I reluctantly severed the tie to Donavon’s mind and turned to face Mac. “Sorry, I’m ready to start whenever you are.” I smiled, doing my best imitation of innocence.

  Several minds pressed on mine, but I blocked them, not needing the mental chastising to know that I was being childish.

  One did break through my walls. “Jesus, Talia, act your age.” Trying to keep Donavon out was like trying to run between raindrops without getting wet—impossible. Yup, he definitely thought that I was losing it.

  Mac’s gray eyes narrowed, but didn’t comment on my silent torture of his son. Instead, he started briefing our small group on his current theories. He began by reiterating the theories that he’d expressed to me several days prior; he believed that we had a spy on account of Crane knowing that I was coming and knowing my identity. Mac explained that I was likely targeted because my mission involved Crane directly, keeping his speculation that the reason was more personal to himself.

  “What about the Cryptos who intercepted the original intel?” I interrupted, glancing sidelong at Penny. She’d been one of the Cryptos who had intercepted the intel. Her face remained impassive. I almost felt bad about asking, but they would naturally be the first people I’d investigate if I were him.

  Mac gave me a hard look, annoyed at my disruption. “The Crypto team in question consisted of two Operatives and a Pledge. As you are well aware, Natalia, Ms. Latimore was that Pledge. She and the two Operatives have been questioned extensively by a member of our Psychic Interrogation Division. I was present during the interrogations as was Captain Alvarez. After an exhaustive investigation, we’ve determined that they were not involved. That is why I have asked Ms. Latimore to help with this inquiry. Does that satisfy you, Natalia?”

  “Just asking,” I muttered, appropriately abashed. He made it sound as though I was accusing him of not doing his job, but I wasn’t. I was just curious, for goodness sake, trying to be thorough.

  Mac continued, effectively dismissing me. “As you are all aware, we have two Crypto facilities. One is located here, and the other at Elite Headquarters. The information about Natalia’s mission would have been logged into our system, and only someone extremely adept with computers would have been able to access it.” He paused, meeting each of our eyes in turn before continuing. “Naturally, I have had Raj Anderson, Head of the Crypto Division, identify any of his personnel that accessed Natalia’s file. We have come up empty-handed thus far, but we are still pursuing that avenue. In light of our lack of progress, I have decided to take more aggressive measures and launch a full investigation of every person at both locations. Operative Latimore is combing the network to determine if the data was hacked while also aiding Natalia in identifying suspicious individuals. Janet identified several Instructors here at the School that have family members that are known associates of the Coalition.” Mac paused to take a breath, and I jumped at the opportunity to interrupt asking another question that had been plaguing me.

  “Why is Donavon here?” I blurted out.

  Janet coughed into her hand, but when I glanced in her direction, I saw that she was trying to suppress a snicker. Mitch shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Donavon gave me an exasperated look. Only Mac looked unfazed by my question; I think that he’d been expecting it. To my surprise, Donavon was the one who answered.

  “Because up until very recently, Talia, you’ve been indisposed, and my father needed someone who could pose as an Instructor to keep his ears open for any rumblings that would lead us to the spy.” Donavon enunciated my name, his voice like a razor. The only word that I really heard in his rant was “indisposed”.

  “Indisposed?” I shrieked, swinging my chair around to face him for the first time since he’d entered the room. “I was shot, you ass. I almost died. I had to relearn to walk. Sorry that my torture inconvenienced you.” My temper rose with each word, like mercury in boiling water. Donavon at least had the decency to flush and shrink back slightly in his seat at the venom in my voice.

  “Your personal conflicts aside,” Mac started to say, but I interrupted him again.

  “We don’t have personal conflicts,” I spat, my palms slapping the top of the conference table.

  Janet couldn’t suppress her snort of laughter this time. Mac shot her a warning look, but Janet just shook her head as if to say, “I told you so.”

  “Fine. The reason that Donavon is here is because I knew that he wasn’t the spy. Vetting another Operative to come in and play Instructor would’ve taken too much time, and time is not something that I want to waste. We need to find the leak before another Operative is hurt or killed,” Mac said shortly. His tone had a note of finality and his eyes blazed, warning me that he had nothing further to say on the topic. I wasn’t ready to let it go.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “What about Erik or Henri?” I insisted. “I’m sure that you’ve vetted both of them since they knew about my mission?” I met Mac’s eyes dead on, daring him to contradict me even though I regretted the words the moment they left my lips. Taunting Mac was kind of like baiting a hungry tiger—never a good idea.

  Donavon scoffed and shook his head. “Really, Talia? Erik? He’d just sleep with all of the students. We’d never find the spy if he went undercover.” Donavon sneered. His words were meant to hurt me, and they did. I bit my lip, fighting the stinging in the corners of my eyes at the thought of Erik with another girl.

