Defector Read online

  Alec stopped beside a body on the ground. “Can you walk?” he asked quietly. I nodded, though I wasn’t sure. My legs shook when he set me down. He didn’t let go of my arm.

  “I’m okay,” I said firmly.

  “I need to carry that guy toward the helicopter so we can get away,” Alec said with a nod toward the unmoving form.

  “Is he Abel’s Army?”

  “It seems that way. What else would he be doing here? And he tried to kick my ass with two other guys.”

  He was right, then—we’d need to bring him back to headquarters for questioning. Maybe the guy knew where Holly was. Alec wrapped his arm around the man’s back and hoisted him to his feet. I gasped. I knew him. It was the last agent who had been kidnapped, formerly one of our own. Agent Stevens.

  CHAPTER 10

  I’d never seen Major this furious. His entire face was twisted. The blades slowed down, and Major ripped open the door of the helicopter before it even stopped moving. Two older agents were at his side in a blink, and they helped him heave Stevens outside.

  “They took Holly,” I said again, my voice muffled by the blood in my nose. I’d said it out loud at least a dozen times, but it still didn’t seem real.

  “Alec already informed me,” Major said distractedly. “This isn’t the end of it. I’ll demand an explanation from Senator Pollard.” His scowl was fixed on Stevens, but the agent wasn’t intimidated. Something was different about him. When I’d last seen Major and Stevens in a room together, Stevens had cowered under Major’s stare and tried to make himself as small as possible, but not today. He held his head high and returned Major’s gaze without hesitation. He looked confident, defiant, completely at ease with himself.

  “Why did you take Holly?” I shouted at him, taking a step in his direction. He opened his mouth, but before he could reply, Major raised a Taser and stunned him. He sacked to the ground, face slack. I was frozen. Why had he done it? Stevens wasn’t being aggressive or struggling against his restraints. There was no reason for the violence.

  Major’s face was a mask of stone as he bagged the Taser again and straightened his collar.

  “Sir, what about Holly?” I asked as I watched two agents pick Stevens up from the ground. He hung limply in their grasp. I could feel Alec’s hand on my shoulder, steering me away from the helicopter. It had started raining again. I couldn’t stop shivering.

  “We’ll talk later, Tessa. I don’t have time for this now. Return to your room and try to get some rest,” Major said sharply.

  “But I want to be there when you interrogate Agent Stevens,” I insisted.

  Major shot me a quick look, his eyes lingering on the blood on my face and shirt. “That isn’t your place, I don’t think that would be wise. You heard what I said. Get some rest.”

  I stared at his back as he followed Stevens and the two agents who were carrying him into the building. “Alec, I need to have a word with you,” he called without turning around.

  Alec was still touching my shoulder. “I’ll bring you to your room.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I said mechanically. “You shouldn’t let Major wait. Maybe you can find out more about Holly. Will you?” I looked at him pleadingly.

  He gave me a sad smile. “Of course.” He leaned down and brushed his lips across my forehead. But I barely felt it. My body had gone numb. I watched as he hurried after Major before I dragged myself toward my room.

  Devon was waiting in front of my door when I arrived. Major must have warned him about my injuries. His eyes moved over my naked legs and the bloody shirt until they came to rest on my nose. I hadn’t seen myself yet, but from Devon’s expression of horror, I was a mess. He wrapped an arm around me, and I gladly accepted his support. He only let go of me when I’d sunk down on the bed. “It’s just my nose,” I said quietly.

  “What happened?” He touched his fingers to my cheeks.

  “I—I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about it.”

  “Aren’t we on the same side now? FEA, fighting for the right thing?” he asked, but there was a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

  He rested his palms on my face, and after a few seconds the dull throbbing in my nose ceased. Slowly, he removed his hands. “Do you need anything else?” he asked in a careful voice.

  I began to shake my head, but my body began trembling uncontrollably. I gasped. “Holly was taken.”

