The Marked

by Inara Scott

  Trevor and I didn’t talk much.

  We fell into step together. The path narrowed, and I slipped on a mixture of mud and fallen pine needles. Trevor grabbed my arm, catching me just before I fell. “Be careful. You could hurt yourself.”

  “Sorry. My shoes are slippery.” I wondered whether I should try to extract my arm from his grip, but the truth was that my fake patent-leather Mary Janes had no traction, and I appreciated the support.

  We walked together for a few minutes. It was clear that he had something to say, and the longer he remained quiet, the more nervous I got.

  “So…what’s on your mind?” I asked. “You here to teach me the secret handshake? I kept waiting for it during Initiation.”

  It was a weak attempt to make him smile. “No,” he said. “No handshake. I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. This must be pretty overwhelming.”

  Trevor hadn’t liked the fact that Cam told me about the Program early. Knowing it existed put me in danger, and I had the feeling that Trevor considered protecting me to be one of his duties. He’d said as much when he found me and Cam in the Program library back in November.

  I stepped around a particularly large puddle. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m excited. I can’t wait to start training.”

  “Of course you are. But you need to understand that things are different now that you’re in the Program. You’ll be held to a different standard.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked uneasily.

  “Strange things tend to happen when you’re around. Like your friend Jack disappearing right after a convenient ‘natural disaster’ that happened on your street. Guns flying out of people’s hands. Tires exploding. Telephone poles falling. You’ll have to learn control, Dancia. I just want to make sure you understand that.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. Cam and I had tacitly decided not to discuss with anyone else the damage I’d done on my block. Of course, everyone could see it. It was hard to miss a thirty-foot hole in the street and a bunch of telephone poles ripped out of the ground. But Cam was the only one at Delcroix who could sense when someone was using their talent, and he’d told them the only talent he felt at the site was Jack’s. He didn’t like lying, but we both knew Jack wouldn’t be around now if we hadn’t helped him escape.

  “You think I was responsible for that sinkhole?” I forced a laugh. “Wow. That would be pretty amazing.”

  Trevor held back a branch for me to walk past. “I think you’re a good kid, Dancia. But the Program puts enormous pressure on people. Especially someone with your talent. This happened too fast.”

  My face began to burn. “What are you trying to say? That I’m not worthy of being in the Program?”

  Trevor turned halfway around, his body sideways in the path. The moon was behind him, and a frosty glow encircled his head. “I’m not saying that,” he whispered, looking up and down the line. “I’m just saying I wish things had been different.”

  The back of my throat stung. He had that same stern look he’d had during Initiation, but up close I could see that there was more. His forehead was wrinkled, and I realized that he was worried. Worried about me. Or maybe about the other people in the Program.

  The thought made me sick. “You can’t turn back time, Trevor. They made their decision. I start Program classes on Monday.”

  He jerked his head toward the line and dropped his voice lower. Some of Cam’s friends—Anna, Molly, and David—were heading toward us. “This isn’t a game, Dancia. You’ll be training and doing exercises with your talent. You lose control and people could get hurt. You crash a car and people could die.”

  I took a deep breath. This shouldn’t have been a surprise. Trevor and Anna had been whispering behind their hands and rolling their eyes in my direction ever since Thanksgiving. Even Cam had stopped trying to fight it. After a series of uncomfortable lunches, I’d come up with excuses not to eat with Cam and his buddies, and he didn’t make much of an effort to convince me otherwise. We spent most of our time together at the Residence Hall after classes, or working out in the weight room and running along the trail around the school.

  Now I knew why. Trevor and Anna thought I was some kind of time bomb.

  “You can think whatever you want, Trevor,” I said. “The fact is that Cam told me about the Program and Mr. Judan decided I should be initiated. I’m on your team now, whether you like it or not.”

  He shook his head. “You’re taking this all wrong, Dancia. I just want you to know I’ll be keeping an eye out for you.”

  It took a moment for the words to register, but when they did, my whole body tightened. He was placing me under surveillance again.

