The Chosen (A Talents novel)

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cam was driving one of the black Mercedes that they kept at Delcroix, and as usual, I shivered when I slid into the leather seat. At one time, I’d shivered with the excitement of being in a sleek, expensive car. Now, I shivered with memories of Watchers and guns, and the uneasy sense that the car was part of something that wasn’t entirely pure. Something I had pledged to defend.  

But I was going to make it better, right? I’d promised myself that at the end of the school year. I was going to fix what was broken, and make it better from the inside out.

I just wished I could have had the summer off before I had to start.

“So what’s the meeting?” I asked, as soon as we closed the doors and Cam turned the key in the ignition. The windows were up and the air conditioning blasted from the console as soon as the engine turned over.

“Mr. Judan wants to talk to us.”

My house seemed very small as we pulled away from the curb. I stifled a sudden longing to look back as my stomach dropped a few inches toward my toes. “Us, as in, who exactly?”

“You, me, Anna, and Trevor.”

I shivered again, though this time it had nothing to do with the smooth leather seats. Mr. Judan was calling together the group of us that had fought the Irin. The group that had already been questioned at length by the Watchers.

“What does he want?” I asked.

Cam glanced in the rear view mirror as he accelerated. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know, or you can’t tell me?”

His mouth tightened. My doubting him was unpleasant, if familiar, territory. “I don’t know. He just told me to bring you over tonight. That’s all.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go there.” I touched his leg and felt the muscles shift. His hands clenched on the steering wheel, then relaxed. He dropped his right hand over mine and gave it a squeeze.

“No, it was a fair question,” he said. “Especially now.”

The silence that followed left everything unsaid. I was dying to ask what things were like with Mr. Judan now, and how we were going to tackle his role in the attack last summer. But something held me back. Some fear that I wouldn’t like what I heard.

“Are you having a good summer?” I asked, forcing myself to say something. “Are you recruiting a lot?”

He nodded. “Yep. It’s been crazy.” His expression softened with pleasure. “But it’s good. We found another big talent. I’ve seen his marks for years, in a bunch of different places, but we could never track him down. This summer I saw the marks five or six times, all around Sacramento, and then just last week, I found the guy. He’s older than our usual candidates, starting junior year this fall. I’m heading down there in a few days for the official recruiting visit.”

“Big talent, as in, strong level two?”

“Big talent as in strong level three,” he said. “Without training. Like you.”

And Jack.

I touched my pocket instinctively, thinking of the photograph I’d found in the attic. Then I remembered that I’d given it to Grandma, and it was now sitting on the end table with the tabloids and the trashy magazines.

Relief flooded me, accompanied by guilt for feeling it. If that picture had been in my pocket, I would have felt like I should tell Cam about it. But just like I’d hesitated before showing it to Grandma, my gut now told me I should keep the information secret as long as I could.