The Marked

by Inara Scott

  “So…” I trailed off, unsure what to do next. “Are you going to get something to eat?”

  “Nah.” He waved a hand. “I’ll just eat double in the morning.”

  “Oh.”

  “I thought maybe we could go for that walk now.”

  “Oh!”

  It was damp and cold and would probably start raining any minute, but there wasn’t a chance in the world that I’d turn him down. We didn’t have to be in our rooms until seven thirty, and while we were supposed to stay around the lawn or the buildings during free time, everyone knew that couples made out in the woods. It was much safer than doing it in your room, where it was not only forbidden (doors open and feet on the floor if you were entertaining!), but also patrolled and monitored.

  “We don’t have to go far. Maybe just up to the practice fields?”

  He gave me that slow smile and stepped closer. I was helpless.

  “Sure, yes, that sounds great,” I stuttered.

  “Do you need to get a jacket?”

  If I went upstairs, Esther and Hennie would give me hell. “No, I’ve got my sweatshirt. I’ll be okay.”

  We started out across the grass. Cam took my hand as soon as we ducked outside the circle of light surrounding the Res. A gentle sprinkling of rain began to fall on us as we made our way through the dark.

  “Are you done now?” I asked. “With the investigation, I mean. Now that the real Watchers are coming.”

  He pushed a lock of thick chestnut hair back from his forehead. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I don’t know. Mr. Judan told me that he still has leads for me to investigate. It sounds crazy, but sometimes I get the feeling I’m the only one Mr. Judan trusts completely.”

  “That is crazy. Not that you aren’t totally trustworthy,” I added hastily. “But it isn’t right for him to dump so much on you. You are still in school.”

  “I know. It’s just—he’s done so much for me. I don’t want to let him down.”

  I could tell how exhausted he was, so I bit my tongue and didn’t say what I was thinking: All Mr. Creepy has ever done is use your talent and feed you an occasional Thanksgiving dinner.

  “You shouldn’t feel bad, Cam,” I said carefully, anger at Mr. Judan flooding through me. “You don’t owe him anything. Besides, you work your tail off for him. He should be grateful he has you on his side.”

  “Thanks, Dancia. I don’t know why, but I don’t feel right complaining about him to anyone but you.”

  I glowed with relief at his words. Cam did want to tell me things, even sensitive things about Mr. Judan. He was probably just under some vow of secrecy. I couldn’t even be sure Mr. Judan wasn’t using persuasion on him to make him do whatever he wanted.

  I didn’t quite understand how Mr. Judan’s talent for persuasion worked. I had asked Cam about it once, because he’s a Level Two for persuasion. Cam could use what you already felt or believed and strengthen it, but Mr. Judan could take things you had never thought about before and make you a fanatical believer in them. That was the difference between a Level Two and a Level Three.

  Cam also said that Mr. Judan’s talent only worked when you were with him, and that he couldn’t control your mind permanently. I found that to be a huge relief.

  “Hey, just doing my job.” I didn’t say anything else about Mr. Judan. I figured Cam was too tired and frustrated to hear anything bad about him just then.

  Cam stopped and took my hands in his, turning so that we could face each other. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer; our bodies were touching, and our faces were just inches apart. “So, anyway…I didn’t actually come out here to talk about Mr. Judan.”

  I gulped. All thoughts of Delcroix, secrets, and the Program dissolved in an instant. “No?”

  “No. You know I’m not your Watcher anymore.”

  My heart fluttered. “The thought had occurred to me.”

  “So where do we go from here?”

  “Maybe we pick up where we left off?” I said, my breathing suddenly becoming shallow and tight.

  He leaned forward. I tipped my head back up to allow our lips to meet.

  The kiss was slow, our bodies in perfect sync. We didn’t fumble around or bonk noses or do any of the things I was so terrified of. We just stood there, intertwined. It went on forever, that kiss; or maybe there was a series of connected kisses, I don’t know. I remember warmth. I remember his hands around my waist. And I remember wanting him never to let me go.

