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“Yeah, I noticed.” She took my hand and squeezed.
A man about my height with a lean build and wearing dark, greased-back hair approached us. Two guards flanked him. I wondered how high he was in the organization. Distracted by him and his powerful presence, I didn’t notice Phillips and Linton until they were only yards away. They whipped their heads toward the man I’d taken note of a moment before. He nodded. I didn’t have to guess why — they had recognized what I was.
“Hayden, what a surprise.” Phillips cast an eye briefly at Linton. “We had no idea.”
“I think he’s a Mover,” Tessa said.
“Did you detect him?” Linton asked.
I hoped Tessa would hear the alarm going off in her head and say no. I remembered her telling me what happened to David’s last Detector.
She blew a quick raspberry. “Are you kidding? No, I saw him do something.” Her voice deepened. “The force is strong with this one.” She giggled, her cheeks flushing.
Under other circumstances, I may have laughed at her Star Wars reference, but I knew Tessa was nervous or she wouldn’t have been joking with these people. Mr. Linton’s lips drew downward. Clearly, he was not amused.
“Well, here we are.” I sca
“Boris.”
Tessa squeezed my hand and I snuck a quick peek at her. To her credit, a casual smile remained. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Do you meet all your new recruits so quickly?”
“No.”
I waited for an explanation, a little u
“It’s not often we have two sorcerers in one family. Come.” He turned, motioned for us to follow, then sat at a picnic table. I sat across from Boris, next to Tessa. The others formed a circle around us, fa
“I wanted to make sure you knew what was at stake here,” Boris began. “Right now, everything’s under control. We’d like to keep it that way. But there are those who see things differently, those who believe that our powers shouldn’t be wasted. Militant elitists.”
“Powers wasted? In what way?” I asked, noting Tessa’s silence. Her tension radiated to her fingertips and into my skin.
“They believe we should control anyone without supernatural powers. We believe in equal rights among all men, non-supernatural or sorcerer.” Boris smiled, fine lines forming around his mouth — which meant he’d probably been around for a while. I did some quick math in my head. If we lived ten times longer and he looked to be in his early thirties, he could be anywhere from two to four hundred years old. But what did I know?
“We understand your need to meet in a public place. I’d probably do the same thing. But we’d like you to consider visiting our home, see how we live, meet others. It might make a difference in your decision.”
“I think we’ve seen enough.” Tessa shook her head. “After Rena kidnapped me—”
“It’s difficult to trust them now,” I finished for her.
“I almost bought Rena’s line that it was a misunderstanding.” Tessa wrinkled her nose. “But my gut tells me not to believe anything any of them say.”
“There’s something about David I don’t trust. It’s as if he’s trying too hard to please us,” I threw in.
“Perhaps you’d like to go with us now. Hayden, do you play poker? We have a game tonight. Thought you might like to buy in.”
“Sounds dangerous. I haven’t practiced my blocking much. I’d lose my ass.”
Boris laughed. “Then I’ll bankroll. Anything you win is yours to keep.”
“Actually,” Tessa said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. If Jane’s people think we’ve made our choice, we may not live long enough to join you permanently.”
“Very well. Is there anything we can do for you, anything you need help with?”
Apparently, Tessa had gotten over her initial jitters. She smiled and my heart beat a little harder. It was that same smile I’d seen when she’d walked into Mr. Linton’s office, the day I’d first begun to know her. Perfection.
“I thought we’d train with both sides, see what we can learn from everyone. When we eventually join you, we’ll be more valuable,” she said, her voice smooth like new brushed suede. “Frank and Lila have been wonderful. We’ve also worked with Chait who’s been a fountain of information.”
“We practice on our own, too. I have a spacious gym at my house. My parents keep to themselves,” I said.
“Sounds like you two have it all worked out. Allow me to introduce you to my associates.” Knowing exactly where each of his people stood, he motioned without his gaze leaving us. “This is Diane. She helps the new ones with their mind reading skills. This is Kyle.” Diane stepped back and a tall black man moved forward to take her place, muscles straining against his snug t-shirt. “He’s our resident warrior. Hasn’t been beaten yet.”
“I was thinking.” Tessa glanced at me. “Chait invited us into their compound. Perhaps I should go and look around. If I find anything useful, I could pass it on when I a
Our original plan was to arrange any meetings in public and avoid both lairs, but Tessa’s bold move would put us right in the heart of it — and at their mercy. Distracted with the change in tactic, I almost missed the scowl flash over Boris’s face.
“Brilliant, Tessa,” I said in an attempt to back her up, even though it was the stupidest idea I’d ever heard. What dangerous game was she playing?
“That’s what I thought,” she said. “This way, we can take you up on your invitation. We certainly couldn’t spend time with you and not balance it with them. I’d really like to live to see my eighteenth birthday.”
“Me too.” Now her dangerous scheme intrigued me. A brilliant way to gain access to resources and information we wouldn’t have had otherwise. “And I’d love to spar with Kyle.”
Orange laced the sky as the sun descended. It would be dark soon. The longer we stayed, the less safe we were. The need to leave gripped me. I sent Tessa a visual of us in the dark, so she’d take the hint.
“I heard about you, Hayden. We could use someone of your talents.” Boris studied my face then nodded. “I give you my word that no harm will come to either of you. Until you join us officially though, be careful. We don’t want to lose you.”
“Wait.” Tessa’s brows furrowed. “We haven’t decided a hundred percent. Really, we haven’t had enough time with either side. I mean, we’re pretty sure we’re picking you, but we’ve only just begun, right? We still want to keep our options open.”
I couldn’t tell by Boris’s face whether he was angry or in awe of her. Did he realize he’d been out-maneuvered? “Of course.” He waved a hand. “One can’t be expected to make a decision so soon.”
“Exactly. Well, we should go. I need to get home.” Tessa smiled. “It was great to meet you.”
“Here’s my cell phone number.” Boris rose from his side of the bench and handed her a card. “Don’t hesitate to call me personally if you need anything.”
His personal card with a cell number? For a recruit? Why the special attention? Boris obviously saw something unusual in Tessa.
“Thank you. I will,” she said.
Once Tessa and I were driving away, my muscles eased their assault on my shoulders. I flexed and unflexed my fingers on the steering wheel, willing the rest of the tension to leave. “Jesus, Tessa, what were you thinking? It would’ve been nice if you’d clued me in.”
She shrugged. “Sorry. The idea came to me and it’s not like I could pull you aside for a chat.”
“It was quick thinking.”
“Yeah.” She gri
“But stressful.”
“We should spend more time with them. It would be more convincing.”