One of the CGE’s top agents didn’t even recognize it.
“Do you think you’ll be able to find out from the video Chris used tonight?” I asked Greene.
He didn’t answer immediately. “I can’t say with any certainty. I believe Mr. Stevens wrote some kind of computer script for it, based off of choices I provided. I’ll have our head scientist in R&D look into it. He may have a better understanding of the script used and may have ways to sort it out. But as I said, I can’t guarantee it.”
“I understand,” I said with a small nod.
“Was there anything else you needed?”
I started to say no, but then I nodded. It was a stupid question, unimportant compared to everything else going on. But I still wanted to know the answer. “I’ve been reading my mom’s journals still and she mentioned a Robert.” I bit my lip and looked up. “Do you know if that was my dad or just…just some other guy?”
“There were, as you can imagine, more than one Robert around at that time, but if I’m recalling correctly, he was the only one she spent any time with outside of class. So, if I had to guess, I’d say that, yes, she was speaking of your father.”
At least that was one bit of good news. Still, I struggled to smile. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Anything else I can help you with?”
“No, that was it. Thank you.”
“I’ll speak with Mr. Monroe, if possible, and let you know as soon as I have an answer.”
“Okay. Thanks again.”
He nodded. “I’ll speak with you later, Mr. Holt,” he said, then walked away.
Peter turned to me, gave me a warm smile. “We’ll find it for you, Jade. It’s only a matter of time.”
I sighed. “I guess I have plenty of that.”
Peter laughed. “You do.”
“But I want that demon. I won’t stop until I find it.” Especially now.
“I know that. You want revenge; I get that as much as anyone else.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Greene knows that’s my plan. He knows that’s why I joined.”
“Even if either of us had known what demon it was, you know he wouldn’t have let you go after it immediately. Definitely not by yourself. And before you get even more defensive, I’m not saying he won’t ever. But I know the director, and I know he won’t let you go after it if he thinks there’s a chance you’ll get yourself killed.” He took a step closer, lowered his voice. “Even if you had found it tonight, you’re not ready. I’ve seen you fight, and I’ve talked to Director Greene and your teachers. You’re good. No one will deny that. But you’re not ready, and I don’t think you can deny that.”
“I know that.”
“You’re a smart girl. But even smart people make dumb mistakes. Until we do find it, use the time to your advantage.”
“I will. I am.”
“And, as one hunter to another, I’m telling you to take this time to train, to learn everything you can. Not just about that demon, but all of them. Know your enemies, Jade. Because the demon you’re after isn’t your only one.”
“I am, or I’m trying. But the stupid texts only let me read about so many.”
“You know there’s a reason for that. One class of demons per Phase. But look, if you promise not to do anything stupid, I’ll talk to the director and see if I can get you access to P3 or P4 texts.”
My nod was enthusiastic. “You have my word.”
“Alright. Give me some time to talk to him. He’s already got a lot on his plate with the construction and upgrades. Plus, I don’t think he likes having all these new people around.”
“What is that about anyway? All the construction.”
Peter winked at me. “Just what Director Greene said it was. Expansions and upgrades. Nothing fancy.”
I didn’t buy that for a second, not anymore. If it wasn’t anything fancy or secretive, then why, specifically, tell everyone they weren’t allowed inside when it’d already been a rule? Why have blockades up that no one could see through?
But I didn’t say any of that. I just kept my thoughts to myself. “Thanks for the help, Peter.”
“Not a problem. We’re a team, all of us. Just remember that, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
“I’ll catch you later, Jade.” His gaze went over my shoulder. “Think someone’s waiting for you.” He winked and walked away.
I twisted around and found Linc walking toward me.
“How’d It go?” he asked when he reached me. “Can he find out the demon for you?”
I shrugged helplessly. “He’s going to look into it.” I stayed quiet for a minute, and then I told him everything I’d told Greene and Peter about the night my family died. They were right—I needed to talk to someone about it. Linc was my best friend. I’d already kept other things from him, and I didn’t exactly feel guilty about it, because there were some things that people just didn’t share. But…it was Linc.
“Come on.” He took my hand in his and started to pull me away. “Let’s get out of here. I think we’ve had enough festivities for the night.”
I didn’t argue. As fun as most of the night had been, the rest had been like my nightmares brought to life.
*~*~*
The following week was an emotional battle, much like the week before had been. The reasons were kind of the same, yet totally different. The morning after Halloween, Greene found me, but he hadn’t delivered any good news. Charlie Monroe, the head R&D guy at the CGE (and also Tasha’s dad, which everyone neglected to mention), hadn’t had any luck finding which demons had been used for the holograms. They had managed to narrow the list of suspect videos down to, oh, about a thousand, but Greene wouldn’t let me watch those. He said it was thousands of hours of video and my focus needed to be on my schoolwork.
I understood his stance, but he was basically asking me to sit by and do nothing. And if Peter hadn’t already agreed to talk to Greene about letting me look in the other texts, I would’ve asked Greene about it myself. Peter’d said to give him some time, but I wanted to look now, while it was fresh on my mind. While I could still see the demon every time I closed my eyes.
