The Marked (4 page)

We started toward the door. “I was about to head to breakfast,” I said. “Are you guys coming?”

“Nah. We ate before we left,” Esther said.

Hennie nodded in agreement. “I’m going to unpack. Come by when you’re done.”

“Okay.” We shared a three-way hug.

“It’s good to be back,” Esther said, bouncing off down the hall, Hennie in tow.

I nodded and waved as I turned in the other direction. It was hard not to be jealous when life seemed so easy for them. All Hennie had to think about was whether her parents would like her adorable boyfriend. I had to worry about pledging my life to a secret organization that killed people it didn’t like.

Above it all, two thoughts kept swirling around in my head: what would I do if they wanted
me
to kill someone?

And what if it were Jack?

CAM WASN’T
at breakfast, so I grabbed the last remaining doughnut and ran back to the Res, where I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Esther and Hennie. By the time dinner rolled around, the three of us were totally caught up, so we didn’t protest when Hennie disappeared on the way to the Main Hall, having caught sight of someone tall and dreadlocked. Ten minutes later, she walked into the cafeteria holding hands with Yashir, with a silly grin on her face and flushed cheeks. Yashir seemed pretty happy, too. It wasn’t hard to guess how their reunion had gone.

Our table filled slowly as more freshmen came over from the Res. Everyone was happy to be back at school. Allie and I even hugged each other.

Allie was the one I’d dubbed Perfect Girl last semester because of her halo of wavy, golden brown hair, and her obvious past life as a cheerleader. I’d briefly tried to hate her, but it was no use. She was truly as nice as she was cute, a great athlete, and it turned out, a friend of Jack’s. Her very perfection still irritated me sometimes, but only when I was feeling particularly petty and frustrated by my own out-of-control head of whitish-blond frizz.

Allie had been devastated when Jack left school without a word. It felt good to know there was another person who cared about him; sometimes I felt like I was the only one.

Hector and Alessandro came to sit with us, as did most of Esther’s team. She was their unofficial captain, and they tended to congregate wherever she was. Over dinner we threw french fries at one another and generally irritated the teachers. It helped take my mind off the fact that I hadn’t seen Cam all day.

Allie and I discovered we were both going out for soccer, so we talked about that while Esther cracked everyone up with stories of her ill-fated cross-country career and Coach Yerkinly’s reaction when she’d walked past the finish line for each of our races. She’d never managed to work up to running three miles; one was about her limit.

After dinner, we all headed back to the Res. I was talking to Allie over my shoulder as I pulled open the door and nearly bumped into Cam, who was headed the other way.

“Perfect! I was looking for you,” he said.

Allie gave me a knowing smile and kept walking. Esther winked as she passed.

“I didn’t see you at dinner,” I said, when they’d all disappeared into the Res.

“Mr. Judan had a bunch of things he needed me to do.”

“Because of last night?”

“Yeah.”

I paused. “Do you…um…think they’ll be back?”

“They wouldn’t dare,” he said confidently. “Especially now that we’ve got extra Watchers patrolling.”

“Do you know who it was?” I spoke carefully. I kept picturing Mr. Fritz’s face and the disapproval I’d seen in Mr. Judan’s eyes when I’d asked questions the night before. I suspected Cam knew the truth. Not to mention that I was dying to know if he’d seen a talent mark from Jack.

“Not exactly. We think it’s a gang from Seattle,” he said. “We’ve had trouble with them before. But they’re just regular kids. Nothing to worry about.”

I searched his face. He avoided my eyes, and my heart sank. Cam was lying. I could see it in the way he refused to look at me, and hear it in his voice. He was talking too fast and too loud, trying too hard to reassure me.

I tried to tell myself that it was understandable. He was in the middle of an investigation. He could hardly go around blabbing about it to every person he saw. But it still hurt.

“So…” I trailed off, unsure what to do next. “Are you going to get something to eat?”

“Nah.” He waved a hand. “I’ll just eat double in the morning.”

“Oh.”

