Defector Read Online Free Page B

their child to the FEA, but somehow I already knew the answer. I didn’t think Major knew the meaning of no.

CHAPTER 3
     
    T hat night Holly, Alec, Tanner, and I sat around a table in the common room, playing poker. Holly already looked much more cheerful, thanks to Tanner’s jokes. Seeing them sitting beside each other—he with his green mohawk and septum piercing, she with her fury-red pixie hair—they looked so cute together. I knew their admiration was mutual, but apart from an awkward kiss months ago, they’d yet to make a move.
    Meanwhile, Alec kept touching my hand, my knee, my thigh beneath the table whenever he didn’t need to put down a card. It seemed like he couldn’t stop touching me, and it made me ridiculously happy.
    “So what’s really the deal with Abel’s Army?” Holly asked as she dealt out cards.
    “What do you mean?” Tanner asked distractedly as he sorted his hand. “I thought you knew the gist already. They broke off with the FEA decades ago and are doing their own thing. Mainly illegal stuff.”
    “Yeah, but what exactly are they doing?”
    “They’re working for the highest bidder. The Russian, Italian, or Chinese mafia, international terrorists—whoever pays the most,” Alec replied with an intense look at his cards. But something told me the cards weren’t why he’d tensed.
    “But if they work for all kinds of gangsters, how can they keep Variants a secret? If they care about money so much, wouldn’t someone have bribed or blackmailed them and sold the knowledge to a newspaper or TV station?” I said.
    Alec popped a few chips into his mouth, considering how much he should tell us. “You should know that what I’m telling you now are only rumors. I don’t know for sure, but I heard that Abel’s Army has a Variant in their ranks who can alter or even remove memories. The ability to instantaneously brainwash someone.”
    “Holy shit,” Holly said.
    Tanner nodded in agreement, but it didn’t look like Alec’s words had been news to him. I was too stunned to say anything. I’d always joked with Holly that I’d love to know someone who could wipe out a few of my less pleasant memories, like when my mother told me I shouldn’t call her ever again or that I was a freak and had ruined her life, or all the drunk, messed-up guys she’d dated back when I was a child. But it was scary to consider that someone could do that—change my memories, steal entire parts of my life so it was like they’d never happened. Alec was watching me as though he knew exactly what was going through my mind. His childhood had been filled with heartbreak just like mine.
    The door to the common room swung open, and Phil and Devon entered. They glanced tentatively at our table, apparently unsure if they could join us.
    “We still have room for more players,” Tanner said. He pointed at the vending machine in the back of the room, off behind the sofas and the flat-screen TV. “Get yourselves some provisions!”
    “We don’t have any money on us,” Devon said as he walked toward the vending machine.
    “You don’t need money for drinks,” Holly said. “They’re free! The vending machine is just for show.”
    Phil and Devon got their drinks, while Tanner took care of the chairs. He raised his hand, and immediately the black folding chairs leaning against the wall beside the vending machine began floating toward us. Phil and Devon watched Tanner’s show with obvious admiration. I rolled my eyes at Tanner, but he just winked and carefully lowered the chairs to the ground beside our table. Devon sat down across from me, and Alec’s eyes darted between Devon and me with inquiring intensity. Alec didn’t like Devon very much. They had barely talked two sentences since Devon had joined the FEA. As implausible as it was, I suspected that Alec might be jealous of him.
    I took Alec’s hand beneath the table and squeezed. A shadow of stubble showed on his jaw. I wanted to press my cheek against