Closed Hearts (17 page)

Numbness crept through my body as I tried to process what had happened in the tru-cast room. I ignored Julian’s pointed looks as the autocab whispered through the streets toward Jackertown. The city was void of life or cars with only a breeze that tumbled trash down the bleached-white pavement and the occasional demens staggering for a place to rest out of the bright morning sun.

When the autocab rolled up to the mages’ headquarters, my legs itched to get out and find out what had happened at the Detention Center. Had Hinckley brought the prisoners back already? I reached for the handle of the autocab door, but Julian leaned across and stopped me by trapping my hand with his.

“I need to know, keeper,” Julian said. “Was Vellus truly after a kidnapped mindreader? Or did your father ask him to raid Jackertown for
you
?”

I shrank from him and jerked my hand away from his. Did my dad pull in a favor with Vellus and trade a dozen other mindjackers’ freedom for mine? I didn’t want to believe it. “Well, if he did, I’m sure he didn’t plan on ending up in Vellus’s prison.”

“So you believe him?”

“What do you mean?” My voice was rough.

“You believe your father when he claims he was only working for Vellus in order to get out of prison?”

“Yes!” I choked on the word. I didn’t want to believe that my dad was lying to me. Had been lying all along.

Julian nodded. “It was reassuring, actually, how hard he worked to make sure you knew it was just a temporary arrangement. I have to admit, when I saw your father come into the station, for a moment I thought that maybe you…”

“That I
what
?” I demanded.

“I thought maybe I had you all wrong, keeper,” he said. “That you and your father were
both
working for Vellus.”

“I would never do that!” The idea of working for Vellus crawled across my skin and made me shudder. How could my dad work for someone who hated us so much?

“I believe you. But you’re not at all the person I expected.” Julian waved his hand in the air, as if trying to explain the unexplainable. “The girl who rescued a half dozen changelings on a tru-cast? The girl who went on-air in a live interview with a Truth Magistrate to show the world that jackers existed? I thought you would be more…” He seemed to search for just the right word, then his eyes sparkled when he found it. “Revolutionary.”

Those things only managed to put my family in danger for the last eight months, from people like Molloy—jackers that Julian seemed to have no problem working with.

“You don’t know anything about me.” I yanked open the door of the autocab and slammed it behind me. Hinckley blocked the doorway to the mages’ headquarters, installing a metal bar to keep the busted front door closed. He stood back to let me squeeze past.

Inside the converted factory reeked of the gas, and a fine yellowish powder coated everything. A dozen figures in pale green jumpsuits were scattered around the mages’ kitchen: on the couch, in the chairs, standing at the sink. I ran toward them, scanning their faces, searching for Raf. Hinckley was the only one not dressed in prisoner garb, still wearing his ratty jeans and the black, long-sleeved t-shirt that he’d had on in the tru-cast feed. He had followed me in and now sat sprawled on the couch, one leg hooked over the end, looking satisfied. I ignored him and dashed in between the circulating mages, peering at every face. Myrtle was standing with a group of prisoners that I didn’t recognize. I kept checking everyone, but I already knew.

Raf wasn’t there.

I stumbled onto Ava and grabbed her slim shoulders. “Where’s Raf? Why didn’t you bring him out with you!” I accidentally shook her, which wasn’t very mesh, but the trembling had taken hold of my arms.

Suddenly Sasha was by her side. “Leave her alone.” His voice was like sandpaper, his lips chapped: symptoms of the gas. One arm wrapped around Ava’s shoulders, the other slid between us. His dark brown eyes were at full attention. I pulled my hands back, remembering what Julian had said about Sasha scribing away a person’s entire being.

A pair of hands landed gently on my shoulders. “He wasn’t in the prison, keeper,” Julian said. “He was never picked up in the sweep.”

I shook Julian’s hands off me and turned on him. “How can you be sure?”

Hinckley stood with crossed arms right behind Julian’s shoulder. “Everyone on the list came out, except the reader,” Hinckley said. “No one saw him.”

“A reader like your friend would have been noticed right away,” Julian said softly. “If he was in there, someone would have seen him. Besides, Vellus had no reason to hold him, especially when he was releasing everyone else on the list.”