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll be fine on my own.”

  “But you’re not on your own anymore,” Trevor said softly. “You’re one of us now. Forever.”

  With that chilling pronouncement ringing in my ears, I spun around, chin high. I’d like to say that I began a controlled march in the other direction, but it was more of an awkward trot. Naturally, within a few strides I hit another patch of mud and skidded unsteadily on one heel, my arms flailing.

  “Whoa!” I started to go down, but was caught around the waist by two strong hands. “Trevor, let me g—” I cried, and began to struggle, but when I craned my neck around, instead of grim, icy blue eyes, I saw a pair of reassuring brown ones and that square chin that I always wanted to touch.

  “Hey, Dancia, it’s me, Cam.”

  Before I could think about what I was doing, I turned and flung myself straight into his arms.

  I imagine he was pretty surprised, but he just pulled me tightly against him.

  “What’s going on?” he said. “Are you okay?”

  What was going on? Trevor thought I was a loose cannon who shouldn’t have been let into the Program, and now all I could think about was who I might inadvertently kill on my first day. Mr. Fritz? Cam? What if Trevor was right? I’d certainly done plenty of damage before I came to Delcroix. I’d put three people in the hospital before the age of ten. I put a guy in a coma last summer. I hated to think what I could do once they gave me a little training.

  I buried my face in Cam’s shoulder. “It’s nothing. Nerves, I guess.”

  He held me away from him to look at me, but in the patchy light of the moon and the scattered flashlights held by the teachers, I doubt he could see much. Thank goodness. The last thing I wanted was for him to see me crying.

  Trevor seemed to have disappeared, for which I gave fervent thanks.

  “I know it can be intimidating at first,” Cam said. “I walked away from Initiation wondering what the heck I was doing there. I can’t disappear or see through walls, let alone do the things you can do. But things changed once I got to know everyone.”

  He put his arm around me, and we started walking again. A quiver passed through me. I let the feeling crowd out the despair of the moment before. My fingers closed around his, and I savored the warmth of his skin against mine.

  “What set this off?” he asked. “Was it just the ceremony?”

  I couldn’t mention Trevor. All he’d said was that he was looking out for me, and that they were all on my side. Hardly a threat.

  “I’m just…different,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know, being a freshman. Using my talent the way I do…”

  “You are going to fit in, Dancia.” Cam squeezed my hand gently. “It’s too bad the rest of the school comes back tomorrow morning. It would have been good for you to spend some time with the rest of people in the Program. But you know they can’t do that. Initiation’s one of the only times we all get to be together.”

  “It would be nice to know everyone’s names, at least,” I said.

  “In a week or two, Anna’s mom is having a Welcome Back party for the Program students. You’ll get to know everyone then.”

  My head snapped back. “Anna’s mom knows about the Program? I thought we couldn’t tell
anyone.”

  I didn’t mean to sound accusing, but it was incredibly hard for me not to tell Grandma the truth about Delcroix. I hid my talent from her because I didn’t want her to worry about me, but over the years, that had completely backfired, and she had ended up blaming herself for my lack of friends and for the fact that I didn’t fit in at school. If I could have told her about Delcroix she might have felt better. At the very least, she’d finally have understood what had been going on all those years.

  “That’s true. People who know about the Program are always at risk. But Anna’s parents were in the Program, too.”

  I hadn’t thought about parents with Level Three Talents having a kid with Level Three Talents. Delcroix seemed like the sort of secret that parents shouldn’t know about. Maybe because parents were always dead in fairy tales, and Delcroix still seemed very much like a fairy tale.

  “So, party at Anna’s house.” I tried to muster up some degree of enthusiasm. “Super.”

  “Hey, don’t get too excited.” Cam laughed as he pulled me even closer. “You know, they’re awfully strict at school about keeping couples apart. The party’s our chance to have some time alone.”

  I’m not sure how I would have responded, because that was when we heard the explosion, and everyone ducked for cover.

