Ignition Point by Kate Corcino Read Free Book Online

in danger. They’ll kill me for knowing. They’ll kill all of you, too. I won’t do that.”
    “Too late,” Patrick said. “We all already know.”
    “They don’t know that,” Thomas answered. He could feel the edge of frustration. He was trying to save them. The least they could do is cooperate.
    Alex crossed his arms. His face was set and determined. “If the Council’s not what we thought it was, if it’s not what it’s meant to be, then we have to find some way to fight it. To change things again.”
    The sound of agreement passed like a wave through the room.
    “And how are we supposed to do that? We’re kids. No. The best thing is for me to leave and take the focus off all of you.”
    “Fine. So you’re gone. And what about Sam? He knows. What about all the other kids in this school who believe the lies?”
    “Sam’s an adult. And the other kids are assholes. They’ll make perfect Council agents.” Thom didn’t care that his voice was sullen now. Even when he was trying to do the right thing, he still got shit from them. Including Alex.
    “Okay.” Alex’s voice was soft. He was holding up a hand to keep the others from reacting. Obviously, he knew that Thomas’s words were true. They had been assholes. “Fine, they’ve been assholes. So have I. But what about the boys like you who are out there in the world? What about the kids who are being tested this year? And the next year? And the year after that? We can’t let the Council make all of them do bad stuff. The Council can’t get away with it.”
    Thomas stared at him. He swallowed and looked down, then back up again to flick his gaze around the room at the other boys. Some of them were nodding. All of them were solemn. They’d all been trained to act, to believe they would make a difference in the world. Someday, they’d have the authority to make decisions to protect the people. They were assholes, yeah, but they weren’t corrupt. Not yet.
    What was that like, to be so certain of your power and your fate and your ability to move the world? Would he have felt the same if he’d been here at the Ward School from the beginning? Would he be so sure of himself?
    Would he learn it if he stayed?
    “Okay,” he said softly. “But if I stay, we’re all at risk. Just so you know.”
    “We’re at risk anyway,” Patrick responded. The kid was smiling up at Thomas in approval.
    Thomas managed a lopsided return. He slid down from his bunk to stand with Alex and Patrick. “We’re still kids. What can we do?”
    “Nothing,” Alex said. “Not now. But in ten, twelve years, when we’re Senior Agents—when they’ve turned us into weapons. It’ll be different then.”
    Thomas was quiet, thinking it through, ignoring the excited whispers that erupted across the room. “We have a good fifteen years to play along and figure it out,” he said. He squinted up at the ceiling, talking slowly as he worked things out. “But there’s still only two of us—”
    “There’s eight of us,” Patrick cut in. “But can we do it?”
    “We’d have fifteen years to recruit, too,” Alex added. “Don’t forget that. There’ll be more of us when we’re ready.”
    Thomas took another deep breath, exhaling it at the ceiling. “We have to plan. If we do this, we have to be smart. Smarter than any of them.” He looked around the room at the boys who were giving him their attention as much as they had Alex moments before. Then he cast a leery eye at Alex. “You’ll have to study, Alex. Like, really study. You can’t just skate by, waiting to be picked for field work anymore. We’d need more from you. We’d need you to be the best across the board. Can you handle that?”
    Instead of answering Thomas’s questions, Alex responded, “It’ll mean we have to be tough, too. There’s more to being the best than books. Can you handle that?”
    Thomas felt the grin split his face. “I can handle anything you can dish out.”
    “Yeah? Well, back at