Family (12 page)

“And I would love to visit and throw him out of a window to show my gratitude,” I said.

“And wouldn’t defenestration be a simplistic approach?” Ariadne said with a raised eyebrow. “One incubus dead on the Omega side isn’t going to win us this war. I’ll put surveillance on him, see if he leads us anywhere interesting.”

“And then, after you’ve done that, I can…?” I mimicked throwing something over my head. I didn’t mean it, not really – I don’t think.

“We’ve got bigger concerns than revenge,” Ariadne said, but her look was muted sympathy. “We’ve got a final tally of over a hundred and eighty dead nationwide – that’s agents, retrievers, metas and all else.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” J.J. said with a shrug. I didn’t like him.

“That’s about three-quarters of our agent assets,” Ariadne said. “And every one of them had people they left behind – mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, kids in some cases…”

“Oh,” J.J. said in muted surprise. “Well, when you put it like that it sounds bad.”

“Could be worse,” Reed grunted from the corner, drawing my attention back to him. A pall hung over him, a blackness of mood I couldn’t quite place, it was so at odds with the flippant guy I’d known since he offered me a ride after knowing him for ten seconds.

“How?” Ariadne asked, slight amusement causing the corners of her mouth to curl in a faint smile.

“You could be a meta in India,” he said without pause. “Their government has been running a training facility like what you’ve got here, where they’ve been sheltering metas – about four hundred of them. They’ve even been taking them in from other neighboring countries with offers of good money and a high standard of living.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” J.J. said with a shrug. “Working for the government would have some benefits, I’m sure. Like maybe some past indiscretions could be evaporated without having to do a hack job—”

“They’re all dead as of this morning,” Reed said darkly. “Every last one of them.”

“What?” Ariadne’s eyebrows arched up and she sat back in her chair, stunned.

Reed seemed to seethe with pent up energy in the corner, every word coming out as though he were about to explode. “They’re dead. The whole compound was destroyed.”

J.J. seemed to maintain a detached, ironic tone. “Did their government wipe them out? Because that’s not cool.”

“No,” Reed said, staring at J.J. in disbelief. “That would not be ‘cool’,” he said, mocking the techie. “But indicators do not point to the Indian government.”

“Omega?” I asked, and traded a look with Ariadne.

“Don’t know,” Reed said, “but it doesn’t sound like their game. I don’t know if you knew this, but about six months ago in China—”

“Right.” Ariadne seemed to awaken, leaning forward. “That Chinese government facility that was destroyed.”

“Taking three hundred plus metas along with it,” Reed agreed. “This hasn’t been a good year for the meta population. We’re down by nearly eight hundred in the last few months, and there were only about three thousand of us to begin with.”

“Why would you put all your metas in one place?” J.J. mused aloud. “I mean, it just seems like an invitation to get them wiped out.”

“No one thought we were in any danger of extermination until now,” Reed said with a little acrimony. “Our reports out of China were vague; there was even a hint it could have been the Chinese government behind the whole thing.” He blinked and turned his head toward the wall. “Doesn’t look like it now, though. Looks pretty much like an outside job.”

“So someone’s wiping out metas?” Ariadne asked, sitting back again. “I mean, if China was an isolated incident, you might be able to write it off as an isolated occurrence, but…” She looked at Reed. “How did you get this information?”

“I just talked with my superiors in Italy,” Reed said. “They were…hesitant to give me much over an open communication source like a cell phone, but…anyway, I got the basics and gave them an update.” He shook his head. “The good guys seem to be in a spiral here. Feels like we’re fighting blind. I sense they know something about the troubles you’re experiencing, but I’ll need to call from the secure line at my apartment to get the full updates.”

Ariadne stared at Reed. “Why don’t you go do that?”

Reed smiled. “Because my apartment is in Milwaukee.”

“Damn,” I said. “How the hell do you keep up with your HQ when you’re on the road?”

“Well,” he began, “we had cell phones that we thought were unbreakable – until about six months ago, when we caught an Omega spy in Florence who had a copy of our encryption protocol on him.”

“They’re starting to seem rather adept at this sort of penetration,” Ariadne said. “They’ve compromised us as well; Andromeda claims we have a traitor in our midst.”

Reed nodded. “Doesn’t surprise me. Omega is very slick, and they’ve got more than a few teeps on their side to deploy for these purposes.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, confused. “What’s a teep?”