  My eyes shot open early on Monday morning, well before the sun was up. I stayed in bed as long as I could, trying to go back to sleep. It was futile. At about a quarter to six I gave up and rolled out of bed. I knew Hennie and Esther would sleep until the last possible minute, but I couldn’t stay in the room any longer.

  Careful not to wake Catherine, I grabbed my clothes and headed for the bathroom. She was awake by the time I returned, looking bleary-eyed and grumpier than usual. I waited until she headed for the shower to sit at my desk and pull out my new schedule. It showed my afternoon focus classes, separated each day by topic and instructor. The class names—Scientific Ethics, Introduction to Physics, and independent study—gave no hint as to what would really follow.

  I headed for the Main Hall as soon as the cafeteria opened. By then, the halls were a chaotic tangle of girls in towels running between rooms and waiting for the showers. I allowed myself a tiny smile as I started down the stairs. Cam and I had spent most of Sunday together, walking around school holding hands and catching up on everything that had happened over winter break. Hennie and Esther went crazy when they saw us. I think Esther was even more excited than I was.

  I lingered in the hall by the second floor, where the juniors’ rooms were, hoping to get a glimpse of Cam. This was a huge mistake, because it put me within the sights of Anna, who was in the hall near the stairs with her friends Molly and Claire.

  “Well,” Anna drawled, “if it isn’t Dancia the Wonder Girl.”

  I debated between sticking out my tongue, shoving her down the stairs, and being polite. It was early, and I hadn’t had my morning doughnut, so I wasn’t ready for a fight. I decided on polite. “Good morning, Anna.”

  Anna crossed her arms over her chest and walked to the stairs. Molly and Claire had been relatively friendly to me in the past, but this morning they gave me only guarded smiles before their eyes flicked back to Anna.

  “So, you’re starting classes today,” Anna said. “I guess we’ll all have to be careful from here on out.”

  My smile hardened. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  Anna sniffed. “I saw Trevor talking to you at Initiation.”

  Claire shifted uneasily, looking up and down the staircase. “Anna, we probably shouldn’t be discussing this in the hall.”

  “Keep watch, then,” Anna said. “It isn’t like anyone could sneak up on you.”

  I paused for half a second to wonder what that meant. Did Claire have a talent for superhearing? Then I gave Anna a bright smile. “You know what, Anna? Trevor did talk to me. He told me how he’d be watching out for me.”

  Anna moved a few inches closer; just enough to seem threatening. “Trevor’s too nice for his own good. Just remember that we don’t all buy your stories, Dancia. There better not be any more ‘accidents’ when you’re around.”

  Molly dug her hands deep in her pockets. She was painfully skinny, and when she got nervous she would squeeze her arms against her sides and practically disappear. “Anna, I think you’d better—”

  “I’m not saying anything we haven’t all thought.” Anna leaned toward me. “I for one do not believe you’re committed to the Program just because you made all those pledges.”

  “Fine.” I got right in her face for a minute, close enough to look down at her perfect red lips and thick brown hair. She was a few inches shorter than me, which usually made me feel big and awkward next to her, but right now I liked the fact that she had to look up to meet my
eyes as I spoke. “You don’t trust me. I don’t care, Anna. I’m a part of the Program now. I’ve got as much right to be here as you do.”

  Anna barely paused. “Oh, really? Then I have a question for you, Dancia. If Jack comes back, are you ready to do the right thing and turn him in? Are you loyal to the Program first, or Jack?”

  My mouth flapped open at the unexpected question. It took far too long for me to spit out the words. “Jack’s gone, and I chose to stay. I’m loyal to the Program, Anna. That’s all you need to know.”

  Anna turned away, casually flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder. “If you say so.” She motioned to Claire and Molly, who followed her down the hall. Just as I had started to relax, she turned back around. “By the way, you told Cam about your little fling with Jack, right?”

  I froze. What did Anna know about my—whatever it was—with Jack? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You and Jack, Dancia. We know you were together.”

  “You’ve been spying on me?” I looked at her in horror. The only way Anna could know that would be if she’d watched me in my backyard the day I’d kissed Jack. “Is that how you treat your family?”

