Conspiracies (Mercedes Lackey) - By Mercedes Lackey Page 0,102

they’re graduated, you’ll make a great maid. They have to put up with you ’cause Oakhurst is all about making us equal, and probably you’ve got something they can use, but boy, does that ever change once you’re out.” Mandy leaned against the door frame and drank her tea. “Not like Mark. He made his own way and his own money. He’s one of us.”

I’ll just bet, Spirit thought.

“Have you thought about what you are going to do when you graduate?” Mandy continued.

“Don’t you mean, ‘if I get out of this alive’?” Spirit countered, allowing herself to sound bitter. “’Cause that isn’t looking good from where I sit.”

Mandy waved her hand carelessly. “Stick with my bunch when the fireworks start, they don’t dare let us die, we’re too important. No, seriously, you need to start thinking about things like that. You don’t want to end up in fast food. Breakthrough’s got scholarships for Oakhurst grads who don’t have Trusts to fall back on. Who else do you think would be willing to hire a Bachelor of Arts in—oh—Languages, Mythology, and Literature? At Breakthrough, we don’t call that degree ‘useless,’ we call that a researcher. Archaeology, oh man, you bet, there is an outstanding scholarship for anyone willing to go all the way to a Ph.D. in Archaeology. But, of course, anyone who got these scholarships would have to be a magician, and there aren’t a lot of those around.”

“Huh,” Spirit said. “I didn’t know…”

“Go ahead and use those so-called friends of yours, because God knows they’ll use you. But when Breakthrough comes through before graduation recruiting, sign up for the college sponsorship program. Hell, if your foreign languages are good enough, they’ll send you overseas to college. Always wanted to go overseas? Want to attend Oxford? Glasgow University? The Sorbonne? University of Vienna? Study in Rome?” Her eyes glittered behind her glasses. “They’ve sent people all over.”

It made Spirit a little sick and a lot angry to realize how much Breakthrough knew about her. They’d obviously picked out the right person with the right offer to tempt her. Before she’d come here she’d never been outside of Indiana—she would have killed for a full scholarship to study abroad. And when she’d first gotten here, it would have worked, too. But the more Mandy bad-mouthed her friends, the angrier Spirit got.

But she was smart enough not to show it. Instead, she nodded, and continued to look scared and timid, and finally Mandy seemed to think she’d done her job and let her go. Spirit wasn’t sure whether to head back to where she’d left the others, and hesitated just inside the door, trying to see if anyone was still there. It was pretty obvious from the body language in the room that the Gatekeepers were having the effect they wanted. Those who were still sitting together were doing so warily, and the lounge was emptying.

She was about to go further into the room when Loch passed her, hands shoved in his pockets. “Train station. Now,” he muttered under his breath as he passed, paying no outward attention to her. She waited just long enough for him to get well into the boys’ dorm, then headed quickly for her own room to snatch up her coat and slip out the door. There was plenty of time before lights out, and even now, no one restricted movement on campus. Officially, anyway.

As always, the winter cold nearly took her breath away. But now there was the added hazard of having to avoid the military guys. She scouted carefully. Tonight there were only two of them on the school grounds: one guarding the stable and one the gym. But just to be sure, she tried to keep as much in the shadows as possible as she sprinted for the tiny rail station.

She reached it and ducked inside. “Hey?” she whispered into the darkness.

“We’re all here,” Burke said, in normal tones. “You’re the last one. Well, except for Murr-cat…” His voice trailed off.

“I passed her a note, but she was pretty wrapped up in Ovcharenko,” Addie said sadly into the darkness. “I don’t—”

But then the sound of light footsteps running toward them made them all fall silent and hold their breaths. Spirit felt someone grab her and stifled a squeak as arms went around her. “If it’s anyone other than Muirin, pretend like we’re making out,” Burke breathed into her ear. “That’s the plan.” He turned her so that she was facing into his chest, and