“Noted,” Ariadne said, “and no. We will not abandon the perimeter and cloister in the buildings.”
“Why?” Parks asked. “You want her to knock the hell out of our guards?”
“Because she’s not the only threat we’re dealing with!” Ariadne said. “In case you’ve forgotten, we’re still at war with Omega.”
“Whatever Omega throws at us is gonna cut through what we’ve got around the perimeter,” Bastian opined. “The agents we have left wouldn’t stop those vampires for longer than it’d take for them to feed.”
Ariadne rubbed her temples as though in pain, her eyes closed. “There are too many elements at play here, and nothing makes sense. What is Sierra up to? What does she want?”
I blinked as the room fell into silence, and I thought about it. What did my mom want? Me, out of imprisonment? She’d never had a problem confining me to tighter spaces than I was in at the Directorate’s behest. She’d driven cross-country, from Wyoming, at least to get to an Omega facility in Wisconsin, just so she could…what? The only thing I’d seen her do was press a few buttons and—
“Andromeda,” I said, and everyone looked at me. “That’s all she’s ever been interested in.”
“She’s about to give up her hostage to trade for you,” Reed said, and his long hair was loose, partially eclipsing his face, but I could still see the slight incredulity. “I think she might be at least a little interested in what’s happening to you.”
“No, think about it,” I said. “She drove cross-country to let Andromeda out. She didn’t have a clue I’d be in Eagle River. And she seemed shocked that Andromeda was dead when I told her about that, like she couldn’t believe it.”
“Well, she’s definitely dead,” Ariadne said. “She hasn’t so much as twitched since we brought her body back for study. And Doctor Sessions finished the autopsy yesterday, so if for some reason she was alive before without showing signs of it, she’s certainly dead now that she’s…uh…” She flushed, as though she were trying to steer around a delicate matter. “…been embalmed and…whatnot.”
“You mean dissected.” Reed didn’t bother hiding his disgust, though it was a mild rebuke at best.
“I mean studied,” Ariadne said, and flushed again. “The girl was dead. There’s no reason not to learn as much from her as possible. She had powers that were abnormal even for a meta, not to mention being able to touch Sienna—”
I blinked. “Could that be it? Could that be why my mother was interested in her? Some way to tame the power of a succubus? Make us…touchable?”
“It makes more sense than anything else I’ve heard so far,” Ariadne said, a pen up to her lips, chewing on the cap. “We’ll need a guard on Sessions’ lab, then.”
“Then can we please pull off the perimeter and keep an eye on the places that matter?” Parks asked again.
“Yes,” Ariadne said. “Fine. But I want constant communication between the guards. If someone goes silent I want everyone on them within a minute. None of this ridiculousness where we don’t find out until later that we’ve lost a string of agents. Constant. Communication.” She put emphasis between the words. “Got it?”
“Yes,” Eve answered more abruptly than the others. “But you know, we don’t have to let Sierra leave after the trade—”
“No,” Ariadne said.
“Why not?” Eve’s balding head flushed red at her cheeks, the new skin redder than her older, giving her head a blotchy look.
“Because,” Ariadne said as she looked at me, “we’re going to keep our word.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Parks said with a nod, and turned to file out of the office. Bastian followed him, and Eve began to extricate herself by walking around the length of Ariadne’s desk. Clary stood and then turned toward me, looking down on me as though he had an eye on an insect. I watched him, and he jerked toward me as though he were about to hit me, but stopped after only the barest start to the motion. I kept my cool but glared at him, and he smiled in return, and let out a chuckle before walking past me and out the door.
“So am I going back to the confinement cell?” I asked, jarring Ariadne out of her thoughts. She put the pen down and I noted that the end of it had been worn to a nub by her teeth. “Or am I free to wander about the campus?”
“No to the first,” she said, straightening up in her seat, “no to the second. I’ll have you stay here in headquarters, but you can remain up here on the fourth floor while we wait. I’ll have some food brought around since you haven’t eaten.” She picked up her phone and started to dial. “Want anything in particular?”
“Anything but meatloaf,” I replied. She got a curious look on her face, then shook it off.
“How was your stay in the Chateau Directorate?” Reed asked me. He was still standing where he had during the meeting, only a foot away from me.
“The beds were poor, the food was terrible, and they didn’t have turndown service,” I said. “I think I’ll book another getaway next weekend.”
He smiled. “Good to see you’re keeping a perspective on the whole thing. I’m not sure I’d be quite so forgiving if my employer had imprisoned me.”
“What else was I going to do?” I asked. “Weep? Scream? Tear my hair out?”
“Leave?” he suggested. “Strike out on your own? Find something else to do with your life?”
I looked back at him, pondering a reply. “Jury’s still out on all that. Looks like I’ll be going with my mother for a while, anyway.” I fumbled my hands, and reached into my pocket, where I felt the weight of the watch that had supposedly belonged to my father. I pulled it out and tried to slip it on my wrist, but it fell off and I caught it as it did so.
His face got inscrutable, and he looked down. “Nice watch,” he said.
“This?” I raised it up. “Apparently it was my father’s.”
Ariadne hung up the phone. “Your father’s? Where did you get it?”
“My mom left it for me,” I said, “the other night when she snuck on campus.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” She was on her feet in an instant.
“No,” I said. “It was on my bed when I got back—” My face went blank. “Oh. Wow, do I feel stupid.”
“Give it here,” she said, fingers out and beckoning. I gave it a last look of longing and let it fall into her hand.
“Be careful with it,” I said, “in case it’s real.”
“I’m sure our tech guys will disassemble it with the utmost care,” she said, “since it’s probably laden with bugs. This is how she’s finding out everything—”
“It’s not,” Reed said with a gentle shake of his head. He looked at the watch, still suspended from Ariadne’s fingers, and drew my gaze there as well. “It’s not from her mother. I left it there.”
Chapter 19
“You?” I asked, and my mouth dropped open. “How…why?”
“You read my note?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Your father would have wanted you to have it.”
“You…you knew my father?” I stared at him hungrily. “You knew him?”
“I did,” Reed said. “Before he died. He was the one who was responsible for me joining Alpha. He had been with them for years and years.”
“I need a name,” Ariadne said, sitting back down in her chair and sliding to the hutch behind her, where her computer waited.
Reed hesitated. “Jonathan. Jonathan James Traeger.”
She blinked at him for a moment and then turned back to her computer, typing. “Jonathan James Traeger…hmmm…” She squinted and stared at the screen. “He was a handler for the Agency before it was destroyed.” She looked up at me. “I would presume that’s where he met your mother.” She looked to Reed, who nodded. “Previous affiliations…hm…looks like he died in the attack that destroyed the Agency.” She looked at Reed. “That doesn’t really jibe with him working with Alpha.”