  Devon reached for my hand. “Shit,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry, Tessa. I haven’t been in headquarters for long, but I can tell how close you two were. I’m sure the FEA will find her.”

  His blue eyes bored into me, and suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. “Devon, I’m sorry, but I need to be alone.”

  The understanding on his face nearly undid me. When he closed the door after him, I dropped to my knees in the doorway to the bathroom. It took a while before I found the strength to stand.

  • • •

  I couldn’t stop staring at Holly’s empty bed. Her sheets with the huge sunflowers (she couldn’t stand the stark-white FEA-issued sheets) were crumpled, and the pink teddy bear that her younger siblings had given her last Christmas was perched on the pillow. I’d caught Holly pressing it against her chest more than once in the middle of the night. She’d always denied it with a happy little smile. My stomach clenched painfully at the memory.

  Now she was gone.

  Gone.

  What would they tell her family if she never returned? Would anyone tell them? Or would Major just make up a story?

  I’d fought the tears back for hours, but now I couldn’t stop them. The floodgates opened, and they poured down my face. I still wasn’t sure what had happened. But somehow I knew they hadn’t intended to take Holly. It was why everyone had been so afraid to let me go. They’d been given orders to take the auburn-haired girl from the Livingston mission. Me. And because I had looked like Alec, the guy had thought Holly was his target.

  The door to my room opened, and Alec stepped in. Deep shadows spread under his eyes, and he was still wearing the suit he’d worn for the mission, but he’d loosened the tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of the white shirt. Red dots sprinkled the collar and parts of the front. Alec followed my eyes. “It’s your blood,” he explained, like I could have forgotten that my nose had been broken earlier that day. He scanned my face. “Devon was here?” he asked neutrally.

  I nodded. Slowly, I tried to stand, my legs wobbly. “What did Stevens say? Did he tell you where they took Holly?” I wished I could have been present during the interrogation.

  Alec looked exhausted. “He didn’t tell us anything.”

  “But he must have said something! He knows where Abel’s Army is.” Despair rang out in my voice. It seemed to fill every fiber of my body.

  “Maybe he doesn’t,” Alec said softly. “If it’s true that they have a Variant who can alter memories, they might have done that to him, because he was new and they weren’t sure about his loyalty.”

  “Why?” I whispered. “Why would he work for them?”

  “I’m sure they promised him money or power.”

  My legs gave way, and I sank down onto the bed. Money and power? That seemed too easy. I covered my face with my hands, unable to stop the sobs. The mattress dipped as Alec sat down and pulled me against him. I buried my face in the crook of his neck. He felt so solid and strong. My fingers clutched at his arms, and my tears soaked his shirt. I couldn’t stop them. “I’m so scared. What if they hurt her?” I gasped. My throat felt swollen and raw. “God, Alec, I love her. If something happens to her, I . . . I . . .” I didn’t even know what I’d do. If anything horrible happened to Holly because they’d mistaken her for me, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

  “I know,” he whispered against my hair, kissing the top of my head over and over again.

  And I knew he did. For once it was a relief
to know he could feel what I felt, that no words were necessary. He tightened his hold on me.

  “This is all my fault. They wanted me. I know it,” I said miserably.

  “Don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault, and you don’t know that they wanted you. Abel’s Army wants to hurt the FEA, and they don’t care who gets in their way.”

  “Alec, they said, ‘Get the girl.’ Why would they have orders to catch Holly? I was the one they saw in Livingston,” I said. “They wanted me.”

  Alec didn’t argue again. He just held me and let me cry until I had no tears left. I hung limply in his grasp, forcing myself to breathe in and out. His familiar scent surrounded me, brought me back to better memories, and slowed my pulse.

  “Everything will be all right,” Alec said eventually. “We’ll find Holly. I’m sure Major will find a way.”

  But was Holly really Major’s top priority? The FEA came first, and Abel’s Army was the enemy. He wouldn’t negotiate with them even if it meant saving Holly.

