“Good to see you too, Smith,” Walker said. His speech had taken on the same pattering rhythm as Smith’s. All at once, Keira realized that they weren’t speaking English, and yet she still understood every word.
Shivering, Keira stepped closer to Walker. If they’d been in the same world, she would be near enough to touch him. It was like being a ghost. He knew she was there, but Smith stared straight past her—straight through her—without even a flicker of recognition. The invisibility should have calmed her. After all, she didn’t want to be seen Darkside. Being seen meant getting caught. In spite of the logic of it, she felt more vulnerable, more exposed, when she didn’t know exactly who could and couldn’t see her.
Smith rose behind the desk. He wore a robe. It was shaggy and graphite-colored, like someone had shaped a pile of iron filings into a garment. “You really shouldn’t be here,” he hissed. “Up until last night, the Hall’s grounds were swarming with guards. They know, Walker. They know about Keira. I heard them talking. You should get out of here before they come back.”
The fear in Smith’s words buzzed through the air like a swarm of wasps, but Walker stayed remarkably calm.
“I’m not planning on staying long, but yeah, I am having just the tiniest bit of trouble.” Keira could see the line of his jaw sharpen, but that was the only sign of his tension. “That’s why I came to see you.”
Smith narrowed his eyes, but Walker looked like he wasn’t bothered at all by the challenge in Smith’s face.
Pride swept through Keira, drowning her in a high tide of new feeling for Walker. Every time she got used to the intensity between them, something deepened it.
“Walker, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but my mom would kill me.”
“She’d kill you if she knew about Susan, too.”
Smith stiffened and crossed his arms. “This is bigger than me seeing a human and you know it. I’m not worried about getting grounded. The Reformers want you. I can’t fix that.”
Walker put his hands on the desk, carefully avoiding the boxes of needles, and leaned toward Smith. Keira crossed her arms, watching as a thread of darkness snaked into view under her skin and slithered around her wrist. Walker’s voice jerked her attention back to Darkside. “The Reformers need me. They’re not happy, I get that, but I’m too valuable to lose. Unless, of course, there was a replacement at the ready?” The threat was sharp. It pierced Smith and the sneer slid off his face.
“You wouldn’t.” His eyes went round and sad as an abandoned puppy’s.
“I don’t want to, but I’m telling you that right now, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to get what I need. Come on, Smith. You’ve been risking your life for years. What’s one more time?”
The resignation that dropped onto Smith’s face was a relief to see, but something else lurked behind his slumped shoulders and defeated-looking mouth.
Right then, he hated Walker.
But he owed him more.
Keira could see it, clear as day, in the way he grunted at Walker and offered him his choice of needles with a wave of his hand.
“What do you need?” Smith asked. “I’m assuming it’s restricted, or you would have pulled your little appearing-out-of-the-ether act in front of the records you wanted.”
“Your powers of observation are sharp today,” Walker said. There was an edge of irritation in his voice. His calm veneer was wearing thin. “I can see why they put you in here with the needles.”
“Ha.” There was no laughter in the word.
Walker picked up two boxes and checked the sides. A series of crosshatched lines were etched there, and he scanned them like he was reading.
“I need to see the records from the Experimental Breeding Program,” Walker said, like it was a completely normal request.
Smith recoiled. “Why? You already saw them during your training. What is going on, Walker?”
Walker shrugged. “I need to see the records. And I need you to keep your mouth shut about it. If you don’t, I won’t be the only one the Reformers are disappointed in. I’ll have you signed, sealed, and delivered to them before you can say harmony.”
Smith’s face twisted unpleasantly as he weighed the seriousness of Walker’s threat. Whatever secret Walker held over Smith, it was big enough to make Smith give him what he wanted.
With far more force than necessary, Smith bent and opened a small door in the side of the desk. Keira stretched up on tiptoe to see over the desk, and nearly lost her balance when she reached for Walker’s shoulder to steady herself. For a moment, she’d forgotten that they weren’t together, in spite of being right next to each other.
Stupid.
She laughed to herself, and Walker’s head whipped around in her direction, his eyes wide.
Smith looked up at Walker with a vinegary expression on his face. “What’s funny?”