Doubts, though, were excitement crushers. What if I was one of the ones kicked out after the first month? No one but Mia had wanted me in the first place. I mean, really. Should I put all my energy into something that would most likely be taken from me?
I just didn't know.
Suddenly the woman named Siren, the one with the sweet voice, came onto the screen, capturing my full attention. She walked toward a group of otherworlders, humming under her breath as if she hadn't a care. The pale-skinned, pale-haired creatures were smiling as if they were entranced. When she reached them, she went silent, jumped up, higher and faster than I'd ever seen anyone move, and she attacked with a single knife.
They were dead in seconds.
Then Mia's beautiful face came onto the screen. It was night and she stalked toward a giant, muscled man with yellow scales instead of skin. He did not have a nose. Ah, an Ell Rollis, I thought, recalling the description Kitten had given me. The Outer had a little boy by the throat and was squeezing. The boy was flailing.
Mia approached them silently. When she reached them, she raised a knife. It glinted silver in the moonlight. Without a word, she reached around the monster and slit its throat. Just like that. One minute he was alive, the next he wasn't.
Kitten gasped again as the giant tumbled to a bloody heap, releasing the boy along the way. I never got to find out what happened to that little boy because the screen went blank.
Real-life Mia stepped in front of the screen. For a long while, she didn't speak. She regarded us intently, studying. Then, slicing through the silence as deftly as she'd sliced the alien, she said, "Think you can handle this life?"
Could I?
Kitten gave an uncertain nod.
"Yes," I said, suddenly knowing it beyond any doubt. I could. The real question was, would A.I.R. let me?
8
We spent two more hours in orientation, going through some tests to determine if we had the smarts to graduate high school early or needed more classes and exactly what level of instruction we'd require. Of course, we weren't told our grade. We had to wait for that.
Afterward, Mia escorted us to our next class. The room was an exact replica of the other--except this one had other girls inside. My nervous system kicked into gear, as if it was the first day of high school all over again. Would they like me? Would they instantly hate me? How long had they been a part of the school?
Would I cause my brain to bleed by asking myself too many questions?
"Everyone, I need your attention. I'd like you to meet Kitten." Mia urged Kitten forward with an insistent push. "And this is Phoenix." She shoved me forward, as well.
I stumbled to a stop and gave a little wave. "Hey."
"Hey," I heard from several of them. Some of my nervousness eased. Obviously they didn't plan to ignore me.
"This is Alien Anatomy 101," Mia said. "Mishka Le'Ace will be your instructor. Everyone calls her Le'Ace."
I didn't mean to, but I yawned. I was not used to lack of sleep.
Mia's eyes narrowed on me. "Am I boring you, Miss Germaine?"
My cheeks heated as everyone's attention focused on me. "No."
"You're boring me," a clipped voice said.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a woman step forward. I turned and faced her, immediately seeing it was the beauty from yesterday's interview, the one with the most exquisite, perfect features of any human I'd ever seen. Probably in the entire world.
"She's genetically altered," Ryan had said.
Up close, her rich brown hair was glossier than I'd realized, her hazel eyes sparked with green, and her lips glistened with the perfect amount of gloss. Her skin was flawless. She wore a red dress suit, perfectly tailored to fit her perfect curves.
I wanted to hate her, but she looked too much like an angel.
Ryan had told me she was emotionless, born to kill anyone and anything when ordered. If I'd have met her on the streets, I never would have guessed. I would have thought she was a model or a businesswoman. Maybe that was why she was so good at her job. Who would expect her to render a death blow?
She probably walked up to her targets, smiled sweetly, and then killed them before they realized what was going on.
"Thank you, Miss Snow," Le'Ace said in that formal voice of hers. She had a crisp accent I couldn't quite place. Russian, maybe. "I can take it from here."
Mia strode out of the room.
I moved toward one of the empty desks, but Le'Ace stopped me. "Not yet, Phoenix. First, I have a test for you."
Frowning, I froze in place. The new teacher was picking on me already, it seemed.
