Pressa. If the director digs as intimately into that memory as she did to my journey down to the Undercity, she’ll have AIS agents questioning Pressa in no time.
I cross my arms and frown at the director. “You said you just wanted my memory from last night. I didn’t authorize anything beyond that.”
“You are obliged to aid us in this investigation as we need it. That includes your past memories, including your thoughts and any dreams you might have had recently.”
My nightmares. And suddenly I can feel those haunting dreams of mine creeping up in the back of my mind, a faceless mother and a desolate Republic street, details I’ve never been able to fill in. The AIS system shudders around me as it tries to re-create the imagespopping up in my thoughts.No, I think, trying to hold back. Fear rips through me.I don’t want to show them.
I half expect Daniel to agree with her, to turn to me and insist that I answer her question properly. But he takes a step toward his director. “You’re not digging into his other memories,” he says. His voice is calm, but I can hear the familiar undercurrent of steel in it.
And, for once, I’m grateful.
The AIS system around me cuts off abruptly, along with the emerging whispers of my dreams. I let out a shaking breath.
The director turns to my brother with an exasperated look. This isn’t the first time he has disagreed with her. “Watch that tone, Agent,” she says.
He shakes his head. “Doesn’t change what I’m saying, ma’am.”
The director looks like she’s ready to reprimand him—but then she sighs and looks back at me. I hold my breath. “We’ll comb through the rest of the Undercity memory you’ve given us,” she finally says. I exhale. Before the relief can linger, though, she adds, “But that doesn’t mean your involvement on this case is done.”
Daniel speaks up again. “Director—”
“Stand down, Agent,” she snaps, and Daniel quiets into a scowl. She looks back at me. “You are the first person in months to get a glimpse of Dominic Hann, let alone direct access to him. When I tell you that this man does not just let you play a single game with him, I mean it. Hann likes to get what he wants, and he’s clearly expressed interest in you.”
She forces my memory to continue playing, and we watch the final moments go down before she pauses at the end of the race, right before the lights cut out, when Hann has risen from his seat. I didn’t noticeit myself—but in that final moment, he had his eyes fixed on me as he murmured something to his associate. They were getting ready to approach me.
The director places a hand on her hip. “I’m willing to bet anything that he was about to make you an offer to join him. It’s not the kind of offer you can turn down.”
The thought makes my stomach recoil. Daniel stiffens beside me.
“Enough,” Daniel says.
Min ignores him and focuses on me. “Our proposal is this: We need you to draw him out. We will track every movement you make. If you lure Hann out into a space where our agents are ready for him, we can take him down before he can escape.”
My face pales. Daniel steps in front of me, his arm instinctively pushing me behind him as he’d done when I was still a kid. “You want to use him as a mole?” he snaps. Now the real anger is out.
“You are an agent for the AIS,” the director snaps back. “And right now, Eden is the sole link between us and the man we’ve been hunting.” She looks back at me. Even though she is stern, there’s a pleading glint in her eyes. “I am not going to force you to do something you’re uncomfortable with. This all depends on what you decide. But you are the closest thing we have to a lead, and it’s an overwhelming one. We are going to do everything in our power to keep you safe.”
“But we can’t guarantee that,” Daniel adds.
“Do you run this agency, Wing?” Min says coldly to him.
He just shrugs. “I’m willing to do a lot for this agency,” he replies. “But handing my brother over to a killer is not one of them.”
Her eyes narrow. “This isn’t a game. There are a lot of lives at stake here.”
Again, others are deciding my fate, not me.
“What do you want, Eden?” Daniel suddenly asks me.
I look at my brother. All I wanted to do was help someone out—I didn’t expect to find myself here, caught in a web between two enormous forces. I turn back to the director. “Give me some time,” I finally say.
She nods. “You have until morning.”
Daniel mutters a curse under his breath and turns away. He nods for me to follow him. The tension in the room feels thick enough to cut, and I wonder how many times he’s had confrontations like this with his director.
When my brother escorts me out of the room and we are alone in the hall, he reaches up to disable my system’s records. He turns his own off too. Then he leans close.
“Eden,” he says in a low voice. “Don’t do this.”
