by Sophie Davis
“Twelve, including Epsilon and myself,” Alpha replied. “But the Clearwood Institute was not the only facility of its kind in the United States. It was the first, though.”
“Of the twelve of you, how many are still alive?” I asked.
“Erik,” Talia snapped. She shook her head, annoyed.
“It is okay.” Alpha forced a small smile. “Only Epsilon and I survived our first year. Statistically, we were told that only one of us would complete the program and become Privileged.”
Her answer was not unexpected. Still, it made my temper flare. The nerve of the McDonoughs was astounding. What made them they think they had the right?
Across from me, Tals’ desire for Gretchen’s blood was so strong that I had to erect a solid barrier to keep her thoughts and emotions from influencing mine. I couldn’t handle any additional rage at the moment.
“You were given additional talents at the Institute?” I managed to ask.
“Eventually, yes. In my first year, I was given injections to enhance my telekinetic abilities.” Blood rushed to Alpha’s cheeks, and she stared down at the empty muffin wrapper. “I became extremely capable, able to move large and heavy objects easily. Every day, I spent hours practicing. The doctors monitored and regulated my meals, vitamins, and exercise.”
“When did you start receiving additional talents?” Talia asked. Leaning forward, she hung on every detail of Alpha’s story.
Alpha didn’t hesitate or need to think about the response. “Eighteen months after my arrival. I received the ability to morph, as well. My advanced telekinetic abilities did not remain on their own and neither did the morphing talents. I was given regular injections to continually boost my power.”
She chose her words carefully, and I didn’t need to read her mind to know why. The scars on Alpha’s body that she kept hidden were the result of the methods the Clearwood Institute had used to assess the full strength of her abilities. In short, she’d been tortured to determine the maximum range of her talents.
I knew exactly what that felt like.
While I still had my reservations about the Clearwood children—whenever the McDonoughs were involved, I never ruled out the possibility of a trap—Alpha had been through enough. I wouldn’t ask her to relive the horrors.
“How many abilities do you have?” I asked her instead.
“Eight, technically. Only five that I am able to use with any proficiency.”
Talia started counting on her fingers. “Telepathy, telekinesis, morphing…what am I missing?”
“Light manipulation and perception manipulation.” Alpha shrugged sheepishly. “I was never able to do much with electrical manipulation or true mind manipulation. Though I do not possess any Higher Reasoning abilities, I have a high IQ and a lot of training with computers.” She swallowed hard and averted her gaze. “Despite being given my brother’s blood, I have never been able to heal another.”
Another? Does that mean…?
“Can you heal yourself?” I asked in amazement.
“To an extent, yes,” she admitted. “Cuts and scrapes mend almost instantly. Broken bones take a few days to fully repair themselves. My body is able to fight off any pathogen introduced to my environment, though some take longer than others to eradicate.”
Talia’s lips parted, and she started to ask for more details. I shook my head vehemently. “Let it go,” I sent.
Alpha could hear my mental command to my girlfriend but pretended otherwise. Still, she sent a wave of gratitude my way.
“Was Epsilon born Talented, as well?” I asked, shifting the focus of the conversation.
“Yes, a Morpher,” Alpha confirmed. “His path to Clearwood is similar to my story. They’d tell us we weren’t supposed to discuss life before the Institute, but we all did. Epsilon is naturally a gifted Morpher, but they chose him for Clearwood over the McDonough School because morphing is such a common ability. Now, his strongest talent is future gazing.”
I felt a trickle of deception. Alpha wasn’t lying, she just wasn’t telling the entire truth.
“He’s not a normal future gazer, is he?” Talia guessed.
“No, not exactly. Epsilon can see a multitude of outcomes given a set of circumstances,” Alpha explained, sounding as though she was leading a class. “If the circumstances change drastically, he will see the new potential futures as well.”
I didn’t want to ask too many questions about that ability; Alpha might tell us something that might inadvertently influence a future decision, and we didn’t need the additional complication.