Kitten tried to move around me.
"Nope. You too, Kitten. Turn around and face the wall," Le'Ace said, showing no mercy.
Several seconds passed, and we did nothing. Just remained in place. What kind of test was she going to give us that we needed to turn around and face the wall? Did she plan to whip us to see how much we could tolerate? Strike us from behind? Or was turning around the actual test? Maybe we were supposed to know that to turn our back to her was to give her power over us.
Damn, but this was confusing. I envisioned myself making the wrong choice and getting myself kicked out today.
"Turn. Around," Le'Ace commanded sharply. Obviously she was not used to being disobeyed.
Apprehension and a little resentment slithered through me, to be treated like a child again. My jaw popped as I finally pivoted on my heel. Now was not the time to rebel. Kitten quickly followed suit.
"Good," Le'Ace said. She walked to us, her red heels clicking against the tile. "You're going to tell me everything you remember about the room and its occupants. Every detail. Phoenix, you're first. Tell me about the girls."
I breathed a sigh of relief. So, turning around hadn't been the test. I only had to--ah, crap. Did I even remember a single detail about the girls? I'd been so nervous, I hadn't really looked at them. "I don't remember."
"You must remember something." My back was to her, but I could feel the condemnation radiating from her. "Concentrate," she barked, sounding like a military general. "Think."
I closed my eyes and blanked my mind. Concentrating as she'd commanded, I replayed my entry, trying to soak in every detail. I saw...nothing.
"You will not have this long in the field," Le'Ace said. "If this were a mission, you'd be dead by now."
Several girls snickered. My cheeks heated for the second time.
"Tell me what you see," she ordered.
Think. You have to remember something. "There are eight girls sitting at the desks, and they're wearing white clothes. Just like me." How was that for stating the obvious and trying to buy myself some time? "Two are black." Yes! I thought with satisfaction. That was right, I knew it was.
Suddenly a picture of them formed in my mind, details I thought I'd overlooked as clear as if I was actually looking at them. "One of the girls is Asian. One, the one with white hair, has a tattoo on her face." I was so proud of myself, I wanted to clap.
"And what is the tattoo?" came the unimpressed response.
My shoulders tensed as I focused on the girl in my mind. I mentally brushed away the white strands of hair shielding her cheek, revealing more and more of her face...the marking..."It's blue." And it had sweeping...no. Wrong. What was that? "The edges are jagged but...I can't see it clearly," I admitted.
"Yes, you can. Think harder." Le'Ace patted me on the back and it was a surprisingly rough thump, thump. More strength than I would have deemed such a beauty capable of displaying.
My hands clenched at my sides, and I squeezed my eyelids as tight as I could. I pictured the white-haired girl again. Her desk was in the third row. Her hair was long and straight and--oh! She had blue streaks in her hair. Streaks that matched the color of the tattoo. I told Le'Ace.
"That's right," she said, "but that's not what I wanted to know."
Obviously the woman was a task master. Concentrate! Tattoo. Blue. Pointed ends. Three pointed ends, to be
exact. My eyes blinked open as the answer slammed into me. "It's a trident," I said, confident.
"Good. Slow, but good." Le'Ace patted my back again, and this blow almost hammered me to the floor. She must not know her own strength. Or maybe she did and just didn't care. "Remember to study a room and its occupants every time you walk into someplace new.
Her approval warmed me, and I found myself grinning.
"Kitten," she said, "it's your turn. Tell me about the room itself."
I twisted so that I could see the girls I'd just spoken about. They were exactly as I'd pictured them, even though I'd only had a few glances. Pride filled me. In the past, I'd studied my surroundings to make sure there were no cops present so I could fly. This time, I'd done it for a good reason.
My teachers used to tell me I'd killed so many brain cells by doing Onadyn that I'd never be sharp, never be considered intelligent. Those comments had hurt, still hurt, actually, when I allowed myself to think of them. I liked to think they'd told me those things to make me stop doing drugs, not because they thought I was stupid.
