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CHAPTER ONE

There was ato bug Silas Shifting on the hard-backed chair, he hunched lower over the scratched testing tablet, trying to concentrate on his final exa their stylus, and another kept changing their answer, the click, click, click distracting The sighs were incessant, and the frustrated tension rose with the sour sed rooant past

Silas sat back, stretching his wide shoulders, feeling the fabric of his white collared shirt pull His suit coat lay carefully across the seat in front of hiood six rows beyond that Most of the desks were occupied, but he didn’t know anyone, having been shoved in here with an undergrad class to take his final because the security was good and it was easier than arranging a proctor just for him

Outside, through the row of glass s high above head height, he could hear the shouts of so the end of their classes, but in here, it was all nervous tension Gri cra guy

The activity of synaptic linkages able to resonate to ti, traus Check all that apply Silas used his stylus to check all of therad students did better after lunch He just hadn’t had an opportunity to prove it yet, and the last tirade

Bored, he slu to decide how , he squinted at the glowing orb on the ceiling It was a bright red, indicating all inco blocked Opti loved its gadgets, alet around theht was harsh and swift

S, he sat up and tapped the diet icon to add it He’d contest it if anyone gave him flak He had only one more semester hich to finish his thesis, and then he’d have two sets of letters after his naraduation Suirlfriend Four years of shared sushi over a lab table and infore had turned into a quiet intiood when he could ht his frustrated turmoil to calm when the as bad Even better, she was the only wo like an ape beside her He needed her, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it

But once working, drafters seldo-term romantic relationships with anyone outside of their anchor partners Coned her first real anchor, and it would be over

With a sharp crack and cascading tinkle, one of the upper s shattered Silas looked up, barely having tinize the ht fixture and ricocheted toward him

“Look out!” so his head back

“God bless it!” he exclaimed, hand to his forehead as the drone hit the floor and slid to a halt The Opti logo caught the light, but it was a safe bet the drone had been misappropriated

“Hey, are you all right?” someone asked, but no one moved, afraid if they did, their exam would be invalidated

“Yeah” Silas grimaced at the smear of blood on his hand On the floor, the drone hu There was a sht, petite woman vaulted into the broken fra the students looking up at her Facial-recognition deterrent caked her face,her eyes black holes and her chinup in the broken , she tucked the reht black athletic wear, then juhtly to look like she was a sexy black cat

“Excuse ly low for such a small frame “Be out of your hair in a sec”

Silas leaned back, his chair creaking Irritation and anger swept over hi arh the stunned class, ar confidently

He didn’t recognize her under the face paint, but her hair was short and black, and her chin angular She was athletic without being blocky, with a narroaist, aant poise said she was in the field agent program His best friend, Allen, could strut like that, and Surace

He cracked his knuckles as she stopped at his desk, her eyes going to the swelling bump on his forehead “Sorry about that,” she said as she scooped up the drone Her fingernail polish was e Her eyes were hazel, and her safety glasses were Gucci He hadn’t known they did safety glasses, and he made a mental note to look into it Clearly the woman had money, had had it her entire life, by the look of it—toohow to be a weapon

Silas clenched his hand to hide the blood on it “You going to draft to fix it?” he asked belligerently, and she smiled to show snized her status

“You’re awfully big to want me to kiss your boo-boo away You’ll heal” She leaned over his tablet, clearly curious as to what he was taking Slied the icon of diet back to false “Trust me on this It’s secondary, not direct”