Destiny's Fire - By Trisha Wolfe Page 0,58

my forehead. Hell, I was already a rebel sneaking onto an airship. Was sneaking into the boys’ wing such a stretch? I only had one problem. I had no idea which unit was his.

Passing through the lobby for the tenth time that day, I spotted—conveniently—the Shythe girl Reese had been getting close with. I swallowed my pride and made my way over to where she sat flipping through her textbook.

“Hi,” I said, wracking my brain for a tactful way of asking about Reese.

“Hi.” She looked up, surprised. “Can I help you with something?”

“Uh, actually yeah.” I sat down next to her. “Look, I’ve seen you with Reese. I don’t care what’s going on between you two, but—”

“Reese?” She shook her head. “That hotheaded Narco?”

I quirked an eyebrow. “That’d be the one.” I studied her expression. “Are you two dating?”

She laughed. “God. Only the first day of the announcement and people are accepting it?” After she said it, she glanced around to see if anyone else had heard her. “Listen. I don’t really want to talk about this, but no. Even if they held a Charge Dagger to my throat, Reese would be the last Narco I’d pick.”

Stunned, I slumped my shoulders. “But, you’re always talking to him. I thought—”

“I’m his tutor. His Shythe tutor.” She clucked her tongue. “That boy knows not one damn thing about the Shythe race. I was assigned to help integrate him into our system. He’s like, the only one that needs a tutor full time.” She flipped through her book. “God, I hope tutoring is over soon. I only took it on for an extra credit.”

I smiled. But then my face fell as I realized he hadn’t been trying to make me jealous. I wondered if he’d gotten a tutor to help disguise himself more. Making sure the Shythe didn’t suspect him of having odd powers—knowing too much about our race. It seemed like something he’d do.

I wanted to slap myself. I was more Narco than I thought. I obviously had some hot temper issues, too. “All right,” I said “But do you know where he is now? Or which unit number is his?”

She gave me a puzzled look, pinching her eyebrows together. “I haven’t seen him since the assembly this morning. And I’m sorry, but I don’t know which unit is his, either.”

I nodded. “Okay, thanks.” I stood and turned to go.

“Hey,” she said, and I faced her. “If you’re trying to decide on who to start seeing, I wouldn’t go for that guy.” She rolled her eyes. “Major dick.”

“Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

Major dick, huh. Maybe he’d been playing his role a little too well. I remembered that first night at Cogs. He definitely had the Narco temperament down. I wanted to think more about what she’d told me, but I didn’t have time. I decided to search the boys’ wing, regardless. Maybe I’d run into him in the halls. For the first time, I rode the lift by myself. I didn’t have enough time to take the stairs.

When I reached the top floor, I passed by every door, listening closely. Every unit on that level seemed to be empty. Crap. I glanced at my communicator. Time was up. I scurried back to the lift and rode it down to the lobby.

I had to get to work. I waited behind the door of the chemistry lab. Within a couple of minutes, class was released. After the classroom emptied, I stepped inside and walked straight up to Mr. Liam.

“I need your help.”

Chapter Eighteen

MR. LIAM SAT DOWN at his desk. “I’ll try my best.” He removed his copper-rimmed glasses. “What is it that you need, Ms. Harkly?”

I brought my crystal from the project cabinet. “I need to make this much, much smaller. And…” I carried the crystal to the lab counter and placed it into the transfer machine. “I need to distribute my power to a device…to something.” I shook my head, exasperated. “I know you helped Devon make more than just lights and synthesizers. I need weapons. Something my friends can use.”

He stood and began pacing with his head bowed. “Is this for some sort of rebel action?” He looked up at me.

I clasped my hips. “I won’t lie. Yes.”

He bit down on the tip of his glasses and nodded his head once. “Right. So how much time do we have?”

My eyebrows shot up. “Two and a half hours.”

“It can be done.” He put his glasses back on. “Go to my office.” He fished a