“The twins and Zeta? Do they have natural talents?” Talia asked, also avoiding talk of the future and whatever Epsilon may or may not have seen in his mental crystal ball.
Alpha hesitated momentarily. “All three were informed they’re Talented, but only after the results of their blood tests were known. Like Epsilon and I, they were given boosters in their first year at Clearwood to enhance their talents. Unlike the two of us, none of them exhibited any abilities beforehand.”
That only left one.
“And Phi? I know you told me that he was born with the power to heal. Was he always as strong as he is now?” I asked.
Talia and I had both taken for granted that Phi was naturally an extraordinarily powerful Talent. After hearing about the repeated boosters, I wasn’t so sure.
“Yes,” Alpha said. “Always.”
Again, there was that trickle of deception. Maybe if I hadn’t been so tired, I might’ve realized the reason sooner. The math didn’t add up.
“Wait. How old is Phi?” Talia asked.
Alpha laughed a little uneasily. “Ten. To answer your real question, I never met my brother before he was brought to the Clearwood Institute.”
“Which was when?” I asked.
“Last year. After I was taken, I wasn’t allowed contact with our family. My parents worried the same would happen to Phi, so they hid him successfully for years. He was reported when he healed a child who was badly injured in a fire.”
“I have one more question,” I began.
Between waking up early for the briefing and reliving painful memories, Alpha was exhausted. Though I didn’t want to keep pressing her for information, I wanted confirmation one way or another about a theory. It had been forming in my mind ever since Alpha told us that Phi’s blood gave her the ability to heal herself.
Talia beat me to the punch. “Gretchen didn’t leave you behind, did she?”
“No, we ran away,” Alpha admitted. “I do apologize for lying. I only want to protect my brother.”
“Protect him from what, exactly?” I asked, confident I knew the answer.
“By experimenting on me, those at Clearwood realized that my brother’s blood could be used to create soldiers who could survive bullets, exposure to chemical and biological weapons. They’d be able to fight through just about any injury.” Sucking in a deep breath, Alpha glanced from Talia to me. “Not only was Phi in danger, but the Privileged army would have been unstoppable.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Talia
Alex and Mr. Kelley joined Erik and I not long after Alpha left to spend time with Phi and the Clearwood children. Robo Gentry brought us a larger assortment of muffins, along with several egg dishes and pitchers of juices. At some point, Erik fell asleep on a couch. I considered letting Alex draw on him but decided against it. We didn’t need my boyfriend in a bad mood for the mission to New Mexico.
After we ate, I took Alex to visit Frederick. Erik was still sleeping, with strict instructions to Robo Gentry that he wasn’t to be disturbed. Mr. Kelley followed us into the hallway.
“Want to come with us?” I asked him.
“I have some things I want to check on,” he replied. “You two go ahead.”
Frederick was awake when we got to his room. Alex wiggled free from my arms and ran to the bed. Planting his hands, the little boy launched himself over the railing on the side.
“Be
careful,” I called. “Not too rough.”
He curled up beside Frederick and propped his head on his hand.
“Henri is hiding,” Alex whispered.
My blood ran cold. The smile on Frederick’s face evaporated. His brown eyes peered at me over the top of Alex’s blond hair. I hurried over to join them. Placing a hand on Alex’s back, I fought to keep my voice even.
“Have you seen Henri?”
Alex nodded enthusiastically. My heart pounded, and Frederick sucked in a deep breath.
“When did you see him?”
He shrugged. “When I woke up.”
“Can you still see him now?” Frederick asked.
Alex closed his eyes and scrunched his face.
Deep breaths, I thought. The advice was for me as much as it was for Frederick.
“Henri’s still hiding,” Alex announced after a moment.
Though I felt bad about asking a child for a favor, I did it anyway.
“Can you draw a picture of him right now, Alex?”
“Yep.”
Using a house comm, I called Crane and asked for paper and pencils to be brought to Frederick’s room. He and Brand arrived five minutes later with the art supplies. Alex laid on his stomach on the carpet and started sketching. Crane, Brand, and I huddled around Frederick’s bed to watch.
