INVISIBLE PRISON (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) by Mary Buckham Page B

rising from the chair as I grabbed her wrist and said, “Wait.”
    It was Ling Mai who asked, “Is there something wrong, Ms. Noziak?”
    “Yeah, there is.”
    Vaughn sat back down.
    “Go on.” Ling Mai nodded as if expecting my hesitation.
    “I don’t want to sit passively until the computer spits out something useful,” I said, straightening my shoulders. “If we’re wrong or the information isn’t easy to find, or. . .”
    “Or if the person here has hidden the connection to the Were,” said Vaughn, following my train of thought.
    “Exactly. My brothers are shifters, but I’m not. So if someone was looking for a shifter or part-shifter-”
    “They wouldn’t look at you,” Vaughn finished my thought.
    “So what are you suggesting?” Ling Mai prompted, like a teacher with a recalcitrant student.
    “I suggest we set a trap.”
    “What kind of trap?” Stone asked, coming to attention.
    “One with me as the bait.”

 
    CHAPTER 17
     
    Training was suspended the day after the slaughter so those of us still ambulatory were hanging out, but not together. It was as if everyone knew there was a snake in our midst, but didn’t know who, or why, so it was easier to be alone; or if an allegiance had already been made, with one other.
    It was late afternoon edging into evening as I sat at one of the tables in the canteen, keeping as far from Vaughn as possible in case whoever was targeting me decided to take her out just by association. Earlier I’d told Kelly to get lost rather than risk the same situation with her.
    She left, but the slump of her shoulders told me she didn’t like getting her head bitten off, metaphorically, without a reason.
    If I lived, and that was a big if, I’d make it up to her later.
    Fortunately I was alone in the room when I heard the main doors in front of me swing open. I looked up, wary. Not entirely surprised when I saw Kelly walking toward me, but less than happy when I noticed who followed in her wake.
    Chiquita girl, Mandy Reyes, and the Amazon, Jaylene Smart.
    What the hell?
    I braced myself, not ready to be taken out here, with no protection except for the gemstone bracelet Vaughn had handed me at first light. Agate and amethyst—protection and power—a good start, but if Chiquita and sidekick wanted to take me out, they could use Kelly as a hostage and I’d have my hands tied, even the one already bandaged.
    “What do you want?” I snarled, glancing at all three but keeping my eye on the biggest threats, Chiquita and Amazon.
    “Told you it was a fool’s mission,” Amazon snapped, pulling herself to a rigid stop about three feet in front of me, tension riding her shoulders. She cut a quick look toward Chiquita who responded with an it’s-your-call shrug.
    Before either one of them could do anything though Kelly grabbed Jaylene’s arm and tugged her forward. “You promised me you’d tell her,” she coaxed, as if dealing with one of her kindergarten charges. “Then you can leave.”
    “Tell me what?” I asked, a little less snappish but not much.
    “What an asshole you are,” Chiquita jumped in. “But you must already know that.”
    I kept to my place, hard as it was. Noziaks were not known for our turn-the-other-cheek approach to insults, but for the sake of Kelly, who looked like a kitten holding three snarling Rottweilers at bay, I decided to lighten up.
    “You’re right,” I offered, my own shoulders still so tight they wanted to snap. “I was out of line.”
    I don’t know who was more shocked by my olive branch, Chiquita or me. Kelly just smiled as if we’d all had a group hug.
    Not likely.
    It was Jaylene though who broke the impasse. “I don’t have to like you to tell you what I promised Kelly here to tell you.”
    I was still unsnarling the train of her comment when Kelly smiled at me. “Jaylene knows something you should know.”
    “Like what?” I kept eyeing the door, waiting for more trouble to find me.
    Jaylene cleared her throat.