“I thought maybe we could go for that walk now.”

“Oh!”

It was damp and cold and would probably start raining any minute, but there wasn’t a chance in the world that I’d turn him down. We didn’t have to be in our rooms until seven thirty, and while we were supposed to stay around the lawn or the buildings during free time, everyone knew that couples made out in the woods. It was much safer than doing it in your room, where it was not only forbidden (doors open and feet on the floor if you were entertaining!), but also patrolled and monitored.

“We don’t have to go far. Maybe just up to the practice fields?”

He gave me that slow smile and stepped closer. I was helpless.

“Sure, yes, that sounds great,” I stuttered.

“Do you need to get a jacket?”

If I went upstairs, Esther and Hennie would give me hell. “No, I’ve got my sweatshirt. I’ll be okay.”

We started out across the grass. Cam took my hand as soon as we ducked outside the circle of light surrounding the Res. A gentle sprinkling of rain began to fall on us as we made our way through the dark.

“Are you done now?” I asked. “With the investigation, I mean. Now that the real Watchers are coming.”

He pushed a lock of thick chestnut hair back from his forehead. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I don’t know. Mr. Judan told me that he still has leads for me to investigate. It sounds crazy, but sometimes I get the feeling I’m the only one Mr. Judan trusts completely.”

“That is crazy. Not that you aren’t totally trustworthy,” I added hastily. “But it isn’t right for him to dump so much on you. You
are
still in school.”

“I know. It’s just—he’s done so much for me. I don’t want to let him down.”

I could tell how exhausted he was, so I bit my tongue and didn’t say what I was thinking:
All Mr. Creepy has ever done is use your talent and feed you an occasional Thanksgiving dinner.

“You shouldn’t feel bad, Cam,” I said carefully, anger at Mr. Judan flooding through me. “You don’t owe him anything. Besides, you work your tail off for him. He should be grateful he has you on his side.”

“Thanks, Dancia. I don’t know why, but I don’t feel right complaining about him to anyone but you.”

I glowed with relief at his words. Cam
did
want to tell me things, even sensitive things about Mr. Judan. He was probably just under some vow of secrecy. I couldn’t even be sure Mr. Judan wasn’t using persuasion on him to make him do whatever he wanted.

I didn’t quite understand how Mr. Judan’s talent for persuasion worked. I had asked Cam about it once, because he’s a Level Two for persuasion. Cam could use what you already felt or believed and strengthen it, but Mr. Judan could take things you had never thought about before and make you a fanatical believer in them. That was the difference between a Level Two and a Level Three.

Cam also said that Mr. Judan’s talent only worked when you were with him, and that he couldn’t control your mind permanently. I found that to be a huge relief.

“Hey, just doing my job.” I didn’t say anything else about Mr. Judan. I figured Cam was too tired and frustrated to hear anything bad about him just then.

Cam stopped and took my hands in his, turning so that we could face each other. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer; our bodies were touching, and our faces were just inches apart. “So, anyway…I didn’t actually come out here to talk about Mr. Judan.”

I gulped. All thoughts of Delcroix, secrets, and the Program dissolved in an instant. “No?”

“No. You know I’m not your Watcher anymore.”

My heart fluttered. “The thought had occurred to me.”

“So where do we go from here?”

“Maybe we pick up where we left off?” I said, my breathing suddenly becoming shallow and tight.

He leaned forward. I tipped my head back up to allow our lips to meet.

The kiss was slow, our bodies in perfect sync. We didn’t fumble around or bonk noses or do any of the things I was so terrified of. We just stood there, intertwined. It went on forever, that kiss; or maybe there was a series of connected kisses, I don’t know. I remember warmth. I remember his hands around my waist. And I remember wanting him never to let me go.

My eyes shot open early on Monday morning, well before the sun was up. I stayed in bed as long as I could, trying to go back to sleep. It was futile. At about a quarter to six I gave up and rolled out of bed. I knew Hennie and Esther would sleep until the last possible minute, but I couldn’t stay in the room any longer.

