by Sophie Davis
But I’d kicked off too hard, and Donavon, realizing what I was going to do, added his own strength into my swing; when my feet were over my head, I was much further off the ground than I’d anticipated. Donavon and I were locked in the awkward embrace when it happened.
I was completely upside down, his fingers encircling my wrist as my fingers frantically clawed at his. Suddenly, I became disoriented, losing awareness of my surroundings. I was no longer in control of my now-flailing limbs. Time slowed to a stand-still as gravity fought to return me to the ground. I didn’t fall back to earth gracefully as I had so many times before, but rather with legs floundering in a desperate attempt to get them underneath me.
My fingers would no longer obey my command to hold on to Donavon, and my grip slackened. My body began to convulse, arms and legs twitching as the seizure racked through my entire being. I wanted to cry out, but I was no more in control of my vocal chords than the rest of my muscles. My last conscious thought was that I hoped I landed on one of my fleshier parts, like my butt.
Chapter Eleven
“I always forget how amazing it is to watch her fight.” Janet’s voice cut through the haze that was clouding my brain.
“I don’t even know where she learned some of those tricks,” Mac responded, something like pride in his tone.
“Dr. Thistler says that the levels in her blood have dropped drastically,” Janet commented.
“Thank goodness for that,” Mac replied.
“I don’t mean to say I told you so ...but well, I told you so,” Janet said sternly.
“I know that there was some tension initially, but they have been fine for the better part of the week. It wasn’t Donavon’s fault; it was the extreme physical exertion,” Mac snapped.
“Fine?! Fine?!” Janet sounded exasperated. “Were you in the same status meeting that I was? They aren’t ‘fine’ Mac. She’s been on edge since day one. In light of what just happened, I suggest that we get another Operative in here, one with less emotional attachment to Talia.”
“No. Donavon stays. Natalia stays. They are both professionals. Hopefully, this little episode will demonstrate just how important it is that they put the past behind them and learn to be civil,” Mac retorted.
“Mac, they’re teenagers. You can’t expect them to act like adults – they aren’t adults,” Janet replied flatly.
“I can, and I do,” Mac said angrily.
I couldn’t stand to hear them talk about me like I wasn’t there. I had to intervene.
“Invalid trying to sleep over here,” I announced loudly.
A large hand gently covered mine. “Shhhh,” Donavon’s voice said soothingly.
I froze. Slowly, licking my extremely dry lips, I turned toward the sound of his voice.
“If you want me to leave ...I understand,” his mental voice said softly. He raised my hand, still enclosed in his, and rubbed it against his stubbly cheek. My throat ached as I tried to swallow my unease. I wanted to tell him exactly where he could go ...but something stopped me. As upset as I’d been over Donavon’s betrayal, I really missed his friendship. Going through the intense physical therapy alone had been agonizing. Penny was great, but she wasn’t Donavon; she didn’t know me like he did, she didn’t comfort me the way he did. And Mac was right. I was a professional. Age-wise, I might still be a teenager, but I’d been through more in my short existence than most people experienced in their entire lifetimes.
If we wanted to catch the spy, I needed to start acting like the Hunter that I’d trained to be even if I wasn’t technically a Hunter anymore.
“Stay,” I croaked out loud, my voice hoarse. “Water?” I added mentally. The straw hit my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth, guzzling the refreshing liquid as quickly as the straw would allow.
“Easy, easy,” Donavon chuckled. “I don’t want to be blamed for you choking to death.”
“Will you tell Janet and Mac to go in the hallway if they’re going to talk about me?” I urged him.
“They are in the hallway. Down by the nurse’s station, actually,” he replied, sounding a little uneasy. “Can you hear them?” he added hesitantly.
“Of course, I can hear them,” I snapped. “Their voices woke me up.”