"The walls are light brown," Kitten began.
When she said no more, Le'Ace said, "Is that the only color?"
There was a long pause. I crossed my fingers behind my back. You can do it, Kitten.
"Yes?" Kitten said, though the word emerged as a question.
"Are you sure?"
"No. Yes. Yes, I'm sure."
"Good. But do not let someone's question waver you and do not give an answer unless you are sure. Now, what else do you remember? You've had plenty of time to think about it."
"There's a holoscreen above the center platform and the floor is made from silver tiles."
"You can see the floor now," Le'Ace said dryly. "That doesn't count. What about the desks? The chairs? How many are there?"
"I don't know," Kitten replied, and her voice was tortured.
"Think."
"I am!" she hissed.
"Think," Le'Ace said in that still, crisp voice.
Another pause.
Kitten shrugged. "Twenty?"
Le'Ace pushed out a breath. "Wrong. Turn around and count. If these desks had been aliens, you would be dead."
Seemed we'd be dead from a lot of things if this was the real world.
Kitten turned, and her cheeks were flushed a rosy red. "Twenty-one." She stomped her foot. "I was close!"
"Close will not keep you alive. Close will send you to an early grave."
Kitten's shoulders sagged. "I'll do better next time."
"I hope so. Even if you had said twenty-one, you would have been guessing and that is simply not good enough. I told you not to guess. Details are important. Every detail. A single detail can save your life or destroy it. You must be aware of everything at all times."
"Impossible," I said. What she was saying was impossible. No way a person could input so many details so quickly.
"You had your fingers crossed at one point." She arched a perfectly sculpted brow. "I know that but I wasn't looking at you."
I pressed my lips together and tried not to be impressed.
"But you are," she said as if she'd read my mind. Maybe she had. Was that possible? I gulped. More and more I was learning just how little I knew about the world and its inhabitants. "Have a seat, girls. Take a few minutes to meet the others."
"But she's an alien," a blonde said, pointing to Kitten. "I don't want to get to know her."
Kitten hissed.
Le'Ace frowned. "She's nonpredatory. You'll treat her as you treat the other students or you'll return home. Understand? If you don't, you can go to your room and pack your bags right now."
Everyone nodded, which saved them from my wrath. Right now, Kitten was my only friend. I was feeling a little protective of her.
I walked to the seat in back, between the tattooed blonde and the lovely Asian girl.
"Hey," the Asian said.
"Hey," I replied.
Tattoo turned away from me, giving me her profile. Asian leaned toward me and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'm Cara. Pay no attention to Emma, the bitch beside you. She hates everyone."
Emma didn't respond to the jab.
"I'm Johanna," one of the blond girls said, the one who had spoken against Kitten. "I saw you enter the Common yesterday. You don't look as nervous today."
"Well, I've since read that oh so comforting manual," I said dryly.
All the girls laughed. Except for Emma, whose gaze remained straight ahead. Still, I found myself relaxing. For the most part, they seemed to like me. How long would that last?
"Hey, Phoenix," Kitten called. She'd taken an open seat up front. "This is Dani, Lindsay, and Jenn." She motioned to a pretty blonde, a redhead, and the second black girl.
The girls smiled at me, and I returned the greeting.
"They're nice," Kitten added with a pointed look at Johanna.
"Hey, I'm nice," Johanna said. "Your heritage just caught me off guard, okay? We're supposed to kill Outers, not befriend them."
"Not all aliens are bad," Kitten growled.
Johanna held up her hands, palms out. "I believe you, all right? God. Give me a freaking break. I haven't slept in, like, a week."
"Why don't you two start over?" I suggested.
Both nodded reluctantly. I introduced Kitten to the girls I'd met, and they exchanged greetings.
"All right," Le'Ace said. She stood at the head of the class, her arms anchored behind her back. "Now that everyone knows everyone else, let's get started."
Was it bad that I already wanted a break?
