Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“I could have taken on another appearance,” I said.
“For weeks?” she said skeptically. “Forever?”
I nodded. “I’ve been on a mission that took weeks to complete.”
For a long time, my mother looked at me. “That wouldn’t have changed much. I still can’t change my appearance. They would have recognized me.”
“But you could have made yourself look younger.”
The lines around her eyes and mouth were even deeper than I remembered them. She hadn’t used her Variation in a while. She touched the crow’s feet with her fingertips.
“When I left your father, I swore to never use my Variation again. I’d seen what people like us can do, but I’ve seen what it does to them. I didn’t want to be like that anymore. I wanted to be normal.”
“But you were an FEA agent once. You had a home at headquarters, a future, a job. Why didn’t you go back there? Wouldn’t that life have been better than sharing your life with drunks and spending the nights passed out from drugs?” She winced. My words had been harsh, but they were the truth. We both knew it.
“You and I would have belonged to the FEA. I’d have to use my Variation whenever they wanted, however they told me to. I wanted to be free. That was all that mattered to me.”
“Even more than your own daughter? Don’t you think my life would have been easier if I didn’t have to grow up around endless beer bottles and a string of violent guys?”
Her eyes were fierce. “Maybe. But I was selfish back then. I still am. But you’re on the run from the FEA now too, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “I found out that I can’t trust them. They had someone I trusted more than anyone to keep an eye on me with his own Variation—he was reading my emotions to see if I was stable enough to be an agent.”
“You really liked that boy, didn’t you?” she said in a resigned voice.
I wasn’t sure how she knew. Maybe my expression or voice had given me away. Or maybe she had enough experience with heartbreak to recognize it instantly.
I shrugged. I didn’t trust my voice to answer.
“I’m not surprised Major doesn’t trust you. Not with your background. Too much has happened between Major and your father.”
“So it’s personal?”
“Major’s too professional to get emotional. But Abel and his brother are a different story.”
“Why didn’t Major force you to join the FEA when he took me with him? He knew you were a Variant, and he could have thrown you into prison if you’d refused.”
“He could have,” my mother said quietly. “But he and I go way back. Maybe that was one of the rare instances where he didn’t follow the rules. And he knew I was a mess. I’d have brought trouble with me and that was the last thing Major needed in headquarters.”
I gasped. “Don’t tell me that… you and Major?” I couldn’t even say the words.
“It was a long time ago,” she explained. “When I joined the FEA back in the seventies, Major was a good-looking young man.”
My face must have shown my shock because she lowered her eyes. “It sounds strange, I know. But I was drawn to his seriousness. He was very intense. He was so much older inside than his age suggested, but things didn’t go well for long. Maybe I was too erratic. And when your father joined the FEA years later, I fell in love with him. I don’t think Antonio ever forgave me for that.”
I wasn’t sure if she realized that that was the first time she’d used Major’s real name.
“Maybe that was why he didn’t want me anywhere near the FEA when he found you and me. It reminded him of what happened back then.”
It was too much to take in and it didn’t really matter. I had to find Holly. That was all that mattered now. “I need to find Abel’s Army,” I said.
My mother gave a small shake of her head. “You don’t have to look far. If you stay in one place for very long, they’re liable to come find you. But you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Tessa. Change your appearance, go to Europe or somewhere else, and live a normal life. Enjoy yourself. Live by your own rules. I think you could do it. You are stronger than I ever was. You are your father’s daughter.”
“But Abel’s Army kidnapped my best friend. I have to find her.”
My mother didn’t seem surprised. “They won’t hurt your friend. He wants you, Tessa. I don’t think he ever forgave me for taking you away from him.”
“Are you still in contact with Abel? I heard a rumor that you are.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Maybe someone in the bar has been spreading rumors.”
“Mom,” I said firmly, drawing her eyes back to me. “Are you? Do you know where Abel’s Army is located?”