I was still distracted with thoughts of Ernest when I reached the Arena; so distracted in fact that when I rounded a corner, I ran smack into another person. To top it off, that person was Erik.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, sidestepping around him.

  “Tal, wait.” He grabbed my upper arm. “I’m so sorry about last night—”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about,” I said, cutting him off. After witnessing the fruits of the destructive side of my Talent, my embarrassment over what had happened with Erik seemed trivial.

  “No, you were right, Talia. It is none of my business what does or does not go on between you and Donavon. We’re just friends after all . . .”

  “Right, just friends,” I muttered. I hated the part of me that felt the deep bite of disappointment at his calling us “just friends.”

  “So, we’re good?” he asked

  “We’re good.” I smiled tightly.

  “Want to help us with the demonstration?” he asked hopefully. I was about to say “no,” that Dr. Thistler had said I wasn’t supposed to physically exert myself, but instead, I agreed. I decided that what I needed, more than hiding myself under my covers, was a distraction. Erik gave me a big smile and squeezed my shoulder in a buddy-buddy kind of way that he would’ve done to Henri as he walked away. My mood plummeted so fast that the splat when it hit the ground should’ve been audible.

  Making my way to Captain Alvarez, I linked our communicators like Penny had shown me, so that I could transfer a copy of the information that I’d downloaded. Then I found Erik and Henri and changed from my own clothes into an adapti-suit that zipped up to my neck. I plaited my dark curls into two thick braids, then wrapped a black-and-white bandana over them and tied it securely at the base of my skull. Henri had dressed to match.

  Captain Alvarez was speaking to the large group of students assembled in the Arena stands. I followed Henri to the center of a mat and we took up positions facing each other, about ten feet apart. We waited for Captain Alvarez to finish his introductions. The shrill sound of the whistle reverberated throughout the Arena, and I wasted no time in charging Henri.

  We ran at each other, but he lunged first, his long body leaving the ground and becoming completely horizontal as his huge hands reached for me. At the last second, I broke to my right, dropping to the ground in a roll. Henri tucked his long body into a roll of his own and we spun around to face each other once more.

  Henri rose to his full height, but I remained crouching. I didn’t hesitate before I launched myself vertically like a lioness using my Telekinesis to propel myself higher so I would collide with Henri’s shoulders. He was ready and caught me, wrapping his long fingers around my waist and flipping me over his head, but not before I’d made contact. I added the momentum that I already had to Henri’s flip, and let my feet fly over my head, landing squarely on the ground.

  Henri stumbled as a result of my blow and dropped to one knee in an effort to steady himself. He flung one leg out and I felt the front of his foot connect with the outside of my ankle, effectively cutting me down, and I fell.

  I should have landed on my face, but my reflexes were quick from years of training. I was able to get my hands underneath me and instead fell in an awkward push up position. I felt Henri close in from behind, and judged the distance to be close enough for contact. Pushing up onto my hands, I kicked back as hard as I could just as he was bending towards me.

  My feet caught him first in the stomach and then in his chest, knocking him backwards and off-balance, giving me enough time to get on my own two feet and turn to face him. By this time, we were both breathing heavily, and I knew that I must be sweating terribly in my suit, but the temperature-regulating function kept me comfortable.

  We both backed up a couple of feet as we tried to catch our breath. I felt what Henri was going to do before my mind could really register it. The suits could stretch and mold to any body shape, making them easy to morph in.

  Henri kicked off the ground and leapt towards me again, but this time, as his feet left the ground his body morphed into his favorite go-to shape—a gigantic bird. Henri flew at me in bird form and I had barely enough time to react. Letting myself fall backwards, I kept my feet planted. I used my own powers to keep my body horizontal, with my knees bent. Henri, as the bird, flew right over me. As soon as he cleared my head, I twisted around and jumped, wrapping my arms around his thick neck. I was unable to get my short legs wrapped around his body because his huge wings were in the way.