“TP,” Ariadne said, drumming her fingernails on the desk. “Telepath. Mind readers. How many do they have?”

“No idea,” Reed said with a shrug. “No names, no certainty; just whispers, rumors that they use them for spying.”

“Oh wow,” J.J. said. “So we’ve got people walking around reading our minds?” He twitched. “Ah…can I have some time off until we get this resolved? I mean…I’ve got information that they really shouldn’t have, after all. I could work from home.”

I looked at him seriously. “Is it about your unhealthy relationship with your cat?”

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open, making him look even more ridiculous than his glasses and haircut already did. “How did you know about my cat?” He blinked. “Are you the mind reader?” He whimpered. “It was only the once, I swear.”

I let out an exhalation. “You’re covered in cat hair…” I looked at him in pity. “…and ew. Ew. A thousand times, ewww.”

Ariadne stared at J.J. as he wilted in his chair, then turned back to Reed. “Why don’t you let us fly you to Milwaukee? We could use your organization’s assistance and whatever information they have, if they’re willing to provide it.”

Reed considered her offer for about a second. “I’ll take you up on that. Flight time is a hell of a lot better than a six-hour drive each way. I’m sure they’ll be willing to render some help because I’ve been told to cooperate with you; it’s just a question of how much. I mean, it’s pretty obvious we’ve got some common enemies here.”

“Though they’re becoming more uncommon by the minute,” J.J. said.

“Nice,” I said with a glare. “Did you come up with that one all by yourself, Catman?”

“Go ahead, Reed,” Ariadne said, picking up her phone. “I’ll have a chopper spun up and ready to fly within the hour.” She looked to J.J. and then to me. “I think we’re done here, unless either of you has anything else to cover?”

“I’m good,” J.J. said. “But seriously, can I work from home?”

“No,” Ariadne said and started to dial numbers. “And Sienna?” She caught my gaze as I was standing. “Try and stay out of trouble,” she said as gently as she could manage.

I followed J.J. and Reed out the door, and watched techno-hipster make his way through the maze of cubicles. Parks and Bastian were engaged in a conversation, Clary lurking next to them, trying to act like he was involved in it as they both studiously ignored him. Eve stood behind them at a distance, coolly watching. When I emerged from the office she walked toward me. I locked eyes with her and she with me. The scarring on her head and face had faded since last I saw her, although she looked odd without hair. She made a move to shoulder check me out of the way so she could enter Ariadne’s office, but I evaded her with quick footwork and gave her a cold look in return. She let a cruel smile show, flashed at me along with a pointed finger that she proceeded to wag. “What do you want us to do with this one?” she asked Ariadne, and kept her finger aimed at me.

“Leave her be,” Ariadne said. “Can you come in and shut the door?”

“You want us to come in, too?” Clary called from his place next to Parks and Bastian, craning his head and leaning to look in the open door of Ariadne’s office. Bastian shook his head, eyes closed, and Parks let out a sigh. Clary didn’t notice. Eve, for her part, remained still, back against the doorframe.

“No,” Ariadne said. “I just need to talk to Eve.”

She walked into Ariadne’s office and shut the door behind her. “What?” Clary said, responding to something either Parks or Bastian had said that I didn’t hear. “Ohhhh.” The big man nodded, and a wide smile crept over his face. “Right.”

“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Reed asked me as I followed him toward the elevator bank. He tossed his thumb over his shoulder toward Clary with a perplexed-bordering-on-irritated look on his face.

“A lot,” I said, not looking back. “What do you think of this India thing?”

“I’m fine, by the way,” Reed said, pushing the button for the elevator. “In case you were wondering.”

I looked him up and down. “You seem to be doing better than me, that’s for sure. Very slick.” I held up my hands. “No need to get all snooty; if there’s one of us standing here that looks like they’re not doing well, I don’t think it’s you.” I waved my hand up and down to encompass him from head to foot.

He cracked a smile. “You’re tough. I’m sure you’ve faced worse.”

I let out a breath. “Doesn’t feel like it today. Today makes me wish I’d taken you up on that offer to visit your employer.” He started to say something but I waved him off. “Don’t say it. I’m not that serious about it.”