  “Maybe I could talk to Stevens?” I said quietly. “Maybe if he sees what he’s done and how much I miss Holly, he’ll feel pity.” But could someone who’d betrayed the FEA, who’d worked for a known murderer like Abel, even feel pity? He would probably laugh right in my face. But I had to try.

  Alec shook his head. “Stevens is scared of Major. If that didn’t loosen his tongue, nothing will.” But he hadn’t looked scared when I’d last seen him. “And Stevens will be transported to the FEA prison today. He’ll be placed in a high-security holding cell, and neither you nor I will be allowed to visit him there.”

  I stiffened in Alec’s embrace. “When?” I asked. I pulled back and stared at him. “When will he leave?”

  Alec glanced at the clock. “Any minute now.”

  I freed myself from his hold and stumbled to my feet, determination coursing through me.

  “What are you doing, Tess?” Alec looked alarmed.

  “It’s worth a try. I need to see him.” I staggered toward the door, Alec only a few steps behind me. “Don’t,” he protested. “You’ll only get hurt.”

  I walked faster and faster until I was sprinting through the corridors. “I have to.”

  A wall of cold hit me when I stormed out of the front door and hurried toward the heliport. I could hear the sound of rotating blades roaring over the wind. My lungs constricted as I sped up even more and rounded the building until I had a free view of the helipad.

  A man I didn’t recognize sat in the pilot seat, and Major sat beside him in the front, with Stevens riding in the back. The moment I reached the helicopter, I pulled open the back door. My hair lashed against my face and my eyes watered from the blasting blades. Stevens’s eyes widened when he spotted me. Blood crusted his lips and chin, and his nose was askew. I couldn’t remember if Stevens had had the injuries before the interrogation.

  “They won’t give up. Not until they have the one they really want,” he said. He let out a scratchy laugh. From the corner of my eye, I could see Major opening his door to get out and remove me from the helicopter. I didn’t have much time.

  I gripped Stevens by the collar, and he winced, eyes growing wide. He couldn’t defend himself since his hands were cuffed behind his back. “Where is Holly? What will they do to her?”

  He smirked. It made him look even more like a hawk. “Who knows? Abel wants you, not her.”

  I knew it. “Where is she?”

  His eyes stared at something behind me. I shook him and didn’t even stop when someone gripped my shoulder. “Tell me,” I hissed.

  The grip on my shoulder turned painful.

  Stevens looked into my eyes, and suddenly he leaned very close, his breath wet against my ear. I had to stop myself from shuddering. “You have his eyes, you know? It’s so obvious. Too bad you’re blinded by their lies.”

  Major pulled me away forcefully, and I stumbled backward and would have fallen, if Alec hadn’t grabbed my arm. “Whose eyes?” I shouted.

  Major closed the door, but I couldn’t stop staring at Stevens through the window.

  His lips twisted in triumph before he mouthed something. I wasn’t the best lip-reader, but I didn’t need to be to know what he’d said.

  Abel’s eyes.

  CHAPTER 11

  Major glared at me from the passenger seat as the helicopter lifted off the ground. I knew my actions would have consequences, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. The stench of aviation fuel streamed into my nose.

  You have his eyes. Abel’s eyes. That’s what Stevens had said. Why had he said that? An awful inkling blossomed in my mind.

  Alec touched my shoulder. My clothes were soaked from the mist, which I hadn’t even noticed before. “I told you it was useless,” he said, his eyes still following the black dot in the distance. His hand was scorching my skin. In the last few hours, I’d felt so cold; when would that stop? “Stevens doesn’t know anything.”

  “He said I have Abel’s eyes,” I whispered.

  “What?” Alec exclaimed, his widened gray eyes flashing down to mine. There wasn’t surprise in his voice. Instead, he sounded angry.

  I tried to force my body to stop trembling and to really focus on Alec’s expression. “Stevens said I have Abel’s eyes.”