“If nothing else, this means he’s alive,” Crane told Frederick in a low voice. Henri’s boyfriend looked like he’d swallowed razorblades.
“We’ll find him,” I added, sounding far more confident than I felt.
Even with Alex’s drawing, there was no guarantee we’d located our lost teammate. If Henri was hiding, the picture really might just be a dark space somewhere.
“We just talked to the agents in charge of the rescue in Interlaken,” Brand said softly. “An army of Privileged has taken the town. Aside from the initial attack, only a small number were injured. As far as we know, no one is seriously hurt.”
“How is that possible?” I demanded. Belatedly, I realized how that sounded. “I just mean, shouldn’t there have been a fight? Didn’t the UNITED agents try to stop the takeover?”
“The ones who were there did fight back, but there were only a few. They’re the same few who were harmed,” Crane replied warily. “Intel suggests the Privileged are holding them separately in an old jail outside of downtown. Right now, we don’t know what Gretchen has planned for them.”
“What about the evacuees?” I asked. “Are they locked up too?”
“From what we understand, they’ve only detained the troublemakers,” Crane said. “The Privileged have set up a perimeter. As long as people stay within the confines, they’re allowed to wander freely within Interlaken.”
“Gretchen’s demonstrating how wonderful and misunderstood her people are,” I grumbled. Thinking of her husband’s tactics, I tried to anticipate the Privileged’s next move. “She’s just buttering them up. The brainwashing will go down better that way. She won’t do anything horrible to the agents until she has won over the evacuees. If she can’t win them over, she’ll use the agents to scare the rest into following her.”
It wasn’t any great revelation; we were all thinking this was her grand plan in Switzerland. It wasn’t a terrible plan, either. If I were going to take over the world, I might have used similar tactics.
Except, you wouldn’t need any convoluted schemes, I thought.
Brand’s warning about the dangers of my powers in Gretchen’s hands came back. I couldn’t let myself be caught in New Mexico. Maybe it was best that Brand would be in charge. He was the only one cold enough to do what might be necessary to keep my talents from our enemies.
“Where were all the other agents?” Frederick’s question interrupted my morbid thoughts.
“Transporting evacuees to Interlaken,” Crane replied. “The ports are overrun with groups like Sons of After, and our resources were already stretched thin. The majority of those stationed in the area were busy keeping order or transporting people safely when the Privileged attacked.”
“It seems that the timing was deliberate,” Brand added. “We believe Gretchen McDonough only sent a small portion of her army to Interlaken. They struck when UNITED’s numbers were lowest.”
“She would have wanted as little resistance as possible and few casualties.” Crane’s dark gaze landed on me. “Just like you were saying. She wouldn’t want to turn the evacuees against the Privileged from the start by killing the agents. She may need them as leverage later.”
“Done!” Alex announced.
Scrambling to a sitting position, he held up his drawing. Brand was closest. His gaze raked Alex’s work, expression unreadable. When Brand turned the picture around so the rest of us could see it, my hopeful mood deflated a little. Henri wasn’t hiding in a dark room, but the image wasn’t much more helpful that. He was somewhere like a canyon or ravine with water rushing over rocks and no distinctive landmarks.
“You did great, sweetie,” I told Alex. He toddled over to me and held up his arms. After picking him up, I settled Alex on the bed beside Frederick and then turned to Crane.
“Is there a chance…?” I asked, leaving the end of the question unspoken so Alex wouldn’t think his drawing was unhelpful.
“Interlaken has two mountains nearby, this could be any number of places,” Brand said. His voice trailed off at the end, as if there was something more he might say.
My hope flickered. Contrary to his words, Brand was optimistic. I jumped on his moment of hesitation.
“But?” I prompted.
Brand blew out a breath. “But UNITED scouted the area pretty thoroughly over the last month. We were looking for ghost towns to relocate Talented in case the treaty failed.”
