Page 174 of Interion

On the second lap, I stepped on the damn trap again and took another hit to the face, landing on my butt. Aish was right behind me and stopped with a disapproving look.

“Are you blind, zoozi? By Amarwen! That’s the second time you’ve fallen in the same spot—I’m starting to think you’re aikanã in the head,” she complained, helping me up. As always, I wasn’t hurt. Only my pride was wounded.

“Aikanã?” I asked, confused.

“It means ‘crazy’ in the Amperian dialect.” Aish smiled when I narrowed my eyes at her.

“I’m not aikanã, I just can’t concentrate. I have a headache,” I told her, and then Zion blew the whistle for us to climb the tree.

It was ten minutes of pure stress, because the more I stood still, the more my mind spun.

I heard a phone ringing and looked down just in time to see Zion answering the call. Anxiety gnawed at my stomach like a living thing. He blew the whistle to end our time in the tree and left to find somewhere he could talk without being heard. I scrambled down faster than any other student and pulled on the bond. I strained to hear something beyond that tunnel, but Zion’s protective barrier was fully active. I went back to training looking like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was already 6 PM and I couldn’t stop thinking about Adele. Zion returned a few minutes later with a look that said nothing good was happening. He ended the class by sending the students to practice target shooting until 7 PM or train with whatever weapon they preferred.

“Something happened to Adele. I need to go now,” he said in my head, and I felt my heart race even faster.

“What happened?” I watched Zion disappear into the shadows.

“I don’t have time to explain in detail, but Adele is in the hospital with some broken bones. Ambrose is already taking care of everything. Right now, the police need me. As soon as we’re done, I’ll come home.”

I didn’t want to be left in the dark. I was getting terrified. What had happened to Adele?

“I’m going to the hospital to find out more,” I said, already running toward the gymnasium.

“No, Kay. Let the team handle it from now on—wait for her to recover. I don’t think Adele is in any state for a conversation right now.”

I kept running to the gymnasium, because if I stopped, my mind would spiral out of control. The truth was I felt guilty. Maybe if we had acted sooner, things wouldn’t be like this. I felt Zion moving away, and I just ran without direction. I arrived at the gymnasium before everyone else, grabbed my backpack, and headed home. Breno stared at me in confusion as I blew past him like a hurricane.

“Hey! Aren’t we going to compete in target shooting?” he shouted after me.

“Not today—some problems came up at the hospital.”

Δ

It was getting dark, and on the horizon, low clouds slid down the mountains, draping them like a cotton blanket. Since it was late autumn, the cold had begun to settle over the streets, and even with two sweaters, my body was still freezing. On the way, I felt a presence stroking my mental wall and shuddered with fear, stopping under an orange maple. They were claws—real claws, and sharp ones—but they only brushed lightly against my thin barrier, as if testing the texture.

“Don’t be alarmed,” the voice said, and I nearly had a heart attack when I recognized Serguei’s voice.

“You have to stop scaring me like that,” I grumbled, resuming my hurried walk down the street where some soldiers were running shirtless.

“And what would you have me do? There’s no door to knock on, my child. And if I breathe any harder on that pathetic barrier, it’ll collapse.”

My cheeks flushed, but I ignored his words. I rolled my eyes and kept walking.

“I did something today that filled me with emotion.”

“Serguei, I don’t have time for small talk right now. If you want, we can talk tomorrow, but not today.”

I left my shoes at the door as I entered the house.

“Perhaps this will interest you. It concerns Adelevik Ivanov.”

I froze in place.

“What do you know about this?”

“Well, today more than any other day, your mind was troubled, and as you can see, your rickety barrier isn’t holding steady, so I heard a few things.”

Kiara watched me alertly from her spot on the living room rug.