But I hadn’t even seen Peter all week, so I couldn’t even ask him if he’d talked to Greene yet.
It felt like I’d spent the whole week waiting. Waiting for Greene, waiting for Peter. Waiting for trouble.
Tracking had been just another normal class, but Combat… Well, that’d been another story altogether. Brian was still a jerk with his rude, bossy commentary on my Combat skills and his judgmental attitude on everything I did. I didn’t hit hard enough, or high enough. I was too relaxed, too chatty, too smiley. I was just waiting for him to say I was breathing too hard or not hard enough.
Weapons wasn’t quite as normal as Tracking had been. One of the Prospects knocked themselves out by having a bag drop on their head. Mr. Elliot wasn’t pleased, especially when the culprit (Daniel Metcalf) had been fooling around and delivered his own knockout blow by hanging on the bag like a monkey. Tasha seemed particularly happy because she wasn’t—for once—the responsible party for causing harm on someone else, and Linc was thankful that he wasn’t said person having harm done to him.
Demonology was slow going. Everyone else was working on an exam I’d finished two weeks ago. I’d just finished reading a chapter and the tablet wouldn’t let me go any further without teacher approval. That would have been fine, except I didn’t want to disturb anyone else. And if I did go say something to Mr. Sheldon, Linc and Tasha would know why and they would just start on me again about being so far ahead. I glanced up to look at Mr. Sheldon, thinking that maybe I could will him to look at me. His head was down reading something on his tablet. He looked up a second later, shook his head at me, then motioned me forward.
Now that’s power of persuasion! I thought, following him out of the classroom and into the hall.
He tilted his head to the side. “What’s wrong?”
I frowned. “The tablet won�
��t let me go any further. I think it thinks I’m cheating.”
He raised one dark brow. “That far ahead already, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah.” Quickly, I added, “Don’t tell Linc,” in a hushed whisper. It was pointless though, Linc would find out somehow. Probably because I’d open my big mouth and tell him sooner or later.
“These new ones have different features, so I didn’t realize it would cut you off. I’ll see if I can’t fix it when we go back in.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Jade?”
I’d started to turn away, but turned back. “Yeah?”
“There was something else I wanted to discuss with you.”
Uh oh. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” he said, chuckling. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like some extra work. The P2s and P3s in the tech classes are responsible for helping out with updating the Demon Database. There have been more attacks than normal, so they’re getting a bit backed up.”
“Oh.” I blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know they handled that.”
“It’s not exactly a secret, but neither is it common knowledge.” He shrugged. “They stick to themselves for the most part. They have different work from the other Prospects, so they don’t interact with you guys as much.”
“I guess they’re the ones who don’t want to hunt demons?”
“Basically. The point is, I know you’re ahead and Director Greene mentioned you’d like to see more demon species, so we both figured this would be a good fit for you. You get to nose around and learn about other demons and the CGE gets some help with the Demon Database, which not only benefits us but those who use it outside of the CGE.”
I nodded, probably more enthusiastically then necessary since I felt like a bobble-head. I forced myself to nod normally. “Yeah, sure. I wouldn’t mind helping.”
“I can see how much you hate the idea,” he said, laughing.
I rolled my eyes dramatically but couldn’t stop the grin. “Yeah, but I’ll live through it. What do you need me to do?”
“It’s pretty straight forward, but some of it may require you to do some research. A lot of it is in the same vein as last year’s exam where you’re given clues about a demon and you have to figure out which demon it is. For the most part, though, I believe you’ll only be transcribing notes from agent reports on hunts, or their thoughts on police files. You should know a lot of the demons already. They’ll throw in some C3s, probably, but you’ll basically be dealing with C2s and, hopefully, gathering some information the books may not cover. If you do find a demon you don’t recognize, or if you’re not sure about something, just mark it and I’ll get it to the right person.”
“What if I put in the wrong information?”
“It gets looked over by a senior agent or analyst. We’re just trying to save them some time.”
“We have analysts?”
Mr. Sheldon’s lip tilted in a smile. “It’s the CGE. You name it, we’ve probably got it around here somewhere.”
I didn’t have a hard time believing that. Who knew what all was in the South Tower? I’d only really seen one floor and peeked inside a few rooms. I had no idea what the others held. I’d been here a while now, but it still seemed like I was learning something new every day or every week. “So, do I need to go somewhere to help? As long as it’s not the second floor,” I pleaded not-so-silently.
“No.” He chuckled. “This is work at your own place and pace work. If you have some free time after class, we can get the program installed tonight and I’ll give you a quick overview.”
“I can stick around. My homework for my other classes is done.”
“I’m not surprised.” His head shook slightly, but then he gave me a severe look. “Two more things. I don’t want you working on this during any of your other classes. You’re far enough ahead in Demonology that you can, if you choose to, work on it in class. But if it starts affecting your work—in any of your classes—I’ll revoke your access and remove the program.”
