around a bite of sandwich. I was so hungry I didn’t even taste it.
Zac’s plate was empty. He wiped his mouth. “It’s okay. He has the right to ask. I’m probably a threat to his self-esteem.”
Laughter erupted from me. “You don’t threaten me.” Josie let her face bow toward the table, clearly uncomfortable. “I want to know if you being here will threaten anyone else.” Innocent people lived in the Hub, which now included Josie. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that he showed up about the same we did and his dad had gone AWOL.
For the first time since I sat, he made eye contact with me with a sober face. “I really hope it doesn’t. We’re fighting for the same cause. Go easy, tiger.” He stood, focusing on Josie. “It was nice to meet you.”
Josie lifted her head. “You, too.”
Zac slowly made his way toward the entrance, stopping at tables and shaking hands along the way. If there were babies here, he probably would’ve kissed them.
When Zac approached the doorway to the Open, Cohen turned slightly to watch Zac. To know there was at least one person in the Hub who had our back let my heartrate come down another notch. Cohen gestured to Josie, who was trying to get a better look at a little blond-haired kid. I nodded, conveying my thanks with a smile. He shoved his last french fry in his mouth and stood. “See ya later.” With a wave, he was gone. It was like a hand off of some precious gem.
Josie’s hair swished over her shoulder as she checked out a redheaded lady. She was looking for her family—a blond brother and redhead mother.
As soon as Cohen was out of earshot, Josie swiveled around to me on the stool, worry etched into every feature. “Can we talk?”
“Yeah.” I threw money down on the table, and Josie’s gaze ping-ponged between the cash and me. She’d probably assumed we didn’t use money in the Hub. People visiting for the first time often thought that.
“The Hub runs just like a town,” I explained. “We can’t Push everything we need, use, or eat, or we’d use up our energy stores.”
“But Zac walked away. I don’t think he kn—”
“I got it, come on.” Grabbing her wrist lightly, I tugged her behind me toward the back of the room. The place was an ordinary bar and grill, so it was as noisy as any other restaurant in the Planck world.
I stopped and pulled her beside me, letting her hand fall.
Her mouth fell open. “It’s the billiards room you Pushed in the warehouse last week.” She examined the pool table where we kissed with flushed cheeks.
I nudged her shoulder with mine. “Hey. I didn’t show you to embarrass you. I wanted you to know I wasn’t making it up. It’s a real place and wasn’t some ploy to get you to kiss me.” I also wanted to remind her that the kiss happened. It was real.
A slow smile parted her lips. “I believed you, but thanks for showing me.”
Jerking my head, I signaled for her to follow me. Once outside the Pub, we high-tailed it down the hall to the living quarters.
I swept her place, even having done it less than two hours before. We ended in her bedroom. “It’s clear.”
My phone vibrated with a text from Dad.
Me & Cohen switching off to guard J’s room tonight. Get a good night’s sleep. A guard will also be on duty at the hallway intersection.
That was a load off my mind. My muscles immediately relaxed and I gave in to the tiredness.
Josie leaned against the doorjamb. “Thank you.” She blinked slowly. “For everything.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“Yeah,” she huffed, “because you’re Mr. Bigshot Trainer. That’s just part of the job, ma’am.” She said the last part in a deep, southern twang, as if she were an Old West sheriff. Her light laugh filled the space between us.
Seeing her laugh lifted my mood. “No.” I smiled. “Everything I’ve done for you in the last week is because I care about you.”
The slight smile that lived on her lips faded. “I know you can’t—uh, I know we can’t have the same sleeping arrangements as we have had, due to the whole no trainer-trainee relationship rule here.” She ran her fingers through her ponytail and shuffled her feet. “But can you stay long enough for me to fall asleep?”
Her expressing that she wanted me, even if it was to help her fall asleep, made me happy in a way I’d never felt before. A warm sensation filled my chest and crept up to my face. I couldn’t have hidden the huge-ass grin on my face if I’d wanted to. “I didn’t even think that was up for debate.”
Her smile reached her eyes. She spun to the bathroom to get ready for bed and came out a few minutes later dressed in R2D2 pajama pants with her hair down. She plugged her phone into the outlet by the bed and set it on the nightstand, then climbed under the covers. Scooting against the wall, she left the comforter flipped back then gazed up at me.
I laid down next to her, pulling the covers over us. “What did your dad say?”
“He talked to Nico and Shreeya on the Council. They at least see
m a little more concerned than the rest of the Council. That’s a start. Dad and Cohen will be helping me guard you. One of us will be with you at all times.” My hand found her waist. “Tonight, they’ll take turns at your hallway door so I can get a full night of sleep. I still haven’t had a chance to talk to him about where he’s been doing undercover work.”
She rubbed my arm. “Thank you. To all three of you.”
We watched each other in silence. The soft light from the lamp illuminated her makeup-free face and highlighted the blond strands in her red hair.
I smoothed my hand along her jaw and kissed her softly. I pulled away to shut off the lamp so she could sleep, but she wrapped her hand around the back of my neck and pulled me to her. We kissed for several minutes, then she snuggled into my side, resting her head on my chest, just as we had done in the hotel rooms traveling from Florida. Josie was right; there was something about hiding away that was comforting. I would’ve given anything for us to be a normal couple, for us to be safe and falling asleep while watching one of the movies she could quote from memory. There was something intimate about lying next to the person I cared about most as I fell asleep. Maybe one day I could have that kind of normalcy with her.
Josie fell asleep quickly, and I snuck out without her noticing. Cohen gave me a fist bump when I left Josie’s room. “Go catch some winks, man. We’ll talk in the morning.”
I fell into bed and the next thing I knew, my phone buzzed loud enough to wake the dead with a text from Dad.
Josie’s family has arrived. They will be in one of the training rooms with me. Cohen is back at Josie’s room until you get to her.
It took me a matter of minutes to get to Josie’s door. “Thanks a lot, Coe.”
Cohen slapped my back as I knocked. “No prob. See you in a few.”
I cracked the door. “Josie!” There was no sign of her. I slipped into her place, closed the door behind me, flipped on a light switch, and took a step out of the entryway into the tiny living room.
“Stop.” Josie pointed a Glock at me from the end of the short hallway.