“So what happened?” The elevator dinged and he indicated I should go first. The mirrored back wall of the elevator gave me a look at myself. I was smudged with dirt from top to bottom, my nose had blood underneath it, and there were a few scrapes visible on my face that I hadn’t realized were there. Nothing too deep, but enough that blood was visible beneath them. They’d all be gone by morning.

“My mom snuck onto the campus, unleashing all sorts of pandemonium for me because they caught me talking to her,” I said, dabbing at my nose with my sleeve. It came back with droplets of blood. “Now I’m under suspicion of betraying the Directorate.”

“You know,” he said after a pause, “you could come with me.”

“I said ‘don’t say it’.” I dabbed again. The blood had started to dry and crust on my upper lip. My eyes were red, though not from excess crying, because I’d barely shed more than a single tear. More likely from restraining it. “I’m in enough trouble right now without adding another reason to think I’m a traitor. God knows what the investigator would think about this conversation if he heard it.”

“Investigator?” Reed cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah,” I said. “They’re trying to root out the spy.”

“And they were questioning you because you knew who this person was?” He eyed me, and I saw a little cold fire in his eyes, and caught it in his tone.

I turned to him and gave him a patronizing look. “My mom is the Directorate’s Public Enemy Number Two right now, and I almost slept with the closest thing to a face we have for their Public Enemy Number One.”

“I agree that gives you a slight air of suspicion—”

“Air?” I snorted and turned back to the mirrored wall, pushing at a scabbed cut in my eyebrow. “Reed, I think that qualifies as a cloud of suspicion, but a big one, like the kind you’d find surrounding a hurricane.”

He didn’t answer, and the elevator chimed as the doors slid open, revealing the marbled floors of the lobby and a darkening sky beyond the glass windows and doors at the front of the building. “Maybe,” he conceded, “but I don’t buy this idea that you’re betraying the Directorate.”

“Neither do Ariadne and Old Man Winter, apparently,” I said as I stepped out into the open lobby. “But I wouldn’t blame them for at least harboring some suspicions because of it.”

“Don’t let it get you down,” he said with a muted smile and put a hand on my shoulder, shaking me slightly.

I looked at his hand as though it were contaminated and he froze. “Thanks, dude,” I said sarcastically. “I can tell you totally mean that, bro.” His eyes widened, and he stammered. “Sorry,” I said. “I probably came on a little strong with that one. I just meant…” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I appreciate you trying to cheer me up.”

“Yeah.” He kind of wobbled. “Well. Um. I will see you…when I get back from Milwaukee, I guess.”

I raised an eyebrow. “If this was a horror movie, I’d tell you to rethink that last line – it’s pretty close to ‘I’ll be right back’.” I thought about it for a second. “Actually, my life has resembled a horror movie in a few details lately. You might want to rephrase that.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a roll of the eyes. “But I do want to talk to you about something when we have a little more time.”

“It better not be a recruitment offer,” I said, “because if it is, I swear to you—”

“It’s not,” he said. “I’ll see ya later, okay?”

“There you go again.”

He laughed and pulled his hand back into the elevator as the doors slid shut behind him.

My walk across the campus was long. It was evening now, the sun close to setting, glaring at me from the horizon with an orange stare. I shuffled back to the dormitory building ignoring the looks I got from the few people still making their way around the campus. It was worse when I entered the building; dinner was wrapping up and I caught stares and gazes from a dozen people, none of whom I really knew. The whispers were mostly inaudible but totally comprehensible; and I didn’t even bother to enter the cafeteria where the smaller dinner crowd could have an opportunity to talk about me while I sat by myself and pretended to ignore it. I was edgy enough I might not have pretended, actually, and the last thing I needed was to get into a fight with someone right now.

The air conditioner was working overtime in the hallway to my room, blowing cold air out of the overhead vents as I walked down the hall, windows to the sunset-tinged campus on one side and plain white walls on the other. I was so hungry that I felt my mouth drool at the smell of food from the cafeteria, but I knew I’d have to be contented with whatever snacks I had in my room. The aroma of beef told me they were having that oh-so-rare treat, prime rib, but there was no way I was going to brave the lunacy of the crowds tonight, even for that. Besides, I could still hear the crowds in the cafeteria, and they didn’t sound quiet: they were boisterous, there was discussion (probably about me), and I wanted no part of it.