"This is Alien Anatomy 101. I will teach you everything A.I.R. knows about aliens and their bodies. As a bonus, I will teach you about their powers, their abilities, and their weaknesses. Some we know for sure, some are just guesses." She leaned her hip against the metal counter. "What you learn in here needs to be applied in all of your weapons and combat classes."
I settled more comfortably into my seat and cast another glance at Kitten. She was listening raptly, as if the world could be conquered with Le'Ace's words alone. Maybe it could. Kitten was also licking her hand and purring. Weird, but cute.
"At your desks, each of you has a computerized notebook."
I looked down at my desk, but saw nothing. Wait. There was the faint outline of a silver box. But it was not raised and seemed to be part of the desk.
"Place your hands on it," Le'Ace instructed.
I did, and the moment my hands touched the silver, a virtual screen appeared, as did the shadow of a keyboard.
"The computer recognizes your fingerprints. As you type, the pages will be printed in your room."
Okay. That was seriously cool.
"Let's begin with lesson number one. This," Le'Ace said, "is an Arcadian." The moment she spoke the alien name, an image appeared on the holoscreen behind her. A tall, white-haired, violet-eyed male stared down at us. He was beautiful. Mesmerizing. Powerful. Savage. Raw. I wanted to stare at him forever.
"He's also Mia Snow's boyfriend, so do not lust too much," Le'Ace added, and there was genuine amusement in her tone. Not so emotionless after all.
"I thought dating aliens was against the law," Jenn said, her dark eyes roving over the other students.
Especially for an agent. Right?
Le'Ace shrugged. "Most assume it is against the law. That is what the government wants you to think. Once it was, but now it is merely frowned upon. There is a punishment, though. Civilians will look upon you with disdain. But Mia is not someone who cares about that." She eyed us, one by one. "The lesson here is that you must be prepared for the consequences if you decide to break any type of directive."
I had so many questions about Mia and the alien, but Le'Ace continued the lecture. "I will occasionally bring an alien ally here for you to question. There is a Raka, a golden one, named Eden Black, who has killed more aliens than even Mia. Her insight is invaluable. There is a Targon, the strongest warriors to invade our planet, wh
o has promised to visit. His name is Devyn and his telekinetic powers are vast."
I couldn't wait to meet them and see them in action.
Le'Ace continued, "Enough about what is to come. Let us concentrate on today's lesson. While the Arcadians have bodies and internal organs very similar to ours, they possess many abilities, most of which originate in the mind. Some are psychic. Some are mind readers. Some can control your thoughts and actions."
"How are we to guard ourselves from that?" I asked before I could stop myself. I didn't know proper procedure for questioning the teacher here. At my old school, I would have been sent to the office for speaking up without permission.
"I'll teach you," she answered as if I'd done nothing wrong. "When the time comes."
For several hours, she lectured about the Arcadians, about their overcrowded planet, and their genetic makeup, so different from ours.
I absorbed it all, typing constantly--and praying there weren't too many typos. It was fascinating.
"All right, girls," Le'Ace said. "I've told you about the Arcadian body. Now I want you to apply what you learned. Go." She waved a hand toward the door. "Ryan awaits you in the cage."
Ryan?
My pulse thundered to a gallop. Whatever "the cage" was, I didn't care. I was just happy to get to see Ryan again.
9
We rode an elevator to the basement, each of us silent and unsure. To distract myself--Ryan!--I finally piped up with, "Has anyone been to the cage before?"
A chorus of "no" filled the small enclosure.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't wait to see Ryan again," Dani said with a wicked grin. "That boy is hot!"
Murmurs of agreement circled, and I fought a wave of jealousy. A part of me considered him mine. My property. I had a crush on him, which meant I wanted him to be hands-off to the other girls. So what that he was forbidden to date me? So what that he might not feel the same about me?
He was cute. He was (sometimes) sweet.
"Oh, cool," Jenn said. "Look."
I followed the direction in which she pointed. There were multicolored buttons on the side wall and there was a screen on the back wall that flashed images of Arcadians fighting humans.