Chapter 5

Alistair followed his target down the hall with his eyes. She definitely had a Power; he could sense it. His hidden cat ears twitched at the thrum her presence made, and the tattoo on his neck throbbed painfully, a sure sign that she was an Inborn even if she hadn’t given it away with her attitude.

The tattoo was a rune, part of an ancient alphabet. So ancient that no one even knew what society used the runes. Pity that was too, seeing as the runes held unimaginable power. Each of the 500 runes had unique properties, but they all had two basic abilities. One, that once invoked, a rune could transport its user to the world that it represented. Two, a written rune would glow and pulsate when in the presence of an Inborn. The only thing that prevented Alistair’s tattoo from perpetually throbbing was the symbol tattooed on the inside of his arm. This rune was of the same alphabet as the other. Its unique power was to deaden the abilities of any of its fellow runes.

The bell ran, but Alistair ignored it. He had other things to do. He checked his watch; Alex should be watching Kiera by now.

Alistair fished a pair of gloves out of his pocket. They were minutely accurate replicas of Kiera’s hands and would leave her fingerprints anywhere they touched. Cornelius had acquired them from a friend of his out in Italy. The Italian had made them using only a government printout of Kiera’s handprints as a baby.

This was probably an unnecessary precaution, but Alistair didn’t feel like taking any chances with this new target. Things might not go as planned.

He produced an expensive lock-pick set and set to work removing the standard combination lock on the target’s locker. Alistair worked quickly and quietly. Within seconds the lock lay disabled in his hand. He pocketed it, replaced it with a different one, and set the combination.

Alistair checked his watch again. He was making good time; only 8 seconds had gone by. It would be a simple matter to erase that from the school’s recorded surveillance footage, supposing Alex hadn’t replaced the disc like he was supposed to. Not that Alistair expected him to. Both twins were very efficient in the art of secrecy. That was why they were the youngest (and best) of their Order. Alistair’s tail flicked with pleasure at the thought, unseen by any of the “regulars,” even if there had been any around.

A student ran by, late for some class or other. Her coffee-colored hair came halfway down her back, held back only by a thin headband.

The rune pulsed intensely. Kiera was too far away to have triggered it. The girl was an Inborn. Not nearly as potent as Kiera, but she was still pretty formidable. She didn’t even turn to look at Alistair. He was just a little disappointed; watching Kiera was going to be a little boring for a while and a good fight would help to motivate him.
Alistair stopped by the small security booth as a matter of routine and peeked through the window. Alex had indeed replaced the disc. Good.

Alistair activated his watch with a verbal password and sent a voice message to his parents, letting them know what Phase 1 was complete. It was completely mundane to anyone who may have been listening; just a message from a boy to his parents letting them know that he was okay after the international flight.

He had put it off as long as he could, but there was no avoiding it now. He heaved a sigh and walked to his first class.

Of all the missions we could have gotten, we get one where we have to go to school, he thought.