age from late teens to middle age, male and female. Some sat around the long table that dominated the center of the room, others sat atop it with their legs dangling over the sides. Ken was pouring himself a glass of water from the silver pitcher on a nearby console. They all looked at Eve, then glanced furtively at Alec except for a nearby blonde who assessed him boldly from head to toe.
“How are you feeling, Hollis?” asked a dark-haired Hispanic man in jeans and button-down flannel shirt.
“Good. Thanks for asking.”
As Alec joined Eve in the far corner, he returned every stare. Eve hopped onto the widow ledge, her lithe legs dangling and her fingers curled around the lip. They were white knuckled, betraying her unease. The tension in the room was thick and it pissed him off.
He leaned back and crossed his arms, facing the room dead-on. Uncomfortable shuffling ensued, then a return to the previous discussion.
Ken cleared his throat. “I cannae wait to get started.”
“You’re two sammies short of a picnic,” a petite redhead said derisively, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
“Well,” Alec murmured for Eve’s ears only. “The girls are easily pegged with their nicknames, I think. ‘Goth Girl’ especially. I’m assuming the redhead is ‘Princess,’ since she’s covered in glitter.”
Eve smiled. “I am so high school, aren’t I?”
“It’s not your fault they’re easily identifiable. Besides, I liked you in high school,” he purred, alluding to the ill-fated tryst that led them to where they were today. He couldn’t regret it, and he took every opportunity to remind her of why she shouldn’t regret it either.
Eve bumped her shoulder into his. “Can you guess which one is ‘Mastermind’? That one’s a bit harder.”
Alec looked around. There were seven people in the room besides themselves. Since he had already identified four of the Marks, he quickly ruled them out—Ken, the red-haired princess with her glitter mascara and lip gloss, the Goth girl with her pale blond hair and pixie-perfect features, and the “Fashionista” whose height and rail-thin figure were the stuff of supermodel dreams. The remaining occupants were the guy who greeted Eve when they entered, a wan and slightly portly teenage boy in a nylon jogging suit, and a gray-haired gentleman in dress slacks and polo shirt.
“The old guy?” he guessed. “He kinda has that Magneto vibe.”
“You’re older than he is,” Eve reminded. “And no, he’s ‘Gopher.’ His name is Robert Edwards.”
“Okay. Then it’s the guy in the jeans.”
“Nope.”
Alec’s eyes widened. “The kid? You’re shitting me.”
Laughing, she said, “No, I’m not. He’s older than he looks. Early twenties. Name is Chad Richens. He and Edwards are both from England, so I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons why they gravitated toward each other. The other is that Richens can come up with schemes, but he doesn’t like to do the dirty work.”
“Like what?”
“Like the time he had Edwards swap out everyone’s bayonets with dull ones from the previous day. We all worked twice as hard as he did that session, because he and Edwards were the only ones to have freshly sharpened blades. It was Richens’s idea, but Edwards was the one who actually made the switch. Claire freaked when Ken figured it out. I thought she was going to give herself an aneurism.”
“The fashionista?”
“Yes, Claire Dubois, from France. Isn’t she gorgeous? She says she wasn’t before the mark. Apparently, she used to be a meth addict. She burned her apartment down and killed her boyfriend in the process, which is why she was marked. She’s still very high strung and fidgets a lot.”
Alec studied the teenager. “How is Richens doing in the physical portion of the class?”
“Not good. Even with the help of the mark, he has trouble with the combat training, which is why I think he tries to get through the sneaky way. He’s a video game junkie and strategy is his strength, not his fists. He also has a short fuse.” Her voice lowered. “Edwards told me Richens’s dad was abusive. I think he carries some of that around with him.”
It didn’t escape Alec’s notice how well Eve had researched her classmates in order to better understand them. It was a sign of a natural hunter. Killing wasn’t merely a physical act. It was also cerebral. “There must be some potential in him, or he would have been assigned to a nonfield position.”
“He killed someone. I don’t know the details. He won’t talk about it.”
“Murderers usually end up with field work automatically.”
“Stupid,” she