  Anna gave me a cool smile of satisfaction. “All I care about is the Program. You may have fooled some of the people around here, but I’m still watching.”

  I RAN down the rest of the stairs and flung open the outside door. Suddenly, it occurred to me that Anna might have had no idea what happened between me and Jack. She might just have made a very good guess. And if that was the case, my reaction had proven her right.

  I stopped in my tracks and gazed up at the sky in frustration. How could I have been such an idiot? The last thing I wanted was for Cam to find out what had happened with Jack. I’d always told him Jack and I were just friends. If he found out now that we’d kissed, he’d think I’d been lying all along. And worse yet, he might think I had a thing for Jack, and that that was why I wanted to protect him.

  I trotted around the side of the Main Hall, knowing I was risking a full-on hair disaster if I stayed out in the rain. It had drizzled steadily through the night, and the Delcroix dragons that guarded the front of the Main Hall were tinged with gray, water dripping down their wings and falling from their open jaws. Thanks to Mr. Anderson’s talent for gardening, the grass around the school was green and springy, without a hint of the mud, decaying leaves, and weeds that riddled most of the houses in Danville. A few roses bloomed beside the Bly, which stood to the left of the Main Hall. Unfortunately, Mr. Anderson couldn’t do a thing about the rain.

  I ran up the marble steps and loitered for a moment in the front of the hall, surrounded by the trophy cases and stunning works of art that I barely noticed after the first few weeks of school. There was no reason to panic. I hadn’t actually admitted anything, and in any case there wasn’t much to admit. Jack and I had kissed once, way before Cam and I got together. It wasn’t like I’d cheated on Cam. Besides, Anna would have to admit that she’d been spying on me if she wanted to prove anything.

  I walked into the cafeteria and scanned the room. My heart fluttered when I saw Cam at a table with Trevor and a couple of other juniors.

  I squared my shoulders. I had to get used to hanging out with Trevor. He was Cam’s best friend. Besides, he claimed to want to help me. The same was obviously not true of Anna, but it was possible that Trevor was on my side.

  I had almost screwed up the courage to walk over to their table when Barrett—the tall senior with the Earth Talent—approached. He was well over six feet tall but couldn’t have weighed much more than me.

  He handed me a chocolate doughnut as he spoke. “’Mornin’, D. You ready to start your focus classes?”

  I liked him as soon as he opened his mouth. He had a soft, easygoing lilt to his voice, and when he flashed me a smile, his dark eyes twinkled.

  I returned the smile. “Wow, thanks for the doughnut—er—Barrett? Have I got your name right?”

  He laughed. “Oh, sorry about that. I’ve been studying abroad, and I forget that no one knows who I am. Barrett Alterir. The mystery guy on your schedule. Hope it’s okay if I call you D.”

  “I figured that was you. And I don’t mind.”

  Barrett pointed to a small alcove off the main room. It held a couple of couches and comfy chairs. The freshmen had been warned to stay away from it because it was exclusively senior territory. “Come sit with us for a minute. They apply a little persuasion to keep the non-Program students from coming too close. It lets us hide in plain sight.”

  “I thought we weren’t supposed to use our talents on other people,” I said in surprise. “I mean, unless there’s an emergency.”

  Barrett grinned. “Mr. Judan does it. I guess he can do whatever he wants with his talent. Come on, I’ll introduce you around.”

  I glanced back at Cam and Trevor, but they were deep in conversation. I didn’t think they’d seen me come in. With some amount of relief, I nodded at Barrett. “By the way, thanks for the welcome Friday night,” I said as we walked. “That was pretty impressive.”

  Barrett bobbed his head. “I should be thanking you. We haven’t had a new Earth Talent since I entered the Program. I’ve never gotten to do it before.”

  “Are there really that few of us?”

  “There are more at Delhart and Delmun, the other two schools in the States, but I think we’re about three or four times as rare as the other types.” He motioned for me to walk in front of him as we passed between two tables. “Your Somatic Talents, those are a dime a dozen. The Life Talents, a little less common. But Earth’s the top. You’ll see. The bummer is that there aren’t many good teachers. I had to go to Switzerland to get past the basics.”