“I won’t let it affect my work. I can multitask.” Probably. And if I couldn’t, then I’d quickly learn how to.
“You can work on it two hours a night, and four hours on weekend days. No more. And yes, I can check to see how long you’re logged in, so don’t test me. We’ll start with that for a week or two and see how you’re doing. If you seem to be handling it well, we’ll consider upping the hours if you want.”
I nodded. “Okay. And the last thing?”
“It’s a paying job, but it doesn’t pay a lot. Director Greene will just add it to your weekly allowance.”
I just grinned, ear to ear.
Mr. Sheldon laughed and shooed me away. “Okay, go on back in. If your smile gets any bigger, your face may crack.”
My grin only widened as I went back inside to work. I got to research more demons and I was going to get paid for it. How cool was that?
CHAPTER 09
My classes were as normal as they could be (mostly) and everyone at the CGE was settling in more now. After the first week of helping with the Demon Database, Mr. Sheldon decided I could have up to ten hours on the weekend, but he didn’t extend my hours on days I had class—except in Demonology, because I maintained my stay-ahead pace.
So far, I hadn’t really found any demons that I hadn’t read about yet, but it was still interesting work. (Plus, it paid, which was even cooler.) I got to read reports by agents and law enforcement. Some, like the CGE had mentioned before, did know about demons, but others were completely baffled. I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling that at least a third of the suspected serial killers in Florida were actually demons.
The cops who knew about demons were given a code to put in their report that let the CGE know they suspected a demon was responsible for whatever crime, though the crimes were mostly destruction of property, attempted murder, or murder. The cops who weren’t aware of the demon problem marked some of the deaths as ‘suspicious’, though I had no idea how all the cops in the state didn’t know about demons. When I asked Mr. Sheldon about it, he seemed to think demons (or at least a good majority of them, like vampires) were more aware than others and tried to stay out of sight. “Or,” he’d said simply, “they just don’t leave any witnesses.”
That, unfortunately, seemed more likely.
The Demonology text covered a lot about demons, but Mr. Sheldon said that some things were learned when you were actually on a hunt.
It made sense, though I wished the books could have told me more or that I could have seen videos from hunts, since it was obvious some were, or at least had been at one point, recorded. But Mr. Sheldon gave a big no to that and said the videos were only for P3s and P4s. He, like Peter, told me to learn what I could and stop worrying about what I didn’t know, because I’d be a P4 before I knew it.
I couldn’t just stop worrying about it, but I stopped asking so many questions unless they were important.
I also discovered that researching for the DD wasn’t as quick and easy as I thought it’d be. It was as cool as I thought it’d be—cooler even—but definitely not as simple. Well, it might’ve been, but I was so paranoid about making a mistake that I rechecked my information about four times. When I was done the research and inputting the information, I read over each report at least twice before I deemed it accurate. Then, when that was all said and done, I had at least another ten minutes of doubt, mixed with nausea and pacing. Linc, after a brief bout of jealousy, laughed at me, called me neurotic more times than I could count (or wanted to count), and decided that he was glad he hadn’t been asked to do it and was doubly glad he wasn’t a computer nerd. The jerk.
But since the said jerk was afraid he’d fall behind in Demonology and needed a study partner, I suckered him into being my research assistant.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad trade off. He got to mock me, then I got to hit him and put him to work. Win/win/win.
I’d been helping with the DD updating for a
lmost three weeks now. Mr. Sheldon seemed impressed. He called me ‘thorough’ and said none of my reports had been wrong on any details so far. (I tried not focusing on the ‘so far’ bit.)
Unfortunately, the rest of my time wasn’t as win/win as the DD stuff.
Brian was continually harassing me, though I still had no idea why. I could avoid him in my other classes for the most part, but it was kind of hard to do in Combat when he was my partner.
Right then, I could’ve used some avoidance.
One particularly nasty punch to the shoulder had me wincing, my arm going tingly, and me stumbling back a good two feet before I managed to catch my balance and not fall on my butt in front of everyone. I glanced down, pulling my shirt to the side. My shoulder was one big red mark and I wondered if I’d finally manage to get my first bruise in what seemed like forever. And thinking it just pissed me off.
I looked at Brian, wondering if it’d just been an accident. But I didn’t think it was. His eyes were cold and dark. He looked…mean and angry, not at all apologetic. Though, for a split second, I thought he’d seemed a little confused, like he didn’t know why he’d hit me, though it was clearly on purpose.
I dropped my hands to my sides. “Okay. What the hell gives?”
“What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me! You know what I’m talking about.” When people started to turn or glance our way, I walked closer to him and tried to keep my tone down. “You’re hitting me like I’m a punching bag and not a person. What gives? Did I offend you or something? Have I looked at you wrong? Is my breathing too…something?” Honestly, I was out of ideas. At least with Rachel—and even Felecia—I knew what I’d done to get on their bad sides, even if I did think they were mostly stupid reasons. But with Brian, I didn’t have a clue. And I’d been putting up with his crap for the last two months.
Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02) Page 12