Donavon didn’t reply, but I could tell that he thought that I was confused. I assumed that he could make out their words, but his Morph hearing was naturally much better than mine. I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t confused at all, that I could hear Janet and Mac loud and clear, but I hesitated. If they were really all the way down by the nurses’ station, there was no way that I should’ve been able to hear them without concentrating. Superior hearing was not among my many Talents. I had better-than-average senses, due to the sensory-deprivation training that I’d done, but they were nothing compared to a Morph’s. If Janet and Mac were really that far away, how on earth could I hear their conversation?
For some reason, that thought took a tangent and brought up the day that I’d been admiring Donavon’s eyelashes in class. He’d been a solid ten feet away. Sure, if I focused all of my mental energy to the task, I might have been able to hone in on his eyelashes, but I hadn’t been doing that. How had I picked up on the detail from so far away?
I must not have been keeping my thoughts private; no sooner had I begun to ponder his lashes, I felt them softly brush my cheekbone. As his face leaned closer to mine, I inhaled his familiar scent – soap and clean linens. Tingles traveled down my whole body, and goose bumps sprang up on my arms and legs. My head felt heavy, and I was glad that I was lying down; surely my legs would give out if I tried to stand.
Donavon’s mouth rested right next to my ear, and my body tensed at the proximity to his. What was happening? I didn’t want to feel like this. His breath tickled my ear as he whispered out loud, “butterfly kisses.”
My heart was pounding so loudly that I could hear each accelerated “thump.” Forgetting all my early anger, I nuzzled my face against Donavon’s. His mental voice hummed softly in my head. It was a melody that I knew well, the words that accompanied it long forgotten. I smiled, feeling truly at ease for the first time in months as I fell back to sleep listening to Donavon’s comforting song.
When I woke up next, Dr. Thistler was the one holding my hand. I looked at her and groaned. “Am I dying?” I asked dryly. I definitely felt like I was.
“No, despite your best efforts Natalia, you will live to fight another day,” she replied, irritation and disapproval flickering in her gray eyes. I had a bad feeling that I was in store for a lecture.
“Give it to me straight, Doc. I can handle it,” I replied, trying to sit up.
“Easy, Natalia,” she replied, adjusting the pillows behind my back to better support me. “It was a little bumpy at first. The adrenaline elevated the levels of the compound in your blood, but I increased the dosage of the equalizer. It took a couple of days, but you are stable now.” She smiled, pleased with her work.
“I’ve been out for several days?!” I exclaimed, not caring about her efforts to stabilize me. I’d be pleased when her efforts actually cured me.
“I felt that it was best to heavily sedate you while I stabilized the compound in your blood. It was necessary to prevent further seizures.”
“Great. Did it work?” I snapped. The liberties that she’d taken with my consciousness irked me; she was treating me like some experimental lab rat.
“It did, actually,” she replied, smiling and seemingly oblivious to my ungrateful attitude.
“Where’s Donavon?” I demanded. After spending the last week avoiding him, I craved his presence now.
“Mr. McDonough is teaching, but Headmistress Evans is waiting outside to see you once I finish checking your vitals,” Dr. Thistler answered pointedly.
“If you could hurry, that would be super,” I snapped. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, showing me just how much she appreciated my impatience. She quickly finished her appraisal of all my vitals, then opened the door to allo
w Janet to come in.
I waited for Dr. Thistler to leave before I interrogated Janet.
“What exactly happened?”
Janet studied me through narrowed green eyes assessing whether I was prepared for this conversation. She apparently decided that I was. “Several students saw the altercation between you and Donavon,” she explained. “Fearing the worst, I called Mac.”
I sighed. “So, you were there when ...I had the seizure?” I asked quietly, staring at the machine that monitored my heart rate like it was the most fascinating contraption in the world. The beeps came more quickly as color raced to my cheeks. Up until now, the only people to witness my seizures were Mac, Gretchen, and the Medics who treated me. The episodes were embarrassing and painful, and I hated for others to see me so vulnerable. I was supposed to be strong – a fighter, a Hunter.
Janet cleared her throat loudly, ignoring my anxiety. “Yes, Mac and I arrived shortly after it started,” she said gently. “Donavon realized that something was wrong as soon as you started to convulse. He caught you before you hit the ground.”
