Defector by Susanne Winnacker Read Free Book Online Page A

time for what he was capable of, for knowing me better than I probably knew myself.
    He touched my cheek, and for the briefest moment I leaned into the touch but then turned away. I needed to leave before he broke through my resolve. He probably didn’t even need his Variation for that.
    “I love you, Tess,” he said quietly when I was halfway through the door.
    The words felt like someone had thrust a knife into my heart. I’d wanted to hear those words from Alec, had long imagined and dreamed of the moment when he’d finally say them, had pictured the happy glow on my face when I’d hear them and how I’d pull his face down to mine to kiss him and whisper the words back to him over and over again. Today wasn’t that day. And now that day would never come. Without looking at him, I strode away from the dojo, toward the elevator. Alec didn’t try to stop me.

CHAPTER 6
     
    “T his is so messed up,” Holly said.
    I scratched my pencil over the paper, doodling black twirls around the list of names I’d written down with Holly’s help earlier. A dull fury burned under my skin. It covered up the underlying sense of betrayal and loss. But nothing was lost yet. Alec and I hadn’t broken up. He still wanted to be with me, and I wanted to be with him. And yet it felt like something had been broken in a way that couldn’t be fixed.
    “Do you really think Tanner could be a Dual Variant? He doesn’t seem like the type to keep a secret.”
    “Neither did Alec,” I said. Though that wasn’t exactly true. Alec was the more secretive, brooding type. “He’s Alec’s best friend. Even if he isn’t a Dual Variant himself, that doesn’t mean he didn’t know about Alec’s extra Variation.”
    “I don’t think Alec would have told him, if he didn’t even reveal it to you,” Holly said thoughtfully.
    I wanted to believe that Alec was the only one who was hiding something, but I couldn’t trust any of them. Not yet. Not after finding out that the person I’d trusted most besides Holly had lied to me from the start. “I have to talk to Major,” I said finally. Maybe he’d tell me the entire truth, now that I knew about Alec.
    Holly’s eyes grew wide. “Whoa. Have you lost your mind? Major will go ballistic if he finds out that you know about Alec. He won’t tell you anything.”
    A crackling sounded from the speakers in the ceiling. Holly and I raised our heads at the same time to stare at the white painted squares. My insides felt like someone was squeezing them. What were the odds that Major would message me or Holly on the day I found out about Alec’s Variation?
    “Holly, Tessa, in my office in ten minutes,” Major barked, and with a hiss the speakers went out again. Silence followed.
    Holly glanced at me. “Uh, why do I think this isn’t good?”
    “Because it isn’t.” I glared at the picture of Alec and me on the digital frame on my nightstand. We’d taken it only two days ago. A red gummy bear was wedged between our lips, our eyes crinkling with laughter. A moment later, he’d swallowed it. When I’d protested, he’d silenced me with a kiss. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
    “Come on. Let’s go. We can’t afford to be late.” Holly jumped up from her bed and dragged me to my feet. The desk chair groaned as it spun from the sudden movement. A good reflection of the way I felt.
    • • •
    “Sit down,” Major waved a hand at the two free chairs. The third was already occupied.
    Alec. Of course he was here. His eyes followed me as I crossed the room and sat in the far left chair so that Holly ended up between him and me. It was ridiculous and childish, but if this talk was about what I thought it was—me finding out about Alec’s Dual Variation—then I needed the space, or I’d end up strangling him. Kate would have been here if she were the one who’d told Major about her slip of the tongue. So that left only Alec. I could still feel his eyes on me. They seemed to burn into me,