  For a moment, the howling of the wind was the only sound between us. It filled my head. Then Alec let out a laugh. “That’s ridiculous. Don’t let the traitor mess with your mind.”

  But something about the way he said it was off. I gripped his arm. “Why did he say that?”

  “Who knows why? You shouldn’t believe—”

  I tightened my hold on him. “Don’t you dare lie to me again, Alec.” My voice shook, and a new crop of tears spilled out of my eyes. “Tell me the truth.”

  Alec’s eyes reflected his conflict, but there was also pity and sadness in them. “Tess,” he said softly. He released a long breath. “Maybe you should talk to Major.”

  I dropped his arm. The horrible suspicion I’d had was festering in me. “Abel. He’s my father, isn’t he?”

  Alec didn’t say anything. I took a step back and clapped a hand over my mouth. I felt sick. “It’s true. He’s my father.” I couldn’t breathe. “Oh my god.”

  Alec pulled me into an embrace. “Tess, we’re not responsible for the actions of our parents,” he said, but I was only half-listening.

  I was the daughter of a man who was responsible for the deaths of several people. A criminal, a murderer, and Holly’s abductor. Major knew. So did Alec. And Alec hadn’t told me. That was another secret he’d kept from me, but it wasn’t his secret to keep.

  • • •

  A few hours later, after I’d thrown up my stomach’s contents and finally escaped Alec’s care, I scraped myself together and knocked on Major’s door. I’d seen him return with the helicopter thirty minutes prior. He didn’t seem surprised to see me.

  “Good that you’re here. I wanted to have a word with you anyway,” he said as he stepped back and let me enter the office. Anger simmered under my skin. I had to resist the urge to smash his stupid glass cabinet and trample on his tin soldiers. There was never a speck of dirt on them. That’s probably how Major spent his nights, polishing his stupid toys until they sparkled. Sometimes I was sure he cared more about them than about his agents.

  “Tessa, your recent behavior has been erratic, to say the least. We have rules, and they apply to everyone.” He spoke with obvious disapproval. He rounded his desk in measured strides and pulled back his chair.

  After everything that had happened, he wanted to give me a lecture? “I know about Abel,” I blurted. “Why didn’t you tell me that he’s my father? Were you just going to keep that a secret forever?”

  Major froze as if I’d touched a stun gun to his skin. “What did you just say?”

  “I know that Abel is my father. Agent
Stevens told me.”

  Major turned his back to me for a moment, as if he was scared his face would give away more of his secrets. Why couldn’t he be honest with me for once? Didn’t I deserve the truth? Slowly he turned, his expression perfectly controlled, and sank down into his chair. In that moment he looked older than he ever had before. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell me? Why, in all the talks we’ve had about Abel’s Army or my missing father, did you not mention that they’re the same person?” By the time I finished, I was shouting, and I didn’t care that Major hated it when we raised our voices against him. I was so far beyond the point of caring, it wasn’t even funny anymore.

  “I wanted to protect you,” Major said.

  I snapped my mouth shut, too stunned to speak. Protect me? I swallowed my surprise. “I don’t understand.”

  “I knew you were special from the day I met you. And I knew Abel would stop at nothing to recruit you and use your power for his own goals, if he ever found out about your Variation. That’s why I’ve been trying to keep you hidden from him.”

  “But he found out about me when I was on my mission in Livingston?”

  Major nodded. “That’s my take on things, at least. If a member of his army saw your eyes, they would have known you were Abel’s daughter.” He looked up. “There’s no mistaking those eyes,” he said, something dark crossing his face. He’d known Abel for a long time, and somehow I knew that their hatred for each other had started before Abel’s Army even existed.

  Turquoise eyes like mine. It was the first concrete image of my father that I had gotten. I couldn’t remember anything about him. I’d been too little when he’d left. I tried to imagine how the face around those eyes might look, but I came up blank. “Why did he leave my mother and me?” An ache spread in my chest at the other unanswered question that I didn’t ask and never would. Why didn’t he care about me?