Thank goodness for that. He probably saved me a broken bone or two.
“The trembling didn’t subside,” she continued shakily. “When we finally got you to Medical, Dr. Thistler gave you the equalizer immediately, but it didn’t work. She had to give you a sedative.”
“How long?” I asked, keeping my eyes trained on the red spikes that blipped across the monitor screen.
“How long?” Janet repeated, sounding confused.
I turned to meet her gaze. “Yeah, how long before the seizure stopped?” I asked.
“An hour,” she whispered.
An hour? That was the longest yet; my condition was deteriorating. I blinked furiously, trying to hold back tears.
“You were agitated and kept screaming in your sleep. Mac was so worried that he refused to leave your bedside,” Janet pressed on.
“What did I say?” I grimaced, worried that my night terrors might have been a little too telling.
“Nothing coherent,” she assured me, “mostly just screaming.”
“I see. Is that why Dr. Thistler kept me comatose?” I asked quietly.
“Even after she sedated you, she couldn’t quiet the nightmares. It wasn’t until Donavon started sneaking into your room that you finally calmed down.” Janet watched me carefully for my reaction.
“Donavon? Really?” I arched an eyebrow in surprise. The more that I thought about it, the more her statement made sense. Donavon’s presence had always calmed me, eased my tension. The familiarity between us made me feel safe and secure.
“Natalia, do you want me to have you replaced?” she asked bluntly. “Because I will. Mac is against the idea, but I’m honestly not sure that you’re ready for this.”
I stared at her while carefully measuring my next words. She didn’t know that I’d heard her conversation with Mac, and I didn’t want her to know that I’d unwittingly eavesdropped. “No, Janet, I’m ready for this. I want to do this. Donavon and I are adults. We’re professionals who can put our issues aside – this assignment is too important.”
My words did nothing to dispel her concerns, but she didn’t argue further. She knew me well enough to understand that once I put my mind to something, there was no changing it.
Just then, Mac stuck his head through the doorway of my room. “Thank goodness you are finally awake,” he said, by way of greeting.
“Sorry to have inconvenienced you,” I replied sarcastically. “I’m feeling great, thanks for asking.”
“You are awake, Natalia. Therefore, you must be feeling better,” he replied absently. He apparently wasn’t overly concerned as long as I wasn’t dying.
“Did you come down here just to see my smiling face?” I asked. Mac’s indifference to my physical health annoyed me. I had to remind myself that Mac went out of his way over the past few months to aid my recovery. Still, the building animosity that I’d been experiencing since the previous year didn’t soften my irritation now.
“No. I need you to get dressed and come with me, now,” he answered. He wasn’t wasting any time. My displeasure grew, but I was itching to get out of Medical. After the extensive rehabilitation and current daily visits, I was none too keen to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. Where are my clothes?” I asked brightly.
“Wait just a minute,” Janet interrupted, “she has suffered a traumatic event, Mac.”
“Dr. Thistler said that her vitals are fine, and I need her to interrogate a suspect,” Mac snapped, baring razor-sharp canines. Janet and I both flinched at his open display of aggression. Like his son, Mac was a poly-morph, but he rarely displayed his Talent anymore.
“What are you talking about? Who?” I demanded, recovering once Mac’s lips safely concealed his teeth again.
“I had Penny dig deeper into Ernest Tate. Just as you thought, not everything adds up,” Mac responded, now composed and in control of his emotions.
“Hold on. I never said that I thought things didn’t add up. I just thought that maybe we should look in to his background.” I was suddenly on the defensive. Ernest had been nothing but nice to me. Sure, he was one of the few people that I’d encountered at School who was actually capable of hacking in to our network, but that alone didn’t make him a traitor. I honestly didn’t believe him capable of such deception.
“And that is exactly what I had Ms. Latimore do. She looked into his past – he has family in California. After monitoring his parents’ communicators, we’ve determined that his father is still in contact with them. Now I need you to do what you do best and find out where Ernest’s loyalties lie,” Mac replied.
