Psychic

XII

I straight-out laughed in her face. Victoria was so startled that she almost fell off of the chair. Her face was so confused and shocked that it made me laugh even more.

Magnus had already told me about working for Hawthorne, it wasn't like I didn't know. I also knew that he wasn't ever going to turn me in to Hawthorne, so Victoria's information wasn't as valuable as she thought.

"Didn't you get the dreams?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah."

"Then you know who he's working for and what he's been ordered to do. Olivia, he's getting close to you so he can take you to Hawthorne. Who knows what will happen once he gets a hold of you? I sent those dreams as a warning, did you not get that?"

"Oh, I got that," I said, "but we've already sorted that all out. Magnus doesn't want to turn me in to Hawthorne. In fact, he even told me that there was another one of his agents at the school, the one who originally alerted Hawthorne to my being here. He's the reason why I haven't been taken yet, Victoria, he doesn't want to turn me in."

She gave me a cold hard stare. "Has he told you who the other agent is?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then ask him. See if your precious little friend will be so keen as to protect you then."

I was shocked at myself for never asking. I just assumed that the other agent was just a substitute at the school or something, someone that had seen me do something with information that I shouldn't have had, but the way Victoria was talking, it was like she knew him.

"Why? Who is the other agent?" I asked hurriedly.

Victoria tsked. "Haven't you at least figured out what his connection is to the other agent? I mean – even with just the information from the dreams you could've figured it out. I'm surprised you haven't by now."

She was wrong. I had figured it out, but it was a little too unreal to believe. Magnus had mentioned him before, but he'd never said outright that he was the other agent. I remembered how mad Magnus got at Hawthorne when he mentioned him. It was like Magnus knew that they were on the same mission.

"It's his brother, isn't it? The other agent."

Victoria smiled slyly, reminding me of a snake. "Congratulation's, you're smarter than I gave you credit for."

It made perfect sense. Why Magnus was so resentful of him, why Hawthorne used him to taunt Magnus. Magnus's brother was the other agent, the one who first alerted Hawthorne that I might possibly be here, in Chesnutt Falls of all places.

But another questioned remained. Who was Magnus's brother? Did I know him?

"Do I know him?" I asked, trying to keep a leveled voice.

"How am I supposed to know?" she scoffed. "I've only been out in the open for less than twelve hours. I haven't had any time to study every student at your school."

"How'd you know where I live?" I asked suddenly. She obviously didn't follow me home, for that she would've had to risk being close to the school, where there were at least two of Hawthorn's agents waiting to capture her again. So, how'd she find me?

"We're psychics, Olivia. We all have a connection. If you know the right brain waves to grab, you can find anyone. All I had to do was fish in peoples' brains until I found someone who knew you and I kept going from there."

I nodded, but the broad reach of her powers – of mine – still escaped me. How was it even possible what we could do? And all those things that she could do, could I do them too?