The Operator

Peri jerked out of the man’s grip. Beside her, Harmony pulled her shirt straight, muttering about goddamned animals. “You okay?” Peri asked.

“Yeah. Is he really a drafter?”

“Yep.” Peri’s eyes fixed on LB. “He’s a feral drafter. I’ve never found one before. I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re not going to tell him, are you?” Harmony asked, voice hushed. “He’s a—”

“I’m a what?” LB said as he shoved Fat Man out from between them.

At the top of the alley, Jack sniffed, flicking a piece of dirt off his sleeve, untouched and perfect in the snow. “Even she knows it’s a bad idea, babe.”

Jaw clenched, Peri looked at LB’s gang, imagining the trouble he could cause if he was aware of his abilities. Then she remembered the horrible dissociation, the confusion and shame she’d grown up with until Cavana had found her. She wasn’t insane. The blackouts had not been a weakness. She was skilled, not a basket case. “You’re a drafter,” she said. “Same as me.”

“You ain’t gonna bring them in the house!” Fat Man said, and Peri frowned at Jack until he threw his hands in the air and walked away.

“I lost three years once,” she said loudly. “I killed the man who did it to me,” she said, glancing at Jack’s back. “I don’t forget that much anymore.”

LB patted Fat Man on his shoulder. “Maybe if I kill you, I won’t forget, either.”

She smiled. “It’s science, LB, not magic. But I know the rules. I can help.”

“LB don’t need help. He’s got us, and we got him!” someone shouted.

But LB was looking at his hand and the faded note inked there. Slowly he made a fist, his eyes rising to her eyes. “Where’s that napkin you took from her,” he said, his gaze never leaving hers.

“Shit, man, I threw it away,” one of them said, scooping it up and handing it to him.

Peri’s pulse pounded as LB carefully smoothed it open, her chin lifting when he read the words BILL DARTED ME WITH EVOCANE. She hadn’t written it in case she might forget, but he didn’t know that.

LB wadded it up and threw it back into the shadows. His eyes held a new question. “The cops might drive through. You want to come in?”

“LB,” Fat Man protested, hunched in distress, but she smiled—until someone pushed her from behind and she stumbled into motion

“I want to talk to her,” LB said, escorting her and Harmony to the end of the alley and into a burned-out shell of a building. Jack hustled forward, staying at the edges so no one would walk through him. The men trailed behind, cell phones turned into flashlights and talking loudly as they crossed the broken floor.

LB stopped at a huge chest freezer, dented and too heavy to move. “Ladies first,” he said as he tugged the door open.

“Damn,” Harmony swore when thumping music echoed out with the bright light of electricity and the sweaty warmth of bodies. A hand-hewn tunnel went down, probably to the basement of the building next door. LB gestured, and when neither of them moved, he went first, his sneakers clumping down the rickety staircase hard enough to shake it.

“You do realize he’s going to kill you when he gets what he wants,” Jack said, and Peri ignored him. The deeper she went, the warmer it was. Calls rang out ahead of her, and she blinked when she came out into the light.

It was like a giant living room, with worn couches and mismatched tables. Bags of chips, beer, nic caps, and drugs were scattered everywhere. Women wearing more guns than the men played a car game on their phones. A big-screen TV tuned to cartoons blared, and someone turned it down when Fat Man shouted.

“Oh my God,” Harmony whispered, and Peri followed her gaze to two figures tied to chairs set in front of the TV. Allen was in one, and beside him was Jack. The real Jack.

Peri stared, heart pounding.

“That’s me,” her hallucination said, amazed, and he vanished in a pop of blue sparkles.

Eye swollen shut, Jack turned to her, trying to smile. “Hi, babe. I can explain.”

Furious, Peri shoved her escort into the men behind her, spinning to grab a rifle. Breath held, she swung it up to her shoulder and reached for the trigger.

Something heavy slammed into her. The gun went off as she fell. A woman screamed, then laughed as Peri hit the floor, Fat Man on top of her.

“Let me up!” she demanded, wheezing, the men ringing her more amused than alarmed. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch. Let me up!”

LB leaned down, and she squirmed, breathless under Fat Man as LB brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Hey. Hey!” he shouted, and she tore her gaze from Jack. “Looks like you know everyone, huh? You going to be nice, Peri Reed? Or do I have to tie you up, too?”

She thought for all of three seconds, an eternity for her. “I’ll be nice,” she rasped, having to spit the hair out of her mouth.

LB straightened, hands on his hips as he considered it. “Sit. Right there,” he finally said, and Peri took a huge breath of air as Fat Man got off her. “I want to talk to your friend first,” he said, gesturing for Harmony to go before him. “Hell of a night,” he added, calling for a beer even as someone yanked her up and he walked away.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The couch had lost its springs years ago, and Peri sat gingerly on it, still in her coat despite the warmth of LB’s underground lair. Who knew what kind of bugs might be in it? That LB had her Evocane held her more firmly than any guns or straps, and she pushed herself up to sit on the very front of the couch, elbows on her knees as she wondered how she was going to get out of here with it without killing everyone.