in my attempt to face off with Wolfe. And I was still struggling with who I could trust.
Old Man Winter had said I was more valuable to them than a hundred agents, but the question I had to ask was ‘why?’ I walked back to the dormitories using the above ground route, and when I walked out the doors of the headquarters building the icy sting of the wind lanced my cheeks.
I smelled that familiar scent hanging in the air again, that of a real wood fire, just like Mom used to build sometimes in our fireplace at home. We would actually make s’mores on it, like people in movies do when they’re camping, and one time she got mad at me for breaking the rules and stuck my hand in the fire. True story. It had healed by the next day, but it hurt like hell, the flesh nearly peeling off the bone. That time was for the audacity to ask about how people lived in the outside world, breaking rule #5. Oops.
My eyes looked over the grounds and I found myself wondering what this place looked like in the middle of summer. Then my thoughts went back to the faces of those agents, in the garage when I met them, and I wondered what they did on a normal day, when they weren’t escorting me to my house. Some of them had families, wives, kids. I didn’t know a single one of their names.
It was only about four in the afternoon, but it was already getting dark. The haze of clouds hanging overhead was only making it worse. Still no sign of the sun, just like if I’d never left home. The wind was bitter, bad enough that even I didn’t want to stay out for very long. After being cooped up inside for a decade, you’d think I’d want to spend as much time outside as possible – and I did, but there were limits, and apparently they were at three degrees Fahrenheit.
I entered the dormitory building to find people going about their business in the hallways, passing me with the occasional nod. I wondered if these people – metas, I thought – knew the agents that got killed. I wondered if they worked here or if they were just here for study, like me. I wondered what their lives were like, their stories, and if any of them missed their parents.
I opened the door to my room and didn’t even bother to do a thorough check before I lay down. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, twisted the cap and drank it without replacing it from the tap. Who cares? What were they going to do, poison me? Bring it on. I was at their mercy – I didn’t trust them, but it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to go.
Except I thought about Reed again, and about how I dreamed of him. I wondered if I could do it again. I put the water aside and lay down, thinking of him. I remembered his brown eyes, his hair framing his tan face, and I drifted off.
It felt like I lingered in the dark for hours before he showed up, fading into view a little at a time. He looked around and saw me, a look of unsurprise on his face.
“Hi.” I waved, feeling more than a little stupid.
He lowered his head and shook it in something akin to deep disappointment. “You stirred up a hell of a hornet’s nest.”
I blinked at him, and wondered for a second why I would be blinking when my eyes were closed and I was asleep. “What do you mean?”
“I mean your showdown with Wolfe.”
I looked away. “Yeah, I know. I got people killed.”
“It’s not that!” Reed said, incredulous. “Directorate agents die all the time. Whatever you did when you fought Wolfe, he’s lost it. He’s over the edge now.”
“He wasn’t before?”
Reed exploded. “This is no joking matter! He was going to capture you before, when he was following his employer’s orders. Now he’s lost it and they’re panicking because he’s gone rogue. He wants to kill you.”
“How do you know that?” Little tingles of suspicion started inside me; my stomach churned, hinting at a feeling of betrayal.
“The people I work with have spies inside the group he was working for. You really pissed him off. What did you do?”
I shrugged, numb at the revelation. “Made him bleed.”
Disappointed, Reed’s hand found its way to his face. “Why