Careful not to wake Catherine, I grabbed my clothes and headed for the bathroom. She was awake by the time I returned, looking bleary-eyed and grumpier than usual. I waited until she headed for the shower to sit at my desk and pull out my new schedule. It showed my afternoon focus classes, separated each day by topic and instructor. The class names—Scientific Ethics, Introduction to Physics, and independent study—gave no hint as to what would really follow.

I headed for the Main Hall as soon as the cafeteria opened. By then, the halls were a chaotic tangle of girls in towels running between rooms and waiting for the showers. I allowed myself a tiny smile as I started down the stairs. Cam and I had spent most of Sunday together, walking around school holding hands and catching up on everything that had happened over winter break. Hennie and Esther went crazy when they saw us. I think Esther was even more excited than I was.

I lingered in the hall by the second floor, where the juniors’ rooms were, hoping to get a glimpse of Cam. This was a huge mistake, because it put me within the sights of Anna, who was in the hall near the stairs with her friends Molly and Claire.

“Well,” Anna drawled, “if it isn’t Dancia the Wonder Girl.”

I debated between sticking out my tongue, shoving her down the stairs, and being polite. It was early, and I hadn’t had my morning doughnut, so I wasn’t ready for a fight. I decided on polite. “Good morning, Anna.”

Anna crossed her arms over her chest and walked to the stairs. Molly and Claire had been relatively friendly to me in the past, but this morning they gave me only guarded smiles before their eyes flicked back to Anna.

“So, you’re starting classes today,” Anna said. “I guess we’ll all have to be careful from here on out.”

My smile hardened. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Anna sniffed. “I saw Trevor talking to you at Initiation.”

Claire shifted uneasily, looking up and down the staircase. “Anna, we probably shouldn’t be discussing this in the hall.”

“Keep watch, then,” Anna said. “It isn’t like anyone could sneak up on you.”

I paused for half a second to wonder what that meant. Did Claire have a talent for superhearing? Then I gave Anna a bright smile. “You know what, Anna? Trevor
did
talk to me. He told me how he’d be watching out for me.”

Anna moved a few inches closer; just enough to seem threatening. “Trevor’s too nice for his own good. Just remember that we don’t all buy your stories, Dancia. There better not be any more ‘accidents’ when you’re around.”

Molly dug her hands deep in her pockets. She was painfully skinny, and when she got nervous she would squeeze her arms against her sides and practically disappear. “Anna, I think you’d better—”

“I’m not saying anything we haven’t all thought.” Anna leaned toward me. “I for one do not believe you’re committed to the Program just because you made all those pledges.”

“Fine.” I got right in her face for a minute, close enough to look down at her perfect red lips and thick brown hair. She was a few inches shorter than me, which usually made me feel big and awkward next to her, but right now I liked the fact that she had to look up to meet my eyes as I spoke. “You don’t trust me. I don’t
care
, Anna. I’m a part of the Program now. I’ve got as much right to be here as you do.”

Anna barely paused. “Oh, really? Then I have a question for you, Dancia. If Jack comes back, are you ready to do the right thing and turn him in? Are you loyal to the Program first, or Jack?”

My mouth flapped open at the unexpected question. It took far too long for me to spit out the words. “Jack’s gone, and I chose to stay. I’m loyal to the Program, Anna. That’s all you need to know.”

Anna turned away, casually flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder. “If you say so.” She motioned to Claire and Molly, who followed her down the hall. Just as I had started to relax, she turned back around. “By the way, you told Cam about your little fling with Jack, right?”

I froze. What did Anna know about my—whatever it was—with Jack? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You and Jack, Dancia. We know you were together.”

“You’ve been spying on me?” I looked at her in horror. The only way Anna could know that would be if she’d watched me in my backyard the day I’d kissed Jack. “Is that how you treat your family?”

Anna gave me a cool smile of satisfaction. “All I care about is the Program. You may have fooled some of the people around here, but I’m still watching.”