Forbidden Fire (Forbidden #2) by Kimberly Kinrade Read Free Book Online

request?" asked the drone in black.
    Why so much black? Lucy wondered. Like guards gone Goth around here. Ugh. "I'm hungry." Lucy pushed her petite frame into his personal space. "And the food here has turned to shit. Overpriced shit at that. We need to talk to the Headmaster. Now ."
    "All administrative and campus-related questions must go through the new headquarters."
    Lucy frowned. "You mean that sorry excuse for a bunker with all the Men in Black wannabes? No way." Had Headmaster Higgins become someone's puppet?
    Speak of the devil. The headmaster himself walked by, catching Lucy's eye as he did.
    She shoved the guard aside, who stumbled in surprise. "What's going on, Headmaster? Why can't we talk to you? Why the food change and all the guards?"
    The headmaster fidgeted with his briefcase. His normally impeccably tailored suit was wrinkled and frumpy. Deep lines marred the dark skin of his face, and dark bags hung under his eyes.
    "I can't talk about it, Lucy, I'm sorry." He wasn't lying. Whatever he meant by "can't" was truth to him. "Just do what they say." He walked away, leaving them surrounded by angry guards.
    Luke dragged her out and steered her towards their dorm room, located in another mansion on campus, built in similar style to the headmaster's offices but on a smaller scale. "Well?"
    "He's not lying. And he's in trouble. Something really bad is happe—"
    A voice erupted from the loudspeaker. "ATTENTION STUDENTS. CURFEW IS NOW 9 P.M. BE IN YOUR DORMS BY 9 P.M."
    Luke stared at the sky as though the man behind the voice would magically appear there. "That was succinct."
    "Yeah. Let's get out of here. We need to start thinking of a plan."
    ***
    The twins shared a suite on the floor lovingly referred to as the Creepy Crawly Ward. They'd just made it to their door when two of the younger students, a freshman and a sophomore, approached them.
    Lucy couldn't remember their names or para-powers, but like all the Rent-A-Kids, she did recognize them from around campus.
    "Luke, Lucy, I'm glad we caught you. Can we talk in your room?"
    Luke raised an eyebrow. Lucy shrugged. They opened their door and let the boys into their spacious common room.
    Luke flopped into a recliner and gestured to the overstuffed couch. "You guys can sit. What's up?"
    The freshman shook his head once and stood in the middle of the modest room, twitching as though a bug had crawled up his pants. His friend stood next to him with his eyes shut and lips pressed into a tight line.
    Lucy leaned against the couch and cleared Luke's dirty clothes off it, but didn't sit down. Her stomach grumbled loud enough for the whole room to hear.
    The freshman spoke to the floor. "I'm Gary. This is Greg. Umm... well, a few of us were wondering... since, like, you were, like, best friends with Sam—you know, the girl who escaped—that maybe you'd like to join us in a Freedom Fighter meeting tonight." Only after he'd gotten all those painful words out did he finally attempt eye contact, albeit briefly.
    Luke's face hardened and he shot Lucy a warning look.
    She nodded. Best play it safe. "You know our rooms, everyone's rooms , are under surveillance."
    The boy smiled and nodded to his friend. "Greg disrupts electrical waves and can manipulate surveillance equipment. Right now, anyone listening will hear a loop of silence until we're done. They'll also see an empty room."
    Lucy was impressed despite herself. "What are the Freedom Fighters?"
    Gary's voice dropped to a barely perceptible whisper. "A group of students are coming together to, you know, fight back, and... escape."
    The last word floated on the air so gently, Lucy wasn't sure whether she'd really heard it or only imagined it. How could they possibly escape with the campus under heightened security? If it was impossible before Sam and Drake got away, it was even less likely now. No, they weren't stupid enough to get involved in something that crazy. It would be suicide.
    The boy's brown eyes turned into