Heading back to my room, I pondered the level of encryption. I couldn’t explain how I knew that it mattered, yet I was certain that it did.

  I’d just finished gathering my belongings to leave for the hover hangar when I heard a knock on my door. I opened my mind—Penny.

  “Hey,” I called brightly. “You’re just in time to walk me to the hangar.”

  “I got your message. Where are you going?” she asked curiously.

  “Headquarters,” I answered. “I’m going to interview the other two people who were working the night that the intel came in about Crane.”

  Penny’s face fell. “Why? Haven’t they already been interviewed? Submitted full reports?” She seemed a little jittery.

  “Well, yeah, but not by me. I want to dig around a little bit, see what I can find.” I smiled at her.

  Penny frowned.

  “Tal, look. I know that you’re really trying to figure this out, but the Director brought me here to go through the personnel files and look for a hack in the network because all of the intel checked out. It was legit. Ian Crane was in Nevada just like we thought he’d be. Nothing at all was unusual about the intel.”

  Her voice was firm, and I suddenly felt silly for getting so excited about the low-level encryption. Her features softened when she saw the dejected look on my face.

  “Tal, you know that I want to find this person just as much as you do. I want them to pay for what happened to you, but I just don’t really think that this is productive.” Her green eyes shone with unshed tears.

  I was so touched by her concern that I almost told her that she was right, that I wouldn’t go chasing wild theories. But I couldn’t; I knew that the encryption was important. I felt it with every fiber of my being. I just needed to connect the dots.

  My brain was murky, but I had this feeling that something important hid beneath the surface. Something good? Something bad? I didn’t know. I just knew there was something.

  “I really value your opinion, but I know that this is going to lead somewhere. I can feel it.” A thought struck me. “Penny…you didn’t tell Harris about my mission, did you?”

  Penny fixed me with a steady gaze, full of hurt that I would even ask. Shame clouded my brain.

  “I would never have done that!” Penny exclaimed, sounding truly wounded by my inquiry.

  “No, of course, you didn’t. I just wanted to cover all my bases,” I replied lamely before letting the subject drop. I was relieved that she hadn’t. Harris had been a good friend to Donavon and Erik for years, and I hated the thought of having to question him.

  “Why don’t you at least let me fly you out there?” Penny asked hopefully.

  “Thanks, but Mac already arranged someone.”

  When we got to the hangar, I instantly regretted not taking her up on the offer. A small two-seater hover car was pulled out of one of the hangar bays, and a tan, broad-shouldered guy with shaggy blond hair stood next to the opened driver’s side. He was dressed casually in dark jeans and a white t-shirt tossing the keys lazily in the air. Crap. Donavon.

  “Tal,” he greeted me coolly, but gave Penny a dazzling smile. I wanted to kick him.

  “Donavon,” I matched his icy tone.

  Penny gave me a quick hug, which I returned without taking my eyes off of Donavon’s. “Call me if you need anything,” she whispered.

  “Thanks,” I whispered back.

  Penny moved away from the plane, but didn’t leave. She watched as I slowly walked over to my side of the vehicle and hoisted my bag, then myself, into the passenger seat. I gave her a small wave while Donavon made a great show of clamoring noisily into the driver’s seat. Once he was settled, I risked stealing a sidelong look at his face. His jaw was clenched, the muscles in the back moving almost imperceptibly as he ground his teeth together. A white, gauze bandage was wrapped around his right hand. As soon as I noticed it, the earlier shame and humiliation returned. I had bitten him. What was wrong with me?

  He turned the key in the ignition with way more force than was necessary. The engine gave a loud, screeching whine in protest of the display of strength. He jammed his right foot down so hard that the vehicle shot forward, sending me flying back against my seat. I grumbled audibly. Donavon didn’t acknowledge my presence, let alone say he was sorry. This was going to be a very long ride.