“Then where is he?” My voice was a whisper.

“I don’t know.”

My shoulders sagged. If Raf hadn’t been swept up in the raid, someone else must have taken him. He was lost in Jackertown, a truly kidnapped reader, just like Vellus had talked about. The idea made my chest so tight I could barely breathe. I stumbled away from Julian and landed on the far end of the couch. Thoughts and images screamed circles in my head.

Raf enslaved to a vile gang of jackers.

My dad lying to me about working for Vellus.

Raf dancing a pirouette, over and over.

My dad doing Vellus’s dirty work.

I slowly crumpled into a ball. Ava alighted on the couch, careful not to jostle me. Sasha hovered nearby in the kitchen, watching us. Ava didn’t seem to hold a grudge about me grabbing her. Or tasing her earlier with the butterfly, for that matter.

“We’ll find him,” she said softly. I took a deep, shaky breath, trying to stop the images in my head. I tucked the dark thoughts about my dad back into the deep recesses of my brain. I needed to pull myself together to have any hope of finding Raf.

Julian paced at the far end of the factory, near the couch where I woke up yesterday. Was it only yesterday? My mind blurred the time. He argued with Hinckley about something, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

I turned back to Ava. “I’m sorry,” I said. “About before. With the butterfly.”

“Sasha says I’m too trusting sometimes.” She half-grinned. “I guess he’s right about that.”

“I just wanted to get back home. To get Raf out of here.” My justifications weren’t necessary—it seemed like Ava already understood. And they weren’t helping me find Raf either. I closed my eyes and reached beyond the walls of the mages’ headquarters, using my most featherweight touch to search the nearby minds for any sign of Raf. But everyone was on a high state of alert after the roundup last night and they reacted to my slightest brush.

I pulled back before I set too many of them off. I would have to find another way to search for him. When I opened my eyes, Ava had wandered back to Sasha. She flipped on a screen set on the kitchen counter. It showed a tru-cast with an aerial view of the Vellus Detention Center. Words scrolled along the bottom about the release of the prisoners before the press conference. Senator Vellus came on, mindtalking to one of the reporters, a wiry woman I recognized from the earlier tru-cast. My dad lurked in the background in his gray security jacket, arms crossed. I swallowed down a sour taste that rose up in my throat.

The rescue mission was a complete success.
Vellus’s thoughts scrolled along the bottom of the screen. Julian stalked over with Hinckley and examined the screen. Sasha’s arm snuck around Ava’s waist, pulling her close.

What about the prisoners that were released, Senator?
the tru-cast reporter asked.
On your earlier tru-cast, you said there had been a mistake made in detaining them?

Yes,
Vellus answered.
Unfortunately, there was confusion about who they were during the initial arrests. While the mission was to recover a single kidnapped mindreader, the police discovered an entire group of mindreaders being held hostage in Jackertown.

She looked confused, but my mouth hung open in disbelief.
So the prisoners released were actually mindreaders, not mindjackers
? the reporter asked.

Yes!
Vellus responded.
Sending a rescue team into a town filled with mindjackers is not an easy thing to do, and there was a lot of chaos during the operation. During the arrests, the mindreaders were accidentally mixed in with the mindjacker clan members that were holding them. I realized this right away when I saw the list Ms. Lopez provided because the warden had already briefed me on the names of the rescued mindreaders.

Which is why you asked for them to be released immediately?

Exactly
, Vellus thought.
It was an innocent mistake, and I don’t fault the warden or the police commissioner for this at all. They are heroes today. More than a dozen mindreaders have been safely returned to their families!

Can you release the names of the mindreaders who were rescued?

I’m afraid not.
Senator Vellus looked straight into the camera.
I hope that the press can respect their privacy in this matter.

“That’s a complete and utter lie,” I blurted out.

“Yes, it is,” Julian said. “I’m not sure how he manages it. The reporter should at least sense his lying, even if the boom mic only repeats his thoughts.” But the reporter was simply smiling and nodding.

Maria had managed to keep her thoughts trained on her questions during the interview, and Mr. Trullite had used the other readers’ emotions to keep my true name secret. “Maybe Vellus is exceptionally good at keeping his thoughts focused,” I said. “He’s a politician. They have to keep on message all the time.”

