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  Now, while that may seem a problem of this individual, a video we obtained of the incident makes it extraordinary. Susan.”

  Another reporter—likely, Susan—was sitting behind a large desk in a completely different location, and she picked up where the man had left off. A moment later, the screen was showing a fairly grainy playback of the scene from the restaurant.

  “This video shows our first glimpse of an Enhanced using their abilities on the unsuspecting public. Now, this gentleman isn’t hurt, but it shows just how powerless we truly are against them. Let this serve as a public service announcement. They are here.”

  CHAPTER 16

  With a barely-audible click, the screen went black. The heavy remote clattered to the coffee table’s glass surface when Steve discarded it as if the thing were a viper preparing to strike. It was the first time I’d ever seen him scared of the ninnies, of how he was perceived. He knew that out here, in their city, we had no chance if enough someones decided to object to our being here.

  Things just got much trickier.

  The room exploded in noise, everyone volleying questions and worries at the men who’d been assigned to keep us safe. We hadn’t really worried until now. I mean, no one had known we were there. No one realized we were different. Until now. What would that mean? Would people be coming for us now? How were we supposed to defend ourselves? What would happen if we were found out? What if we were confronted?

  Was this the end of the Enhanced social experiment? That news story did us no favors. If nothing else, people knew what we—at least some of us—looked like, and where we were currently staying.

  “We can’t stay here. The hotel was just broadcast on the news as where we were. The crowds, whether hostile or not, will really start gathering now. I don’t know how we get out of here unseen, either.” Holden wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders, and I reflexively leaned my head into his warmth. The unknown of this situation was a nightmare. While it was true that we were seasoned professionals, this was not our town. These were not our people. The people we’d encounter here did not have the same means of protecting themselves; they’d have physical and external weapons if threatened. Would they use them on us just because they were scared? History pointed to yes.

  “Do we continue to hide? Do we make a statement? Do we meet the general public in as controlled an environment as can be provided?” I was voicing everything that filtered through my mind… as well as what I gleaned from other thoughts around the room.

  “I don’t like it. It’s like a lose-lose situation. One that there is no way for us to adequately prepare for,” Devlin grumbled, sending his hand roughly back and forth through his now-shorn hair.

  “Guys! Let us contact our commander. We’ll see what our best course of action is, but most likely, we’ll need to get out ahead of this. We can’t let the fear spread. You can’t afford for the fear to win out. Let us confer, and I’ll let you know as soon as we have a plan of action. Until then, please do not leave your rooms. The chances of anyone making their way up here to search for you is minimal, but anywhere else, it’s about guaranteed. We’ll be back. I’ll bring food. Don’t call room service. It could be a ploy, and with so many unknowns, we can’t have you take the chance.” Then, he and his team turned and vacated the small space, giving the rest of us a little more room to breathe and maybe even panic a little.

  Well, this day certainly took a turn for the worse, Holden lamented as he squeezed my shoulder and delivered a lingering kiss to my forehead, his thoughts turning worried. I knew that if I looked, those gorgeous blues of his would be bleeding to silver. While the color was just as breathtaking on him, I hated that it meant he worried.

  “Guys, unless you all want me to calm you down… you need to vacate. I’m starting to overload with all the tension.” Jade was right. We needed to disperse before we were no good to anyone.

  “Either we all calm down and we discuss, maybe form a plan of action, or we all take a breather and head to our own rooms to contemplate without interference from so many other minds and bodies.”

  With a deep breath, Devlin did his magic centering thing and brought himself back to calm-ish in mere moments.

  “I hate you sometimes,” Trent sighed with a sideways look at Dev while he struggled to move his thoughts away from worry of the unknown. Dev winked in response, causing Trent to huff a tired laugh.

  Steve was quiet—at least, externally. Internally, he was running through ideas of what to do to improve his image while still circling back to being called out, caught on camera with a bit of a smirk as he’d used his ability and walked away without a hitch. It wasn’t the most endearing way to be viewed by the masses in a new place.

  “How do you think people are going to react to us?” Jade murmured, lost in thought and absently staring at the now-dark television. “Is this outing going to cause problems for the Enhanced? Are we going to be in danger while we’re here? Do they hate us?” She whispered the last question dejectedly.

  I didn’t have an answer for her, at least not one that would reassure her. Human nature ensured that fear caused us to lash out. I was afraid of the repercussions of Enhanced joining society, something I’d been too self-centered, too naïve, to consider much before joining the enforcers. History did not favor such situations in the past. How could I have forgotten? Civil Rights were hard-earned and we did not yet know exactly how we would integrate. Would they still choose to segregate us within their society? Would we be forced to identify ourselves? Would any blatant identification lead to targeting? Maybe we were better off behind our walls, I thought, not for the first time of late.

  “Maybe my dad would have some ideas, or could talk to someone.” All heads turned toward Steve, who didn’t even notice, too consumed with his internal musings.

  “Your dad?” Devlin huffed disbelievingly. His eyebrows were so high on his forehead, they looked like they wanted to run to his scalp and join the buzzed fuzz there.