I smiled. “Sounds like Victoria. Prepare for every potential outcome.”
Brand looked at Frederick. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I’ll show Alex’s sketch to the agents who were involved with the scouting. One of them might recognize something.”
Placing my hand over Frederick’s, I squeezed and nodded encouragingly. “Henri’s alive and safe. We’ll find him.”
Brand and Crane left to go meet with more important political people. I offered to stay with Frederick for a while longer, but he wanted to be alone. He didn’t need to explain his reasons to me, though I suspected he was going to try viewing Henri for himself. With a promise to visit again as soon as we returned from New Mexico, Alex and I left Frederick’s room.
Unsure how to entertain Alex, I took him to visit with my other friends around the palace. Since he’d never met Riley before, I started there. As hoped, he was delighted by Riley’s accent and animal impressions. Like everyone he encountered, Alex charmed the Brit right back. With Willa still missing, Riley needed the cheering up.
“Have you heard anything?” Riley had waited until the end of our visit to ask.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I wish I knew more.”
Unlike my vow to Frederick about Henri, I didn’t promise Riley we’d find his girlfriend. I wasn’t sure we would. Maybe it was naïve to believe that Henri was going to be okay, especially when I was basing that belief on a feeling that might’ve been nothing more than desperate hope. Regardless, I didn’t feel the same way when I thought about Willa.
Is that a sign? As the thought crossed my mind, I fought against giggling inappropriately. A sign, really? When did I start relying on signs? It was as ridiculous as relying on a Visionary’s predictions.
How many will die before this ends?
When we left Riley’s room, Alex and I stopped by the crypto bank for a progress check. Kenly, Penny, and Epsilon were all silently working through more of Mac’s files. Their brains were moving so fast, it gave me a headache as soon as I entered. Alex had ahold of my hand and squeezed my fingers tightly. A soft whimper escaped him, and I picked the child up.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked.
Gaze unfocused, he glanced toward Penny, Kenly, and Ep
silon. One of them was upsetting him. I was confident I knew which one.
“It’s okay.” I stroked Alex’s silky hair. “That’s Epsilon. He was with us at the school? Remember?”
Alex squirmed. “I know,” he mumbled.
Shifting Alex’s weight, I hugged him to me.
“Not trying to interrupt you,” I called over to the trio. “Just wanted to see how things are going?” I stayed close to the door since Alex was clearly uneasy.
Penny joined us, giving Alex’s leg a squeeze.
“We haven’t found anything helpful just yet,” Penny said. “But I have an idea based on something in McDonough’s notes and Emma.” She frowned.
My eyebrow arched. “Emma?”
“Yeah. I need to talk to Dr. Patel, but…. “ Penny’s lime-green eyes studied Alex. “What’s wrong, little man?”
He clung tighter to my neck and squeezed my waist with his legs.
“I think he’s just being shy,” I said. “He doesn’t know Epsilon and Kenly.”
Penny’s gaze narrowed.
“I don’t think they’re the ones making him nervous,” she said quietly. Forcing a smile, Penny shooed me away. “Go. Frolic. Play. Do whatever it is that you do before a big mission. After I touch base with Dr. Patel, I’ll let you know if we have cause to celebrate. Either way, it wouldn’t be like a big celebration. Not with cake. Or champagne. Well, maybe champagne. But only one glass.”
My best friend often rambled. It didn’t usually mean much, it was just part of Penny’s personality. But Alex wasn’t the only one out of sorts. Something was off with Penny, too. I’d have written it off as a residual effect of her episode the day before, yet this was the first I’d noticed the odd behavior.
Penny made another shooing motion with her hands. “Go. You’re distracting me.” To show she was teasing, Penny stuck out her tongue. The more she tried to act like things were normal, the more I believed they weren’t.
Still, Alex was shaking like he was cold, and Penny clearly didn’t want to discuss the source of her nervous energy around so many ears.
“Okay, well, I’ll say goodbye before we leave tonight,” I promised. Alex and I left, heading for the nursery.
