“My uncle?” she squeaked.
He nodded. “We get a lot of pushback from family members, especially during a recruit’s first few weeks in the field, once they start to realize what a dangerous job it is. And yesterday was even more dangerous than usual.” He seemed to be looking right into her and Nova felt all her old paranoia rearing back to the surface of her thoughts. “But we have a really great outreach team that’s always happy to get involved, if you need their help. Someone could give your uncle a call, or he’s welcome to come into headquarters and get a better sense of what we do. Sometimes that goes a long way in helping them feel more secure.”
“An outreach team,” said Nova. “To talk to my uncle.”
“Only if you want them to.” That little wrinkle formed over his nose again. “Did he say anything to you? Try to talk you out of coming back? We hear that a lot.”
He seemed truly, legitimately concerned, and Nova felt a laugh burble up and catch in her throat. That hysterical, disbelieving guffaw soon turned to actual choking.
Nova turned away, coughing and pressing a hand to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut as they started to water. She felt a hand on her back, placed gently between her shoulder blades, and she shivered so hard at the touch that Adrian pulled his hand away. Even as she cleared her throat and tried to bring her breaths back to normal, she felt the sting of disappointment that the touch, concerned and innocent as it might have been, hadn’t lasted just a little bit longer.
Swallowing around her scratchy throat, she looked back at Adrian, still smiling with faint amusement.
“Um, no,” she finally said. “My uncle really isn’t that worried about me. But again…” She gestured vaguely at herself. “I’ve been training for this my whole life, so I think he knows there’s no talking me out of it.”
Adrian nodded in understanding. “Well, if he does start to have concerns, just let me know. We don’t ever want anyone to feel like they’re torn between the Renegades and their family.”
Her lips stretched out again, and she knew he must think she was crazy, but she couldn’t disguise how hilarious she found this entire conversation. “No,” she said. “That would be awful.”
“Hey, Sketch.”
They turned and the sight of Magpie, the young thief from the parade, was fast to douse Nova’s grin. The girl was stomping across the sky bridge, a deep scowl on her face making her look far older than she probably was. Or at least like a kid who wanted people to think she was older, but couldn’t quite pull it off.
“Magpie!” said Adrian, and Nova could tell he was intentionally effusing his voice with joy and brightness, perhaps in an effort to balance out the cloud of pessimism that hung over the girl. “Been making good choices lately?”
She ignored the question, coming to a stop a few feet away and holding an official-looking manila folder out to him. “Council’s got me on messenger duty this week,” she said, sounding like this was an unspeakable punishment.
“Oh, good,” said Adrian. “That’ll keep you out of trouble for a while.” He held up the envelope. “Excellent delivery. I’ll be sure to let them know you are surpassing all expectations. Keep up the good work.”
She let out a dismayed groan, shot one bitter glance at Nova, then turned and stalked back toward the elevators. Nova couldn’t help checking the security of her bracelet as she walked away.
“She’d make a decent villain,” she murmured.
“Let’s not mention it,” said Adrian, ripping into the envelope. “Just in case it hasn’t occurred to her yet, I don’t want to be the one to put the idea in her head.”
Nova watched his hands as he tugged out a single sheet of white paper. At the top was printed a large R in red foil. “Does the Council not believe in sending messages through the communicator bands like the normal folk?”
Adrian shook his head, eyes scanning the letter. “Everything that goes over the system is subject to review and inspection. Evidently”—the corner of his mouth lifted as he met her gaze—“they don’t want the whole organization to know they’ve approved our request to talk to the Puppeteer.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“I DON’T THINK I SHOULD GO,” said Nova, trailing behind Adrian as he barreled through the tables in the cafeteria.
“What are you talking about?” he said, without looking back at her. “Of course you should go.”
“You don’t need me,” she insisted. “I don’t know anything about interrogating people. And … and I could get started on that cataloging job, right? Really, I’ll just be in the way.”
Adrian stopped and spun toward her. Nova drew up short, shrinking beneath his concerned gaze.
“Are you afraid of the Puppeteer?” he asked, astonished.
Her face scrunched. “No,” she said, before she realized that saying yes would have gotten her closer to her goal of not being in that room with the one person in headquarters who knew exactly who she was … and who had no idea that she was impersonating a Renegade. “I mean, he is totally creepy. And I don’t like … puppets. Or marionettes. Even sock puppets freaked me out when I was a kid, so I guess, yeah. Yeah, I might be afraid of him after all. Can I sit this one out?”
Adrian’s face took on that calm, understanding look that Nova was developing a love-hate relationship with. “They’ll have him restrained. We’ll be perfectly safe. Besides, his powers only work on kids.”
“I don’t want to go. Please.”