  He flew low around the Arena with me clinging to his neck. He tilted one way and then the other in an attempt to throw me off, but I held tight. Throwing all of my concentration to my mental abilities I willed him to change back. Within seconds my mental battle won out over his physical one, and we were falling to the ground, a tangle of human limbs. We rolled several times until finally his heavy form landed on top of my much smaller one. He lifted himself up to take the weight off of me and I gave him a wicked smile as our eyes met. I had just a second to see the look of confusion cross his face.

  As soon as he had lifted himself off, I tucked my knees to my chest and used all of the strength that I could muster to kick him in the stomach. Henri flew backwards, propelled farther by my telekinetic powers. But I had only seconds of satisfaction before I sensed a new threat coming.

  Rolling first to my stomach and then quickly to my feet, I had just enough time to see a huge predatory cat leaping at me. Henri rarely morphed into anything besides the huge bird, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t. I dove to the side as the huge cat landed where I’d been standing only seconds before. I stood, and the cat and I circled each other. I again risked using my mental muscles to will Henri to change back to human. I watched as my efforts were rewarded and the huge cat was replaced by Henri’s human form, now down on all fours.

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  Using my mental powers often physically exhausted me. I’d trained since coming to School to utilize them during a fight, but rarely implemented them in a real battle. While I’d had the best physical training available, and could hold my own against a normal person, I was really no match for a Morph. I’d used my mental powers because it was my best defense against a trained fighter like Henri in his morph form, but it cost me a great deal of my own strength.

  I stood facing Henri, my entire body shaking from the physical and mental exertion. My skin was dry, thanks to the suit, but sweat stung my eyes and soaked my bandana. Taking several deep breaths to calm myself, I tried to refocus my mental energies.

  Henri slowly rose from his hands and knees. I tensed, readying myself for his attack. Instead, he slowly bent at the waist in a deep bow. I let out a huge sigh; he was calling an end to the demonstration. I inclined my head and gave him a small bow in return. He walked over to me and wrapped his long arms around me. I knew that he could feel my body shaking against him, but he didn’t comment.

  “You’re better than I remember,” his mental voice filled my head. I knew that he was just being nice, but at that moment, I would take any compliment that I could get. As we drew apart, I opened all of the senses that I’d been directing solely on Henri to the entire Arena. The whooping and cheering of the students filled my ears. Giddy from the physical release of tension, I turned and gave them a small wave. Dr. Thistler was wrong, I thought to myself. Physical exertion was exactly what I needed.

  “Amazing, Tals,” Erik said, giving me a hug.

  “Thanks.” I smiled at his praise.

  “Yeah, I might even have a bruise or two,” Henri joked. Bruises were unlikely since I’d only hit him where the suit covered.

  “They’ll make you look manlier,” I laughed, playing along. “Frederick will love them.”

  “Yeah, he really likes it when I get beaten up.” Henri rolled his eyes, but his expression softened at my mention of his boyfriend.

  “How is he?” I asked. During my time at Elite Headquarters, I’d had the pleasure of meeting Frederick several times, and really enjoyed his company.

  “He’s good. Really good.” Henri smiled fondly.

  “Lyons, Reich, Kelley, we’re ready for you over here,” Captain Alvarez called.

  Now it was the students’ turn. All Talents took basic combat classes, and many of these kids would have taken more advanced training, but very few of them would have the opportunity to use their abilities in combat. Captain Alvarez broke the students into five groups, and assigned me, Erik, Henri, and two other Hunters that he’d brought with him to a group.

  I spent the remainder of my afternoon coaching the teenagers as they fumbled through using their Talents to fight one another. Some had very developed powers, managing to morph on the fly into varying forms while others could barely manage a complete morph standing still. Several students were able to use telekinesis to throw their attackers off course. One particularly skilled light manipulator evaded her would-be attackers by becoming invisible, leaving her opponents confused and defenseless when she reappeared and attacked from behind. Her apparent mastery of her craft impressed me.