  “Enough!” Mac shouted, banging his fist on the pile of papers in front of him. “Natalia, yes, both Mr. Kelley and Mr. Reich have been vetted. I am confident that neither of them is the spy. While it is not any of your business why I chose Donavon, I’ll tell you. He is my son, making him the Operative who would draw the least amount of suspicion here. Satisfied?” I flinched as Mac fixed me with his cold stare, his eyes boring holes in my head. I sat up straight and nodded my head that I was indeed satisfied with his explanation. In truth, I was. It actually made perfect sense; Mac was nothing if not logical.

  “And Donavon,” Mac continued, training his hard gaze on his son. “Stop baiting her. You two could at least act like professionals instead of petty children.”

  “Sorry, Dad,” Donavon muttered, embarrassed by his father’s reproach.

  If I were a bigger person, I might’ve felt badly for him since, after all, I was actually the one being petty and baiting Donavon. His comment about Erik was a low blow, but it paled in comparison to some of the antics I’d pulled in the last couple of days. Despite admitting the truth to myself, I wasn’t the bigger person, and Mac’s admonishment of his son gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction.

  “Now that we are all on the same page, let’s get back to what is important. Natalia, it is imperative that you keep your mind open. I want you looking into the head of every person that comes in contact with you. I want to know the minute that you feel something is strange. I don’t care if you just have an inkling; I want to know. Are we clear?” he asked me. I swallowed hard and nodded, afraid to speak again.

  “Penelope, I want you to do everything in your power to determine whether the system has been hacked. I want you and Natalia to look through every Operative’s file, and if you find anything that seems off, I want to know.” Penny nodded, her eyes wide. She also appeared to be too afraid of Mac to speak.

  “Donavon, continue to become friends with as many of the other Instructors as you can. Keep your ears open and let me know if you hear anything that needs further investigation.”

  “Yes, sir,” Donavon replied quietly.

  “Janet, Mitch, and I will continue to follow up on some leads. I want daily reports, and we will have weekly status meetings. I want this matter to be taken care of as quickly and quietly as possible. Are we all clear?” We all nodded. Then, mercifully, Mac dismissed us, not a moment too soon. The tension between me and Donavon was palpable, and the conference room had quickly become too small to hold us both.

  Donavon made a run for the door as soon as Mac dismissed us. I remained firmly planted in my chair until I was sure that he was out of the building. I didn’t have the energy to go another round with him.

  “You look like death warmed over,” Penny said, leaning towards me.

  “I’ve had better days,” I replied softly.

  She scrutinized my appearance. “Do you know you’re wearing two different shoes?” she asked, her voice edged with both amusement and concern.

  I looked down. Sure enough, I was wearing one brown leather sandal and one black. “Oops,” I replied sheepishly. “It’s been that kind of day.”

  “Come on, let’s get over to the Crypto Bank. I got the file that you wanted on that Ernest kid. I also got your message about needing the profiles for the students in your Telekinesis class.” I’d managed to send Penny a comm sometime between my shower and crying myself into exhaustion.

  “Great, thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t gotten started on those profiles, I figured we could do them together tonight.”

  Penny and I made our way out of the conference room with no more than a wave to Mac, Mitch, and Janet, who were so lost in conversation that they barely noticed our departure. We were halfway to the Crypto Bank when my portable communicator started beeping.

  “Medical,” a mechanical voice said between chirps. I’d forgotten. No wonder Mac had programmed it. I turned to Penny.

  “Meet you there in five?” I said apologetically.

  “Want me to come with you?” she asked, still looking concerned about my mental state.

  “Nah, I’ll be okay,” I answered. I really appreciated her offer, but I needed a few minutes alone to collect my thoughts; I was still reeling over Donavon’s statements about Erik. I hated myself for falling into Donavon’s trap. He’d been trying to cause me pain, wanted to hurt me. Donavon figured that I’d caused him physical pain earlier, so he would cause me emotional pain now.

  Only, I wasn’t the only one of us who’d been emotionally stung by his words. When Donavon had felt my reaction to his claims about Erik, he’d been hurt, too. The fact that I cared enough about Erik to be so upset by the thought of him with another girl tore Donavon apart inside. No matter what he said, or how he acted, Janet and Penny were right—Donavon still cared a lot about me. He knew that I’d been involved with Erik before I left for Nevada, but he’d assumed that it had been a rebound. He thought that I’d done it to get back at him.

  Donavon hadn’t realized that I’d had real feelings for Erik; that I still had real feelings for him. As mad as I was at Donavon, his pain weighed heavily on my shoulders. What a mess.

  “See you shortly.” Penny smiled before heading to the Crypto Bank alone.

  Dr. Thistler not only took my blood and gave me my medication, but provided me with more painkillers as well. I was feeling much better, and kind of high, half an hour later when I entered the sliding glass doors to Penny’s home-away-from-home.