  ***

  No matter how angry Donavon seemed, I knew that his hurt feelings were the root of his animosity. He’d thought that we were working out our issue, then Erik just showed up. He blamed Erik for telling me about the blood transfusion, but I wanted him to know that it wasn’t Erik’s fault; Donavon had no one to blame but himself. And it wasn’t just the transfusion—he’d lied about so many things that I didn’t know how he could expect me to forgive him.

  I busied myself reviewing the old interview reports for Grace, Rider, Jennifer, Cal, and even Penny. Grace’s and Rider’s reports were exactly as I’d expected. They were both interrogated by a Mid-level Telepath named Sandi Yardly, and the reports included a narrative almost identical to the one that both Cryptos had given me. Sandi concluded that both were telling the truth, but noted that low levels of deception were present in each interviewee. She’d indicated that their dishonesty was a result of the relationship of a “sexual nature” between the two. She made it sound so clinical.

  I wondered if the official reports on my destruction of Donavon’s cabin alleged that my actions were the result of a relationship of a “sexual nature” between us. I shuddered; I really hoped not—how humiliating to have that on record.

  Moving on, I saw that Cal, Jennifer, and Penny’s reports were consistent with what I already knew. Penny had helped me prepare for the mission, so I was pretty well acquainted with what had transpired on their end that week. Mac and Captain Alvarez had personally interviewed all three while Sandi watched through the two-way mirror. She concluded that none of the three was hiding “anything remarkable.” She believed that each gave the best version of events “as they knew it to be true”—whatever that meant.

  None of the Cryptos had commented on the encryption being unsophisticated. I wasn’t surprised to learn that; if they’d said something, it would’ve been investigated. I was pretty sure that the only reason Rider admitted it was because the person who’d been harmed by his omission asked him directly. Also, I hadn’t simply read his mind like Sandi; I’d been controlling it, digging through his memories. He really hadn’t had a choice.

  Mac annotated Penny’s evaluation to explain that “Operative Latimore’s feelings of dishonesty are related to the unauthorized assistance that she provided for Hunters’ Pledge, Natalia Lyons.” Oopsy. Now if I was ever cured, not only would I have to answer to the Placement Committee for totally screwing up my solo mission, but also for accepting outside help—Pledges were supposed to plan and research their solo assignments alone.

  “Everyone cheats. The committee won’t deny your appointment just because you had help on your solo assignment.”

  Donavon’s voice startled me so much that I jumped slightly in my seat. I’d connected my communicator to the small computer in the passenger-side dash since the screen was larger. Apparently, Donavon was reading them, too.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “I wasn’t worried about that,” I shot back, haughtily. Obviously I’d just been contemplating that very notion, but I hated the way that Donavon sounded all-knowing.

  “Whatever, Tal.”

  The tension in the cramped space increased exponentially. This ride needed to end now.

  Thankfully, we were almost to Headquarters. When we did finally touch down, fifteen minutes later, I grabbed my bag and jumped out of the vehicle as quickly as I could mentally pop the door lock.

  Captain Alvarez was waiting for us outside the hangar.

  “Lyons, McDonough, how are you?” he asked as Donavon exited the car, slowly and much more gracefully than I had.

  “Good, thank you, sir,” I responded with a tight smile.

  “Glad to be back on my old stomping grounds, sir,” Donavon answered cheerfully. Apparently his surly mood was reserved exclusively for me.

  “Good. I have rooms in the guest tower for both of you. Natalia, it’s my understanding that you want to speak with two Crypto Operatives?”

  “Yes sir, as soon as possible,” I replied quickly.

  “Director McDonough called ahead and asked me to track them down. They’re both waiting for you in an interrogation room in the main administrative building.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled.

  “Follow me,” he said before turning to Donavon. “McDonough, I trust I’ll see you again before you head back to school?”

  “Of course, sir.” Donavon inclined his head slightly in a show of respect.

  “Find me whenever you’re done with this fishing expedition,” Donavon sent me in a tone that conveyed anything but respect.

  “Whatever,” I sent back.

