“Over here!” I shouted to Hagar.
I dragged myself on top of the entrance to the building and crouched down on its roof to avoid catching a bullet from the angry guards who turned to track the transport’s flight.
The transport lifted into the air and screamed low over the rooftop. Its rotors were far too close to the guards for comfort, and the hired guns threw themselves flat to avoid being torn to ribbons. At the last possible second, the transport pulled up short beside my perch with its hatch wide open.
I jumped in and slammed into the back of the transport’s interior as the pilot gunned the engines and roared away from the building before I’d even touched the deck. The vehicle’s nose pointed toward the sky at an angle so steep it flattened me against the rear bulkhead.
Bullets continued to ping off the transport’s hull for long seconds after we’d left the building. Finally, the barrage died down, and the transport leveled off.
“Too close,” Hagar said. “Way too close.”
“Yeah, but I got it,” I said, a manic grin stretched across my features. My serpent raised the Machina to show her.
Hagar Inaloti recoiled from the object. She held her hands in front of her face and closed her eyes as if the radiance that spilled from it burned her.
“Put it in one of the compartments,” she said. “Hurry.”
I was puzzled, but I did as she asked. The light hadn’t hurt me in the slightest. I dumped it into the nearest cargo compartment and slammed the lid.
“You okay?” I asked.
“No,” Hagar said. “My face hurts. My hands, too.”
The parts of the warden’s hand and face that had been exposed to the light were bright pink. She looked like she’d gone for a stroll through the Sahara without sunscreen.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice thin and tired. “I’m glad you made it out of there in one piece.”
“Me, too,” I said. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving in its place the nagging worry about what I’d seen. I couldn’t figure out why my mother’s name would be on a technical diagram in a heretic storage cell. It made no sense whatsoever.
“What did you see in there?” Hagar asked as if she’d plucked the thought out of my mind. “Just before you grabbed the material, you were fixated on a diagram.”
“I thought I recognized something.” I shook my head. “I was wrong.”
“Jace...” Hagar popped out of her flight harness and moved over next to me. She put her hand on my knee and squeezed. “What you did in there was incredibly brave. That material you gathered could make all the difference in our fight.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That’s why I stuck around to finish the job.”
“It was also really, really stupid,” she said. “You’re important, Jace. More important than any single mission. If we lost you...”
Hagar’s eyes were strangely misty and distant. She was looking at me, but also at something else. Something, or someone, from her past.
Her Singapore.
I wrapped my hand over my controller’s fingers and gave my friend a comforting squeeze.
The Brother
IT WAS HARD TO CONCENTRATE on my schoolwork after the raid. Thanks to Clem’s help, my scrivening grades didn’t slip, too much, but I certainly didn’t make any great improvements in my skills there, either. I struggled to focus even in martial arts class, and the technique I’d been chasing seemed to slip further from my grasp with every passing day. The breakthrough I’d been on the verge of just a few days ago eluded me.
Things didn’t get any easier when Hagar started dodging me after she’d returned to classes following our last mission. Every time I tried to catch up to her, she ducked down the hallway or buried herself in conversation with her friends. Every day, I hoped I’d find her waiting in front of the champion’s door. And every day, I was disappointed.
We were most of the way through the first half of the school year when I finally couldn’t stand it anymore. I cornered Hagar on her way into the dining hall for dinner, and wouldn’t let her past even when she waved at one of her friends and tried to squeeze around me.
“We have to talk,” I whispered.
“No, we don’t,” Hagar shot back, her face twisted into a deep scowl. “You can’t keep doing this, Jace. I’ll contact you when it’s time. Until then, back off.”
“Did you find anything out about my mother?” I demanded. “Did you ask the elders—”
Hagar recoiled as if I’d struck her. Her eyes darted back and forth to see if anyone had reacted to what I’d said. With a hiss, she dragged me out of the main hall into a shadowy side corridor.
“I know you’re worried about your mom.” Hagar’s voice was low and stern, her eyes cold and flashing. “You’ll be the first to know if I have anything.”
“Why did the heretics have her name?” I couldn’t let this go. My mom was out there in the cold because of me. Anything could have happened to her already. I had to know she was safe.
“Stop,” Hagar hissed. “We’re not in charge of this, Jace. The elders will tell me when it’s time to tell you. In the meantime, stay away from me. People will start talking about us if they keep seeing us together.”
With that, Hagar pushed past me and made her way into the dining hall. Frustrated, I watched her go with a frown stamped into my face. My expression stayed like that as I stepped into the main hall and headed for dinner.
“Oboli for your thoughts,” Clem said, surprising me.
“Oh,” I said, relieved it was my friend. “Just, you know...”
“Arguing with Hagar?” Clem said. “You seemed to be having