“He certainly was charismatic at the station, and he makes for excellent tru-cast material.” Julian frowned. “But I’m surprised he can keep up this level of lying.”

“Is that why it was difficult for you to handle him at the tru-cast station?”

Julian tore his gaze from the screen. “What makes you think it was difficult?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Just seemed like it took some time.”

He drew back. “I was trying to make it not quite so obvious that he was being jacked.”

I shrugged. I didn’t care about how finessed Julian was at handling or how good Vellus was at lying. Apparently my own father could lie to me and I wouldn’t even know. I closed my eyes and pressed the heels of my hands to my forehead, trying to rub away the pounding there. I didn’t even know where to start with finding Raf, and the images of him being tormented by a clan of jackers threatened to take over my mind again.

“I’ve put out a message on the short comms.” Julian had moved closer, his voice turning soft. “The mage cells are on notice to look for your… friend.”

My eyes popped open and I glared at him. “His name is Raf.”

“Right.” He nodded. “Raf. We’ll find him, keeper. I promise.”

A quiet tone sounded from Julian’s pants pocket. He fished out his phone, frowning at the ID, and activated it by mindlink. A holo image of Molloy floated above the screen.

“Mr. Molloy,” Julian said flatly.

“Julian!” Molloy’s voice boomed from the phone. “I’ve seen the tru-cast. Had an interesting morning, did you?”

Julian flicked a look at the tru-caster recapping her report. “Yes, that was us.”

“Is little Kira still with you?” he asked. “Or did you leave her in Vellus’s playroom?”

Julian scowled. “We managed to recover everyone taken in the raid. Thank you for your concern.”

“That’s good to hear,” Molloy said. “I have someone she might like to see.”

Julian stood straighter. “You have him?”

I nearly leapt off the couch and crowded Julian for the phone.

Raf’s face floated into view. “Raf!” I grabbed the phone from Julian and held it with both hands. I touched my finger to the holo image, wishing I could reach through the phone. “Are you okay? What happened? Where are you?”

Shadows lurked under Raf’s eyes, but he gave me his irresistible smile. He cast an irritated look off-screen, then turned his gorgeous brown eyes back to me. “I’m fine. Kira, I’m sorry, he must have jacked me. I… I wouldn’t leave you there all alone. I don’t know what happened, I just woke up here a little while ago.” He moved a little closer to the phone, and the muscles in his cheek moved. “What are they doing to you, Kira? Please tell me they’re not hurting you.”

My heart banged against my chest. “No, no, I’m fine.” I smiled for him, and suddenly it felt like too many eyes were part of this conversation. I shuffled to the couch and hunched over the phone. “Raf, I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”

“Kira, it’s okay, I’m fine.” He lowered his voice. “Whatever they’re trying to get you to do, don’t do it, all right? Don’t do anything dangerous. Or stupid. Or, you know, like
you
.”

A grin stretched my face, but tears filled my eyes. “Your romantic powers are failing if you think that’s how to flatter a girl.”

“I’m saying stay out of trouble. What about your dad? Maybe he can help—”

“My dad’s not—” I didn’t know where to start with that. “Look, just tell me where you are. I’m coming right now to get you. And don’t do anything until I get there.” If Raf still had his taser, I didn’t want him taking off through the streets of Jackertown and getting caught by jackers even more unsavory than Molloy.

Raf’s face clouded. “I don’t know where I am, exactly.” He looked around. “It’s some kind of basement, I th—” He stopped mid-word and his eyes glazed. The camera dropped, or maybe Raf’s hand fell.

“Raf!” I cried.

Molloy’s face appeared above the phone again. “He’s fine, lass, just taking a little break.”

“What are you doing to him!” I gripped the edges of the phone so hard I thought it might break.

Julian appeared by my side, gently prying the phone out of my hands. “We’re all a bit tired, Mr. Molloy. What do you say we dispense with the theatrics and you return the keeper’s pet, so we can get on with our plans?”

“I don’t think so, Julian,” he said. “Like I said before, this one’s a bit of insurance.”

Fear trickled down my back.
No, no, no
…