  Following Captain Alvarez across the lush Headquarters grounds, I inhaled the earthy scent of the dirt and trees and the sweet smell of the tiny flowers that grew along the stone pathways. A sense of longing filled me; I really missed being here.

  The Captain led me into a small building, and then down a short hallway to the right. He held the door to the main room open to let me pass through. Cal and Jennifer were seated in separate interrogations rooms. Both were visible through the two-way mirror in the larger exterior room, but a thick, soundproof wall divided the interior rooms. I watched both Brains through the glass for several long minutes.

  Cal was in the room to the left. He sat hunched over, his shaved head resting in large hands. I was surprised to find that I didn’t recognize his coffee-colored face and dark brown eyes when he finally withdrew his head from his palms. I just assumed that I would’ve seen him with Penny at some point. While his skin was smooth, untouched by age, I knew from his file that he was thirty-five. He was well built, like a Hunter, and tall; even sitting down, I could tell that he was at least Donavon’s height.

  As I studied his body language, his eyes darted nervously around the room. His mind buzzed steadily, indicating a great deal of brain activity, which was actually typical of most Brains that I encountered. Their minds were always churning, constantly working, analyzing every detail of a given situation.

  When I was done analyzing Cal, I turned my attention to Jennifer. She was younger than Cal—twenty-eight according to her file. Stringy black hair hung limply around an extremely pale face with deep-set, dark eyes, and she hugged her bony arms around a boyishly skinny frame. I’d seen her several times with Penny when I was a Pledge, but couldn’t recall having ever exchanged more than pleasantries with the girl.

  Since Cal was the one who’d actually found the data originally, I decided to start with him.

  Captain Alvarez took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs on the exterior side of the mirror as I made my way into the room on the left.

  “Cal Simmons?” I asked when I entered.

  “Yes ma’am,” he replied in a deep southern drawl.

  “I’m Talia—,” I started to say, but he cut me off.

  “I know who you are.”

  “Then you probably know why I’m here?” I continued.

  “You want to know about the Nevada Crane intel?” he guessed. He didn’t look nervous, but vibrations of uneasy energy tickled my skin.

  “I do.”

  The exchange was enough for me to latch on to his brain patterns. I knew that Sandi had already gone the telepathic route, but I was a much stronger Talent, and I didn’t want to compel the answers out of him unless I was sure that it was necessary. Besides not wanting to irreparably damage his mind, I hadn’t been exercising my mental muscles since being away from the Hunters and had yet to recover the energy that I’d expended questioning Grace and Rider.

  “Was there anything strange about the intel?” I asked.

  When Sandi questioned Rider, he hadn’t mentioned the encryption, so Mac hadn’t known to ask Cal and his team about it. Whether it was the mounting guilt that the lovesick Brains now felt, or because I really was that much better than Sandi, I couldn’t say. Since I knew what questions to ask, I felt that there was no reason to play coy.

  “Strange?” he shifted his eyes to the floor. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

  “The data—did you think that the encryption was too simple, considering it was about where Ian Crane would be staying?” I demanded.

  Yes, flashed through his mind, but he hesitated before saying, “Not really.”

  “You didn’t think that the code was ridiculously easy to crack?” I pressed, placing my palms firmly on the edge of the small table.

  Yes! His mind screamed so loudly that I was certain I couldn’t be the only one who heard it.

  “It was crude encryption,” he answered, tentatively.

  “Does data involving Ian Crane’s whereabouts normally have crude encryption?” I fired back.

  Anger and annoyance were starting to control me. Why was everybody lying about the encryption? Why was this so important? Why couldn’t anyone just admit that there’d been something strange going on? Why did none of these imbeciles realize how much damage could be caused by omitting a detail like that?

  “No, not normally,” Cal admitted.

  “Why didn’t you say anything at the time? Didn’t you think that it was odd enough to warrant saying something?” I hissed through clenched teeth. I was now leaning over the desk, my face inches from Cal’s ear. His face was still turned down, looking at some non-existent spot on the table.