  Everyone but Steve saw how self-serving and manipulative Councilman Davidson was. Steve either chose to turn a blind eye or was truly ignorant about his father’s… methods of leading Minefield. That man would do anything to further his agenda, to make himself look good to the powers-that-be.

  “He knows how to play to a crowd. He’s used to being in the public eye and he’s successfully dealt with the Non-Enhanced officials for years. He could be helpful.” Steve tried again to make a case for his father’s merit.

  I looked around at the other people in the room, my teammates. We needed to be smart and safe. But how?

  Needless to say, the night was restless and without much sleep. The morning brought another wave of news, which glued my team to the television as if our lives depended on it. Maybe it did. We watched as an older, distinguished man with silver hair and a plastic smile held a press conference. The man was the mayor and was doing his best to downplay the appearance of Enhanced in the city. He reminded me of Davidson Senior with calculated words and stiff posture, his chin high as his dark eyes roamed the crowd before him.

  Although I didn’t like what the man represented, I was grateful for what he attempted. He took the time to assure all those in attendance, as well as any who watched from home, that “The few Enhanced currently in the city are not a threat to the inhabitants of the city. They were, in fact, chosen because they were enforcers of the nearby Enhanced community of Minefield and had proven quite adept at the task of keeping the peace. If you’d seen the video that alerted to the presence of Enhanced, then you noticed that the incident resolved without injury, as well as the fact that the visitors did not instigate the violence of the incident.”

  “Well at least he’s trying to save us.” Devlin muttered the only words coming from our group. I was pretty sure we each held our breath. I could tell that minds were all on pause as we waited to see exactly what would come of his speech. It was well-delivered and pretty, but it was only words, and words from a mouth other than ours. Would it b
e enough?

  “This team is the founding members of the newly-formed Enhanced Enforcement Agency and is here at the request of our police force to lend their special skills in an ongoing investigation. Please, allow these people to assist our local law enforcement and realize the benefit of coexisting.”

  That’s when the questions started.

  “How do you know that they won’t do more harm than good?”

  “What if they hurt someone?”

  “How do you plan to keep the city safe?”

  “Do you have a plan if they cannot be controlled?”

  “Controlled? Oh. Hell. No.”

  Easy, Nat. That's the fear talking.

  “Yeah, it's what people do when in fear that worries me,” I grumbled at Holden, receiving a chorus of echoed agreement from around the room.

  “Maybe we should call it good for our first field trip. You know, quit while we're ahead?” Jade wrung her hands nervously, her head stuck on the fact that some people wouldn't—didn't—want us here and what that could mean.

  “We can't cow. It won't do the next wave of visiting Enhanced any good if we tuck and run. It'll make everyone after us an unknown. We'll have to show people that they don't need to fear us. The only way to win this is to take the fear away.”

  Damn, Dev was pretty intuitive. See, and peeps thought Primals were soft-headed. My guys proved that even if they weren't as “smart” as Sages, they weren't dumb, and often offered crucial insight when speaking about behavior.

  “So, what is the play here?” Trent asked between biting his nails down to nubs in worry. It was his nervous habit, one I didn't see too often. Trent was usually so consumed with his electronics that he didn't worry about human issues that arose. He felt out of his element, finally abandoning his mangled fingers to grab at his gifted phone. His relief was palpable once the device was in hand.

  “We are now essentially on a diplomatic mission to smooth relations with the locals. We need to play the part of the unassuming and non-threatening ambassadors of Minefield's Enhanced population. Smile. Nod. Stay calm,” Steve piped up. I guessed he would know; it's probably something that he learned from his father's time in the limelight. Problem was, his dad definitely didn't care about smoothing relations within Minefield. I’d bet he was very cordial and sufficiently cowed to the ninnies he answered to, however.

  Maybe we should emulate him.

  “Well then, I nominate you, Steve, to be our speaker. You have practice with soothing the masses and appeasing upheaval… though I'm not sure how well your father puts such things into practice. His decisions lately seemed more aimed to screw us than to help his people.”

  “Did you forget that I was the one seen on the video using my ability?” Steve was incredulous and afraid… afraid he'd screw up and we'd all pay for it.

  I'd never liked him more than in that moment. He was finally being real. He was finally feeling something for this team. I couldn't help myself. I leaned over the coffee table where I'd perched to watch the press conference, wrapped my arms around Steve's narrow shoulders where he sat in the armchair, and squeezed.

  “Let's figure out what we need to do to help make this better for everyone. Get with Hamm and see if we can hold our own press conference or something,” I managed.

  “Do you think being in a crowd is a good idea?” Jade asked.

  “Can it hurt?” It probably could, but we already had a target on our backs, so why not try to control the situation?

  It was decided that we would make a public statement outside the local police precinct. That way, there would be ample trained bodies in proximity, hopefully lending to an uneventful introduction.

  After ducking and hiding within the circle of bodyguards to escape the hotel and the media lurking on the premises, waiting for their chance to pounce, we pushed through the front plated-glass doors of a police station. Our detail informed us that for a city this size, there were many different units though they were all housed within the one station.