  IT WAS an earsplitting boom, like the biggest firecracker on the Fourth of July. I had no idea whether bombs sounded like that or not, but it was loud enough that everyone, including Cam, instinctively dropped their heads and covered them with their hands. Most of us stayed that way until all that was left was an echo, then an uncanny stillness.

  Cam straightened up a moment later and looked toward the Main Hall.

  I heard a voice over my shoulder: Mr. Judan’s deep, distinctive voice, laced with anger. “Let’s go.”

  Cam and Mr. Judan started off at a dead run. Most of the other juniors did too, along with the teachers. A few of them must have had Level Three Talents for speed, or maybe invisibility, because one minute they were there, and the next, they were gone. They didn’t say much, just grunted at each other, split into groups, and disappeared. Anna whipped off her shoes and started sprinting just behind Cam.

  I tried not to panic, but that was hard when everyone was running away like we were under attack. Was this what Cam meant when he said people who knew about the Program were always at risk?

  Jack had made fun of me for believing that the gates and locks and security systems at Delcroix were there to keep us safe. He had said they were there so the school could spy on us. But now it looked as if he had been wrong. Someone was trying to get into Delcroix. And tonight they’d succeeded.

  Mrs. Callias, Hennie’s French teacher and a sort of assistant to Mr. Judan, barked, “Stay here, all of you. Let the rest of them go ahead.”

  The sophomores and some seniors milled around anxiously. Most of the girls were wearing fancy shoes and dresses, and running didn’t appear to be an option for them. The sophomore guys seemed unsure if they should listen to Mrs. Callias or run back to school with the others. A few of them started hesitantly in that direction.

  “We don’t know what’s going on over there. It’s not safe.” Mrs. Callias glared at the boys lurking around the edges of the circle. “This isn’t a request.”

  I waited until she was occupied in arguing with one of the other sophomores, then bolted through the woods. I mean, come on. It wasn’t as if I were the kind of person who could stand around and hide while there was a fight going on. Besides, Anna was over there. And Cam. Whatever they could do, I could do too.

  My shoes didn’t have much traction, but they didn’t have heels, either, and I figured running in them was preferable to being barefoot in the dark. So I kept them on, moving cautiously, with a short stride that wouldn’t have gotten me far in a cross-country race but at least would keep me from ending up on my butt.

  I passed through the woods to the wet, slippery grass of the playing fields. From there I could see the others, distant figures on the horizon, running ahead of me and widening their lead. I tried to pick up my pace and catch up, but they were too far ahead.

  By the time I made it back to the school, most of the students, including Cam, Trevor, and Anna, had disappeared. Mr. Judan stood in front of the imposing marble entrance to the Main Hall, arms crossed over his chest.

  Lights from the building blazed through the tall windows, illuminating the red brick structure and shining on the wet grass around it. I could see students from the Program searching the classrooms inside. Mr. Fritz paced up and down the front lawn, running his fingers through his wiry hair and mumbling to himself while other students quietly consulted with their teachers.

  I found the scene strangely comforting. No evidence of the explosion could be seen, not even wisps of smoke or debris on the ground. There were no masked gunmen on the roof. No Uzis or rifles were trained on us from helicopters in the sky. We were just a bunch of kids and teachers standing around in funny robes.

  I breathed deeply in an attempt to recover from my awkward sprint and approached the only person who didn’t seem to have something to do.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Fritz?”

  “What’s that?” He spun around, startled, and then gave me a quick smile. “Oh, Dancia. Congratulations, dear. We’re thrilled to welcome you to the Program, you know. Absolutely thrilled.”

  “Thanks.” I motioned toward the Main Hall. “Do they know what happened? Was it a bomb?”

  “Good heavens, no, it wasn’t a bomb. Well, we’re not sure precisely what it was. Some large fireworks, or a small explosive, perhaps.”

  I paused. “A small explosive? Isn’t that the same thing as a bomb?”

