*****
“Will! Got a moment?”
Recognizing the voice, Will checked his watch—he had a few minutes to spare until he stopped by to see his aunt—and stepped to the side of the hallway, out of the way. The army base was busy this time of day, filled with people coming and going to their assignments.
“What’s up?” he asked when his friend joined him.
He’d known Marcus for a couple years, ever since Will had interrupted Jane Johnson, the incessant troublemaker, with a knife to Marcus’s throat, mistakenly thinking he was a Hunter.
“Need your opinion on something.” Marcus ran a hand through his hair, already uncharacteristically disheveled. Will raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to go on. “There’s this woman…”
Will didn’t need to know the rest. “Not worth it. It’s against the rules to fraternize and it’s a small base. You’d have to continue dealing with her when the relationship implodes.”
“But she’s—”
“Not different.” Will shook his head, raising his voice over the sudden increase of noise in the hallway. “A distraction. A distraction you don’t need.”
Before Marcus could respond, someone tapped Will on the shoulder. Davidson—assistant to Sam and Coop, master strategist, and someone who seemed to have his fingers in everyone’s business—pointed to a practice room farther down the hallway. “Trouble,” was all he said.
Jane Johnson.
The increasing noise took on a new light. A new, unwelcome light. He’d have to deal with this, of course. Another glance at his watch said that he was going to be late, but some things, like maintaining order and safety, took precedence. His aunt had stopped noticing the passage of time; his tardiness wouldn’t be remarked on.
He felt the beginnings of a headache in the middle of his forehead. “Don’t do whatever it is you’re planning,” he said to Marcus. “If it’s against the rules…” He didn’t finish; Marcus, like the rest of the base, knew what would happen.
Will pushed his way through the throng, fighting his way to the overflowing practice room. He wasn’t the tallest man, but he had muscle, and he put it to good use, elbowing and shouldering until he made it inside. He spotted Jane Johnson immediately.
Not because it was easy to spot her, facing off against someone, but because her presence sat like a prickly burr in the space between his shoulder blades.
A disturbing sort of ability to find her anywhere when she was nearby.
She stood in the center of a practice mat, her hair braided and her bangs swept to one side. Hiding her Gifted mark. He’d always wondered at that. Those who had their mark in a place easily displayed took every chance to show it off. His was high on his hip. But hers… it didn’t make sense.
He couldn’t see who she was facing off with, but she balanced on her feet, knees loose and ready to pounce. Winding up for a fight. Where there was a hint of violence and rule breaking, Jane Johnson was sure to be in the thick of it.
He gritted his teeth. When would she learn to temper her recklessness? She put people in danger. Hell, she’d nearly killed Marcus. It didn’t seem to matter how often he reported her for violations—those in charge seemed to let her continue doing things her own way. Hazardously, without care for anyone but herself.
And Will knew with aching heartbreak—one only had to look at his aunt—how disastrous ignoring rules could be. His own uncle had been captured by the Hunters when he’d gone out collecting samples and subjects for his studies on the Gifted. After their sect’s curfew. Rules served a purpose—they were designed to keep everything safe and orderly.
Nothing about Jane was safe or orderly.
He shoved his way out of the practice room and detoured to Coop’s office.