  In the midst of all of this, there was a tall gangly girl that reminded me of Penny. I recognized her from Ursula’s telekinesis class. At first, I’d thought she was a fairly Low-level Talent, but after working with her, I’d noticed that her problem wasn’t her Talent level—it was that she didn’t know how to use her abilities.

  Physically, her only resemblance to Penny was the fact that she was tall and gangly. She had light brown hair and a smattering of freckles across her pale face—a sharp contrast to Penny’s dyed bright red-orange hair. The girl had light brown eyes that appeared to be the same color as her hair, nothing like Penny’s color enhanced bright lime-green ones. Still, there was something about her that screamed “Penny” to me. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s definitely not a natural fighter, I thought to myself as I watched her spar against a particularly skilled Telekinetic. The boy adeptly avoided most of her blows using his mind. Her form was good, and no matter how many times he diverted her, she kept coming right back at him. If nothing else, the girl had a lot of heart.

  I’d strapped my portable communicator to my arm, and I used it to pull up the gangly girl’s file. Talent: Higher Reasoning, Telekinesis. Interesting, I thought. Dual Talents were rare, particularly when the Talents were as unrelated as Telekinesis and Higher Reasoning. But I now understood why she reminded me of Penny; Higher Reasoning Talents gave off a very specific brain pattern.

  It surprised me that a Higher Reasoning would be interested in joining the Hunters. Her Telekinetic powers made her a possible candidate, but since she had yet to master them, it was doubtful they would be much use on her Placement Exams.

  Technically, any student could be assigned to any department during the Placement Exams, but it was rare for Higher Reasoning Talents to become Hunters. I was sure that it had happened at some point in the Agency’s history, but a strong Higher Reasoning—and I was confident that this girl was a strong Talent—was better utilized in the Crypto Division.

  Her name was Kenly Baker. She was a junior, and therefore due to take her Placement Exams at the end of the year. Instantly, I started to think of the possible advantages of having a Higher Reasoning Talent, who also happened to be a Telekinetic as part of a Hunting team. She would instantaneously be able to compute the probability of success on a mission. She would be able to determine the best exit strategy if a Hunt went south. It would be like having a human computer in the field, one that could think and feel; she was a more proficient strategist than any of us other Talents could ever hope to be. By the end of my day with the students, I’d convinced myself that it was a great idea, full of nothing but advantages . . . if she could learn to use her Telekinesis.

  I walked back to my room with an extra spring in my step, giddy about my newest idea.

  “Talia!” Erik called out to me.

  Turning at the sound of my name, I saw him jogging in my direction.

  “Where’s the fire?” he joked.

  “Huh?” I replied, still lost in my fantastic scheme.

  “Why did you run out?” he clarified.

  “I’m gross, I need a shower, and I have to talk to Mac about something,” I listed absently.

  “How about having dinner with me?” His big turquoise eyes were hopeful when I met his gaze.

  Remembering his proclamation that we were “friends,” I not-so-kindly retorted, “I’m having dinner with Penny.” I did, in fact, have dinner plans with Penny, although I saw her every day, and I doubted that canceling on her would be a big deal.

  “Oh . . . well, okay. But I’m leaving tomorrow evening and I just wanted to spend some time with you.” He looked truly hurt by my refusal, and my resolve softened.

  Just then, my communicator, still strapped to my arm, beeped with an incoming message. It was from Donavon. I hit the text button option and read only one word: “dinner?” I quickly typed back, simply, “Penny, sorry.”

  I looked up at Erik. He was still staring at me with his beautiful sparkling eyes. My fingers involuntarily started typing a second message, this time to Penny to break our plans when I realized what he was doing.

  “Erik!” I exclaimed. “Do not use my powers against me.”

  He beamed devilishly, not even the least bit abashed at being caught. “I just really want to have dinner with you, nothing special, just the cafeteria,” he pouted, pushing his bottom lip out and fixing me with a look that I knew well, the one that had led countless girls to his bed.

  “I can’t. I already promised Penny. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, I turned and left before I changed my mind without the help of his will.