  Mr. Fritz scratched his head. “You know, I hadn’t thought about it. I don’t believe I know what the precise definition of a bomb is. But in any case, there wasn’t much damage. Just a few windows in the Main Hall blown out by the noise. It was probably just a prank.”

  “A prank?” I laced my fingers together nervously. “In the Main Hall?”

  “They had to come in that way to disable the security cameras,” he said. “We don’t think anything was taken. The students are checking now to be sure.” He squinted at the building thoughtfully. “Rather remarkable that they made it past the gates, but not impossible, of course. We were all at Initiation. It is the most unguarded night of the year. We’ve got a top-notch security system, but there’s ways around those things. Any scientist worth her salt knows that every system has flaws.”

  “But how could they get past the gates without being seen?” I asked.

  “I suspect they came over the wall by the hidden driveway. We keep that area dark so we can use the garage at night without arousing suspicion. But that does make it more difficult to monitor.”

  I digested this information slowly. With all the talk of shape-shifting and mind reading, let alone watching people speak to owls and shoot fire thirty feet in the air, I’d had it in my head that we were in some kind of magic bubble here at Delcroix. I hadn’t thought they had spells on the place, exactly, but when you start dealing with the ability to manipulate the forces of gravity, or see through walls, the line between Level Three Talents and magic didn’t seem all that clear. It simply hadn’t occurred to me that we didn’t have perfect security.

  That Delcroix was vulnerable.

  “Do we have any idea who did it?”

  “Hard to say. It was well orchestrated and had to have been someone who knew the school well, knew the schedule, knew where to get in.…” There was a pause as Mr. Fritz seemed to muse over what he had said. Then he adjusted his collar nervously. “Never mind all that. Could have been anyone. Perhaps some local troublemakers.”

  I tensed. Mr. Fritz knew more than he was saying. “Local troublemakers? Who knew the schedule and where to get in? Who were well orchestrated? I’m sorry Mr. Fritz,” I said, trying to sound amused, “but that doesn’t describe anyone in Danville.”

  As if on cue, Mr.
Judan appeared behind Mr. Fritz, staring down at us in all of his blue-eyed dapperness. His purple cloak had been flung back over his shoulders, and he wore a tailored black suit beneath it. I have no idea how he had managed to run so fast in his perfect black loafers yet somehow not let a single drop of mud spatter the tops of his shoes or the hems of his pants.

  He was just that way. I bet mud was scared to land on him.

  “You’re right, Dancia,” he said. “The signs actually point to a gang we’ve dealt with before. Not from Danville, but Seattle. That’s all we know.”

  A thousand questions died on my tongue when I saw the reproving look in his eyes. If anything, that only piqued my interest more.

  Cam ran around from the back of the Main Hall, his cloak back on his shoulders, his hair tousled. He was coming from the Res.

  “All clear,” he said smartly to Mr. Judan. “No sign of entry in or around the Residence Hall. David is with Pete. There is no need to contact outside authorities.”

  Pete was a guard at Delcroix. Probably a Watcher. David was one of the other juniors. I wasn’t sure what his talent was, but figured it had something to do with communication. Mr. Fritz breathed a sigh of relief. Cam glanced in my direction, and our eyes met for one brief second. Crazy as it was amid all the chaos, my cheeks grew warm, and I had to turn away.

  “Well done,” Mr. Judan said. “We’ve got the Main Hall secured, and the Bly, too. Whoever did this is long gone.”

  I hadn’t considered the possibility that they’d try to break in to the Bly. That was where the teachers had their rooms, and the students treated it as sacrosanct. No one even dared walk onto the porch.

  “I’d like to search the perimeter now, to see if I can determine the point of entry,” Cam said. “I’ll lose the marks if I wait much longer.”

  Cam’s talent was sensing when someone had used a Level Three Talent. He could feel it when it happened, but more than that, he could actually see it if he was close enough. Generally, he could tell only how many people had used their talents in an area, not who they were. But there were a few marks he knew by sight. He knew mine because he’d been my Recruiter. He’d been watching my mark for years trying to figure out who in Danville was using a Level Three Talent.