  “The information was important. Teams had been searching for this type of intel, praying to intercept communications about Ian Crane’s whereabouts. And I did. I found out where he was going to be; I cracked the codes that led to us finding Crane in Nevada.” He met my eyes for the first time, urging me to understand.

  I did. He was proud of what he’d done. He felt triumphant that he’d been the one to intercept such an important communication. He hadn’t been able to contain his delight when he called in the find. He’d thought that he would be promoted. I understood completely. He’d risked the safety of another Operative for his own advancement; he’d risked my safety for his own advancement. I snapped.

  “You cracked the codes that led me to Nevada! You cracked the codes that led me into a trap!” I screamed, not caring that I was going completely off the rails with Captain Alvarez watching from the other side of the mirror.

  “I didn’t know,” he stammered. “I didn’t think...I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” Tears welled up in his dark eyes.

  “Obviously you didn’t think!” I shrieked, unable to control my emotions.

  I wanted to hurt him, wanted to reach across the inches that separated us and strangle him. Instead, I bore into his mind. Digging out the memories from that week, I searched for anything that would connect him to the Coalition. I didn’t find even a scrap of evidence supporting the notion that he was either in league with the Coalition directly, or a supporter of Crane’s objectives. I dug deeper. I knew it was risky. I didn’t care.

  Cal’s mind told the tale of a small boy who’d come to McDonough School when he was five. He’d proudly left his home in Florence, South Carolina, on Collection Day when government officials collect all of the children who tested positive for Talents and take them to the School.

  Like me, Cal spent his whole childhood training to become a Hunter. He’d, of course, known that he was a Higher Reasoning Talent since his testing results, but he’d never thought that meant he couldn’t become a Hunter.

  After his junior year in school, he’d taken the examinations to become a Hunter. He hadn’t even bothered to take the Crypto test. His arrogance at choosing only the Hunters made me squirm; I’d also put all my eggs in the proverbial Hunters’ basket.

  Surprisingly, he’d been chosen to Pledge. However, Cal’s team captain hadn’t reported favorably on his performances during the several missions he’d been a part of. He wasn’t recommended for permanent appointment to the Hunters. Cal never even got to go on his solo mission; he’d been dropped as a Pledge weeks before then.

  Luckily for Cal, he was an Elite-level Higher Reasoning Talent. When Cal was dropped from the Hunters’ Pledge class, the head of the Crypto unit offered for him to complete his Pledge year with them. He’d accepted, and even managed high marks from his mentor. Cal received an official appointment to the Crypto Division after graduation and eagerly accepted it. Still, his failure with the Hunters nagged at him; he was desperate to prove himself. So desperate, in fact, that he was willing to overlook a glaring, almost fatal inconsistency in the data.

  Disgusted, I drew back out of his mind. I felt dirty after witnessing such raw ambition. He was pathetic. Suddenly, I found it difficult to be in the same room with him. I stared straight into his slightly dazed, wholly terrified eyes. I might not have robbed him of memories, didn’t thoroughly demolish his subconscious the way I’d unintentionally destroyed Ernest’s, but I knew that my interrogation hadn’t been painless. I hadn’t meant for it to be.

  I could gently sift through a person’s mind without them knowing that I was there. Digging deeper without their knowledge was a little harder, but not impossible. But from the moment I knew that Cal was lying to me, I’d wanted him to know how powerful I was. I wanted him to know that no matter how good he thought he was, I was better.

  Part of me knew that I was being just as egotistical as he had been, wanting to prove my worth to him like he’d wanted to prove his to Mac. It was silly; our Talents weren’t even similar, not comparable at all—mine were much cooler.

  “You make me sick,” I whispered in a low, threatening voice. I was so close to him that I swore I could feel a tiny whoosh as the dark hairs on his arms stood at attention. Pushing back from the table, I turned and walked through the door to the observation room, clenching my hands into fists to stop them from twitching.