Chapter Twenty-Five

“Where are we going?”

Amelia had hustled me onto a private plane in one of L.A.’s lesser airfields. We were flying east, but she’d been exceptionally quiet since leaving the safe house.

“HQ, if you must know.” Her nose was buried in a national newspaper.

Enough of this attitude.

“I thought you’d unwind when we left Thirteen. What is your deal, Amelia?”

She folded the paper onto her lap. “Your hero worship of the man is revolting.”

Couldn’t have sounded more snobby and British than that statement.

“My what? He’s a friend and mentor. I only worship God.”

“Do you think I’m blind? The moon eyes, the efforts to please him. Come now, Seven.”

She stared at me and all I felt was a need to pick my jaw up off the floor.

“Are you jealous?”

“Preposterous!”

Well that ruffled her feathers. “For the last time, Amelia, what is your problem with Agent Thirteen?”

She sniffed. Straightened her tailored jacket. Stalling.

“He uses women,” she finally said. “He’s a selfish cad.”

“And you know this how?”

She rose to pour a cup of tea. Stalling again.

“Amelia.”

“He once led on a roommate of mine until she bedded him, then cast her aside like yesterday’s rubbish. You’re charmed by him, and don’t deny it. But I promise that path will only lead to pain.”

Don’t roll my eyes. “When was this?” I asked evenly.

“The timing doesn’t matter. It’s what he is.”

“When, Amelia?”

She broke eye contact. “Several years ago.”

“Several? You’re going to hate the man forever because of— How old were you all?”

“Nineteen.”

“Good grief.”

Yeah, I might’ve been a good sheltered Christian girl, but I knew things about teen boys. Saw my cousins date a lot. Heard rumors around school. Got warnings from Mama. Young men were horny and young people were impulsive.

“Did your friend do anything she didn’t want to do?”

“Well, no…”

“Look…maybe he flirted too much and gave her the wrong impression. Maybe she saw what she hoped to see and got let down. The Thirteen I’ve gotten to know is a straight shooter. If he was only interested in a one-night-stand, I think he’d say so. But don’t all adults say teenagers are stupid? So he made a mistake then. Where’s your friend now?”

Amelia sighed. “Married.”

“Then why are you all riled up about this?”

“Because it’s my job to protect you. Even from yourself.”

Good grief. When was she going to get I wasn’t a child?

I didn’t need protection from my coworkers! “Amelia, I’m not letting anyone in my pants, let alone Thirteen. I made a commitment.”

She rubbed her glasses with a cloth. “Good to know.”

“Yes, he’s handsome, and charming, and sometimes makes me want to giggle like I’m fourteen, but it’s hormones and hormones don’t make my decisions. I do. So is this done now?”

“Yes.”

She put her glasses on and opened the newspaper to where she’d been.

Thank God.

With that drama settled, I moved away to write my report in private.

A secure login brought up a form to fill out. Complete, hit send, done.

Where they went after that, I didn’t know.

The Agency had archives, of course. Accessible and inaccessible libraries. Becoming an agent officially let me into a lot of new information for research purposes and beyond. Like what happened on B2, the level below Sacra Aedes. There was a thick briefing packet in the case we received at graduation.

Amelia went through it with me like I hadn’t been an A student.

Being an agent gave us access to the vault when bringing in artifacts and books, the unclassified archive, and the subbasement along with the servers and communication lines that kept The Agency running.

Amelia hadn’t given me time to meet the staff in those areas before shipping me out for our first mission. Maybe I’d get to stop in now.

The pilots had informed us we’d be landing briefly in New York before continuing to England. Agency jets could do the flight nonstop without refueling, so we must be picking up passengers. It’d be wasteful to only carry the two of us plus the three staff.

This plane had a few luxuries, like places to sleep and a shower, but we were on our own in the galley. A sandwich suited me fine while Amelia made herself a proper tea.

When we landed in NYC, they kept the jet running, opening the door and sending a ladder down. Footsteps on the metal stairs, then Lev entered.

“Hey!”

He was followed by his guide, a slightly-balding man in his mid-thirties with a beard. He was dressed in a short-sleeve button-down shirt, khaki cargoes, and practical boots. A safari hat was in his hands.

He nodded to Amelia. “Ms. Thornhill.”

“Steven.” She’d risen to shake his hand. “This must be Eleven.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said after releasing me from a friendly hug. He’d gotten some sun in the last month and change. “We met at Graduation.”

Lev wore a Star Trek t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops.

Amelia was not impressed. She made that uppity inhale noise of hers and urged them to sit. “Let’s not hold up the pilots.”

Lev buckled up in a captain’s chair next to mine and held out a bag of open Doritos.

“Thanks, but I’m a Cheetos girl,” I murmured.

He dug around in a backpack. “Like these?”

I snatched the single-serving bag from his fingers. “I love you.”