  The building wasn’t much different from ours back in Minefield. Once you made it past the outer, intake area, there were plain desks housing mounds of paper and assigned officers, mostly-unadorned white walls, and paneled ceilings—the ones with all the little holes that everyone throws pencils into in attempt to make them stick. It didn’t matter how old a person was, they had to try it. There was also constant chatter, or angry ranting that never leant itself to silence. There weren’t many windows in the central-most populated area of the building, which, like ours, meant it wasn’t as easy to breach. The doors were all reinforced steel and the “inner workings” of the unit, such as the interview rooms and the holding areas, were guarded with further security measures. It was clear that the blueprint for Minefield’s enforcer area was not an original concept.

  We were flanked and “escorted” into the building by our babysitters, each relaxing quite a bit as they stepped further into their territory, the familiarity putting the grumpy men at ease. My group and I, however, were not. We may have been among those who understood us by means of our profession, but they sure didn’t know anything about being Enhanced.

  The verbal chatter died down so as to be nearly non-existent once we made ourselves known, but the mental buzz increased ten-fold and was now focused solely on our group as we stood awkwardly waiting for… whatever we were waiting for. The mood throughout the area was decidedly anxious, and it would soon affect Jade and me. The guys just gave what they got, throwing narrow-eyed glances at each new pair who connected with them.

  That wasn’t helping anything.

  “Enforcers, so good to meet you. I’m Officer Rand, Dave Rand.” A younger male pushed his way toward our stagnant group with more optimism than we were used to since arriving here in the city, his light like a beacon of hope that I steered myself toward. Maybe we could still make a good impression here.

  “Hello, Officer Rand. My name is Nathalee Dae. My teammates here are Holden James, Jade Danforth, Devlin Harlow, Trent Barton, and Steve Davidson.” I pointed at each as I introduced them. It was more likely something that Dev should have done; he was like the unofficial head of the team. I certainly looked to him for answers more often than not and couldn’t help the glance I slid his way after my words.

  He didn’t seem offended. He was too busy taking in everything around us, his tactical mind working through all the ways we could get out if needed. Who would be easiest to get past, what would be the best route… and so on. I tuned back in to our designated greeter but kept my mind open to the room. There was too much apprehension and unease not to. There was also quite a bit of curiosity. We could use that.

  “I’ve been told to bring you all back where we can brief you of our intent for you while you’re visiting,” Officer Rand continued.

  Conferring silently with our group and receiving the go-ahead, I nodded. “Thank you.”

  Officer Rand was upbeat and excited to have met us, his dark shoes squeaking intermittently on the vinyl flooring. His body was lithe, something that didn’t seem to apply to all who wore the uniform, and clad from neck to ankle in the dark blue uniform of the city’s police force. That seemed to be another thing our enforcers borrowed from their ninny predecessors. It was kind of disheartening to realize that everything we had was essentially a borrowed concept from those who’d exiled us to live out our days in small, walled cities in the middle of nowhere just in case we needed to be wiped out. It made me feel like the world wouldn’t change at all if we were to be culled into extinction.

  The trick would be giving them a reason to keep us around. Suddenly, this mission felt even more important, not just for the Enhanced in Minefield, but the Enhanced as a whole. As we followed the officer through the bowels of an entity full of people trained and able, if not fully willing, to kill to keep their ideals of safety intact, I prayed we did not fail in our diplomatic mission.

  CHAPTER 17

  The room where Officer Rand led us was already occupied by sev
eral men. They varied in age, height, skin color, and width… basically, they covered the demographic spectrum with one notable exception: none were women. These were the “elite” of the city’s unit, the superiors. Their sharp eyes took in every detail of our party as we filed through the doorway and kept together along the wall furthest from the gathered men.

  It was better to not be caught between the tables and chairs situated around the room when we didn’t know the intentions and mindsets of our hosts. The room was buzzing with mental inspections and questions burning to be asked and answered. Tensions were high and, once again, Jade and I were taking the brunt. Holden stood close enough to rub against my arm. A silent confirmation that he was there should I need him, without doing something to lose professionalism in the eyes of the men currently scrutinizing me and my team.

  “Well now, gentlemen, it seems you all have many questions for us and that those questions are what are foremost in your minds. We don’t yet know how to address you, so please forgive me when I ask just what we can do for you?”

  The lot of the Non-Enhanced men staring at us from across the room blinked rapidly while they went to work clearing their minds, a couple of head shakes accompanying the owlish looks. They went around the room, introducing themselves with name and rank, but I had met too many people in the previous couple of days to really retain names. If we continued to have contact with them, I was sure it would stick, but until then, it was going to be by feature or rank. The oldest gentleman in the room was gray-haired and clean-shaven in a dark blue dress uniform adorned with medals across the left breast. He was the “Chief of Police”, which apparently meant he was the head honcho for all police forces in the city. I figured I’d listen especially close to his inner musings. This man had the power to help or hurt us much more than the others, the equivalent to Commander James’ position in Minefield.