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WHEN IMARA AND HUSANI ENTERED THE building, they heard voices from around a corner. They perched onto their tiptoes and crept down the hall. Once near enough, they peeked around the corner to see who was there.
About a dozen people sat at a table with heads lowered while hurried whispers bounced between them. They didn’t wear red armbands marking them as Sef’s gangsters. Instead, each of them had a lime green T stitched into their black shirts.
Taggers.
Not just any taggers. A man with a round scar on his forehead stood out to her. She recognized the others as well. The taggers from Alexandria. The same ones who had been at the graduation party. They all wore scowls as they whispered.
The man with the round scar on his forehead slammed his fist against the table. He raised his voice just high enough for Imara to hear. “She killed that woman on the council. An innocent woman! That’s not what the taggers are supposed to stand for.”
A woman with long, silver earrings said, “And I know she’s torturing more people in that mansion than we know about. I hear the screaming.”
Takara.
They were talking about Takara.
It seemed even the taggers weren’t happy about everything she’d done.
“What can we do?” said a young woman with a squeaky voice and a plaid shirt. “She’s stronger and smarter than all of us.”
The young woman dropped her head into her hands, revealing the young man at her side.
Rajesh.
He noticed Imara in almost the same moment she noticed him. When their eyes met, she let out a small gasp and clutched Husani’s wrist. They would have to run.
But Rajesh didn’t move. He parted his lips, but shut them again and averted his eyes. Before she could imagine what that meant, another person at the table noticed her presence.
The man with the round scar on his forehead jumped to his feet. “Everyone back to the mansion. Hurry!”
The man reached for a small black box on the table and pressed a button on top of it. Instantly, a drone that had been sitting in the corner rose into the air and headed for Imara and Husani. The taggers scrambled to their feet while the drone flew.
Imara threw her hands over head. Not that it would make any difference. The drone could electrocute anyone, no matter what their hands protected. For a split second, she remembered how the man with the scar had complained about Takara murdering the council woman.
Maybe the drone was only a distraction, not a murder weapon. Maybe the taggers didn’t want to kill an innocent person like her. But as soon as that thought came to her head, she shot it away. The taggers blamed her for Professor Santini’s death. She wasn’t innocent in their eyes.
She ducked to avoid the drone, just in time to notice Rajesh grab the black box that the man with the scar had left behind. Now the last tagger in the building, Rajesh went to touch the button on the black box. Husani pulled a stun gun from his pocket and aimed for Rajesh.
The blast from the stun gun missed, but it came close enough to make Rajesh jump. The black box clattered to the ground as he stumbled on his feet.
When the box hit the ground, the drone jerked, then dropped out of the air, landing on Husani’s outstretched arm.
Husani let out a cry as the drone forced the stun gun out of his hands. It cracked into pieces the moment it touched the floor. He scowled and glared at Rajesh. “You’re not good enough for a stun gun anyway.”
He curled his hands into fists and lunged toward Rajesh. Since he had a significant head start, Rajesh made it out the door long before Husani reached him.
“Coward,” Husani said at the door. He stomped toward it with murder in his eyes.
Imara grabbed Husani by the elbow and used every bit of her strength to pull him back. “If we try to fight him, the rest of the taggers will come after us.”
“He was trying to kill us!” Husani shouted.
“We don’t know that for sure. Maybe he grabbed the box to try and stop the drone from attacking.”
Husani ripped his arm away from her and growled. “Since when are you as optimistic as Abe?”
“We’re trying to find people who can help us fight against Sef,” she said, kicking the drone to be sure it was still inactive. “We don’t have time to get distracted by Rajesh.”
“He betrayed us!” Husani said. “He betrayed you!” He let out a long scoff and pounded his fist against a wall. “He’s the reason you got tortured. And got broken ribs.”
She clutched her stomach. “Trust me, I remember.” She shook her head. “He was selfish, but he wasn’t trying to hurt me. He just wanted to take care of himself. I don’t think he wants us dead.”
Husani muttered several incoherent words under his breath before he said, “You should have let me punch him. At least once.”
Imara rolled her eyes. Before she could respond, her ring chimed with a notification. She opened the new message, and soon a half smile twitched at her lips. “Keiko says she figured out how to stop the drones. Let’s get back to headquarters and hope Abe gets to Marco soon.”