“Think I’d forget my only friend in this outfit? You hurt my feelings, Seven.”

“It’s not that bad.”

He grumbled something unintelligible.

“What’d you do on your first missions?” Steering to a safe topic now.

Poor guy. I was sure he’d been bullied before coming to Sanctuary, too, but the behavior of the recruits seemed to really bother him since he was better at the job than most of them were during training. Teen boys were often jerks, though.

Hopefully, being an official Agent boosted Lev’s confidence now.

“Started in Scandinavia for a while. Steven wanted me in an area where I’d blend in. People assume I’m a college student or his assistant.”

“Picking up artifacts or manuscripts?”

“You, too?”

“Seems to be the training wheels missions for newbies. But we just came from L.A.”

His eyes widened. “Holy crap.”

“Not so exciting. I assisted Thirteen in placing cameras and he showed me around the county so I’d be familiar when I’m rotated in to collect surveillance data.”

“Oh.”

“But we did take out a nest of Golds.”

Lev high-fived me. “Now we’re talking. Tell me everything.”

I proceeded to quietly do so, mindful of the Guides at the other end of the plane.

“So why were you in New York dressed like a tourist?” I asked when I was done.

His grin turned shy. “Uh, because we were. After escorting new recruits to the school, Steven took me to the Statue of Liberty.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “We had time to kill until the plane arrived, so…”

I slugged his arm. “Did you at least grab a postcard?”

He dug into the pockets of his backpack. “Here.” A small brown paper gift shop bag.

I slid the cardstock out of the paper sleeve. “Forgiven.”

Lev and I had bonded over being the two kids from nowhere, only his small town was in northern Minnesota. He had a tiny bit of that dontcha know accent on certain words.

“I hope when I get to work with an agent it’s someone cool,” he said. “We barely met the few on St. George.”

“Three and Thirteen are friends with each other, and Four gave me some advice for the sim.” I tucked the postcard in a safe place. “How is it with your Guide?”

“Friendlier than yours,” he muttered.

I snorted in agreement. “So you like him?”

Lev nodded. “He’s a good mentor so far.”

“Lucky duck.”

“I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “I’m hoping this is us working out the kinks of a new situation.”

It would be tomorrow when we landed in London with seven hours in the air, barring detours for weather. When darkness fell, the lack of sleep caught up with me and I went to a bunk in the back to catch a nap. Lev would wake me before Amelia got testy.

At least she was back on her best behavior around the other guide.

The private plane landed in a private airport and rolled into a private hangar. A black Range Rover sat waiting to carry us to HQ. Steven drove with Amelia in the passenger seat.

When we parked in front of the brick building, a staff member came out to take care of the SUV and left once we’d emptied our luggage.

Ladies first through the door.

This was my first time entering as an Agent. Being mid-morning London time, the offices were bustling and we were greeted by several on the way to the elevator. Our Guides had paperwork to file upstairs, so Lev and I headed below.

“Don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” he said. “Plane sandwiches don’t cut it.”

“I could brunch.” He grinned and we hurried to the cafeteria in the back.

When the Guides found us, Steven didn’t look surprised. Amelia still wore a frown.

“There’s a proper order to returning to base, Seven,” she said primly.

“Is there?”

“Of course.”

“Nothing in the book about it given to me at graduation. My report was filed and weapons cleaned back in L.A., so I have time to eat until the next assignment comes in.”

She stared at me, fists clenching. She wanted to make a fuss, but there were too many witnesses and her British dignity wouldn’t allow her to cause a scene.

One sigh, then she left.

Lev’s guide pretended nothing happened and went to the food line.

“Smart man.”

I laughed.

My suite was exactly how I left it.

There was little personal decoration. As a recruit, I’d only put a picture of Mama on the nightstand. But now…I was employed. This was my apartment, my home base. I could change the linens on the bed, bring in new towels…hang some stuff on the few walls.

Stock the kitchenette cabinets.

Every suite was the same—you walk in to the kitchenette. My bathroom was on the right. Past the door was the room with a desk, a dresser, and a queen-size bed. Pretty sure the bed was only that big because The Agency never knew when they’d get tall agents in the dorm. The wall at the back had a fake window that showed day and night scenes based on the local clock. The bed had drawers underneath the mattress and didn’t move, but the dresser and desk could slide to different spots.

I’d seen other Recruit rooms and they all came with the same white sheets, tan comforter, and white towels—like a hotel. Easy washables to bleach. I could start with the bed. Already had a towel from home that would make do for now. Having never shopped in London, though, I had no idea how far my money would go.

Thinkin’ about that, I realized I had a lot to learn to live here between missions because no way did I want to be stuck in HQ over and over. I needed to know where to shop, where to eat, and how to exchange currency.

Amelia would know all those things, but nope.

Best we avoid each other until the next mission.

Well, I wanted an excuse to get to know the staff on B2.

Grabbed my ID and went in search of the nearest elevator.