My stomach sank. I genuinely liked Ernest, even considered us friends. I really hoped that he wasn’t a Coalition spy.
Sensing my trepidation, Mac spoke softly. “Sometimes, the people closest to us are the best at deceiving us.” He gave me a pointed look. “You, of all people, should know that.”
Suddenly, I loathed Mac. Just when I’d resolved to try moving past Donavon’s infidelity, Mac threw it in my face. Donavon had been the person closest to me until he betrayed me.
Janet shifted uncomfortably as she took in my distraught reaction to Mac’s hurtful words. “Can this not wait?” she asked him in a low voice.
“No. It cannot,” Mac replied shortly, refusing to even look at her, his gray eyes fixed on mine.
“Janet, would you mind running to my room and getting me something to wear?” I asked, determined not to be the first to break the silent battle of wills between myself and Mac. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her nod her agreement. After giving Mac an if-looks-could-kill stare, she walked noiselessly from the room.
Mac held my gaze, his stare so intense that if I’d known what was good for me, I would’ve backed down. After all, he had the advantage; he loomed over my hospital bed where I lay, still shaken from Janet’s account of my seizure. Sensing my resistance, Mac moved closer, a low rumble starting in his chest that was meant to intimidate me.
“Why is this so urgent?” I demanded, still refusing to give in, even though the weight of his mind bore down on me.
“Natalia, we have a SPY in the Agency,” he spat back, eyes flashing angrily and menacingly.
“I understand that, but what did Penny find that makes you so confident that he is our spy? I’ve talked to him, and he is a truthful person. I bet there are plenty of Agency Operatives with family members in the Coalition,” I said, gritting my teeth.
“Exactly, you have talked to him. You have not dug into his mind to see what he is hiding.”
“We don’t know that he’s hiding anything!” I yelled.
“No, you are right, we don’t. But we also don’t know that he is not,” Mac replied pointedly. “I did some further checking into Ernest’s claim that he ‘filled in’ for sick Operatives in the Crypto Division. That apparently has happened on several occasions o
ver the past year, but an appointment like that needs to be cleared by me, and it was not. I’ve suspended the Crypto Supervisor here at School, pending an investigation.”
His words cooled the blood boiling in my veins; that was exactly what I’d been afraid of. When Ernest confided that piece of information to me, I’d known that it was a serious breach of protocol. I’d hoped that it would prove to be miscommunication somewhere in the chain of command or that Mac would confirm that he’d sanctioned the temporary placement. Apparently, that was not the case.
“Do you plan on having me interrogate everyone that could possibly be the spy?” I demanded, feeling the fight go out of me. Mac was right. Ernest’s actions were suspect.
“Natalia, you have been here a week, and have found nothing!” he shouted at me, his cool demeanor cracking like ice on a frozen lake. “I am not going to wait around for another situation like what happened in Nevada! I will not see another Operative brought back from a mission at death’s door! I will not lose more Talents to the Coalition. I want this person found and I want him found now.”
Shame filled me at the passion in his words. He wasn’t uncaring. He had been there when the Medics brought me off the plane in Kansas. Mac had seen me broken and nearly ruined. Mac had painstakingly helped me to recover, both mentally and physically, from what Ian Crane and his men had done to me. Mac was the one pushing the Medical to find a cure for my condition. All he wanted in return was the same thing that I should want – to find the person who’d nearly cost me my life.
“Mac, I’m sorry,” I began, biting back the tears that burned behind my eyeballs.
“I don’t want sorry, I want answers, Natalia.” His voice was just above a whisper, and deadly serious as he leaned his face close to mine. I think that I preferred him yelling. Swallowing any further replies, I nodded my understanding.
Chapter Twelve
Janet returned soon after with a pair of jeans and soft cream-colored sweater. Thankful to shed the gray medical tunic, I dressed quickly while Janet and Mac spoke in loud whispers in the hallway.