  “Switzerland?”

  “Yeah.” He grinned again and reeled off something in a harsh, guttural language that sounded at odds with his otherwise soft voice. “You’ll have to start learning German so you can go over and study with Fräulein Weinmacher. She’s amazing. She knows how to accelerate individual atoms. Very dangerous, but very impressive.”

  He stopped when we reached the couches. There were three guys and a girl in the tiny space, all sipping coffee and reading messages on their cell phones. I thought cell phones were forbidden in the cafeteria, but I guess the rules were different for seniors.

  “This is D., everyone. D., this is Esteban, Tara, Marcus, and Lucas.”

  “You’re training with Barrett?” Tara asked.

  Barrett gave me a hug around the shoulders. “She’s my new protégée. My legacy in this world.”

  “Run now, Dancia. While there’s still time,” Lucas advised.

  There was a chorus of friendly exhortations from the others. “Run!” “Run!” “Before it’s too late!”

  “Seriously, though, you’re lucky. Barrett’s the best,” Tara said when they had quieted down.

  Barrett inclined his head modestly. “Thanks, darling. Your check is in the mail.”

  She blew him a kiss. Tara had hazel eyes and red hair, which she wore in two low pigtails. There was a vibrant energy about her that complemented Barrett’s laid-back surfer vibe. I couldn’t tell whether they were friends or a couple. It was hard to imagine them together, but then again, who would have picked Yashir for Hennie?

  Barrett motioned for me to sit in an old leather armchair. He perched on the edge of the sofa next to Tara.

  “So, can you give me a hint about what we’ll be doing today?” I asked.

  “Hard to say. Mr. Fritz is in charge of developing your talent. I’m just his helper, to be honest. But I’ll be teaching you physics. We figured you needed to get in touch with the forces you’re playing with.”

  A happy shiver danced through me. “I told my friends I was focusing on science. That’s sort of true, isn’t it?”

  “Absolutely. You’ll just focus on a unique aspect of the sciences.”

  “It’s hard to know what to say about things. It feels weird to hide this from my fr
iends.”

  Barrett took a sip of Tara’s coffee. “We all feel that way. That’s why they try to keep the Program as much like the rest of the school as possible. You may have independent studies that you’ll have to be away from school for, or field trips with groups of other Program students, but you’ll mostly be in the classrooms upstairs or out in the woods around campus.”

  “Field trips?” I brightened. I’d never been far from Danville. Even a trip to Seattle would have been a big deal for me.

  “Field exercises, to be more specific. But you won’t start those until next year. This year, Mr. Fritz will keep you pretty close to home.”

  “Mr. Fritz is cool. He’s your focus teacher, Dancia?” Lucas was sprawled on the sofa beside Tara in a position of total relaxation. He ran a lazy hand over his head of short, curly hair.

  “Yep—him, Mr. Anderson, and Barrett,” I replied.

  Tara raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never heard of anyone having three teachers. What’s that about, Barrett?”

  “Dancia’s starting out with three of us so we can do a little catch-up,” Barrett replied.

  I glanced back into the cafeteria, my eyes lighting on Anna, who was now sitting next to Cam with her hand on his shoulder. I thought about what she’d said this morning, and then what Trevor had said on Friday night, when he’d asked me—begged me, practically—to be careful with my talent. If they thought I was dangerous and untrustworthy, it was a safe bet that there were others who felt the same.

  My shoulders sank. “It’s okay, you don’t have to sugarcoat it. They think I might hurt someone, right? So you’re like my new Watcher.”

  Barrett choked on a bite of his doughnut. “Scheiss, a Watcher? Are you kidding?”

  He looked genuinely appalled, and I said hastily, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just meant, well, I know I entered the Program too fast, and I figured you…”

  “D., you’re in the Program now. You don’t get watched anymore. Besides, the last thing in the world I want to be is a Watcher.” He winked at me. “Don’t tell you-know-who I said that. He thinks the sun rises and sets on his Watchers.”