Impostor Read Online Free Page A

touch. His breath fanned over my face, his eyes darting to my mouth, but then he settled back against the cushions, as far from me as possible. My cheeks burned as I returned my attention to the screen, just in time to see someone get beheaded by an ax.
Figures
. That’s just how I felt.
    For a few minutes, it had been like old times—like the days before Kate became Alec’s girlfriend. But those days were over now.

CHAPTER 3
----
    T he next morning, my preparations for mission “Be Madison Chambers” began. It was sad how easy it was to summarize the life of an eighteen-year-old girl in eighty neatly typed pages. In uncaring black and white, the report told me everything I needed to know in order to blend in with Madison’s friends and family. Or so Major thought.
    Kate had done a good job extracting information from the minds of Madison’s friends and mother. But the file still lacked any mention of Madison’s emotions, her thoughts, her internal life. It was like telling someone to enjoy a beautiful piece of music simply by looking at the notes.
    Madison weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces when she was born. She started playing the piano when she was seven years old. She had a cat named Fluffy that she’d gotten for her ninth birthday and a fraternal twin brother, Devon. She loved peanut butter cookies and was allergic to tuna and capers. She had been a cheerleader until shortly before the attack.
    A stack of photos fell out of the file, spreading around my feet. I crouched down to pick them up and began looking through them. There was Madison as a little girl, dressed in a bunny costume. Madison in the middle of a group of grinning girls, braces flashing in her mouth. Madison hugging her father and brother.
    I didn’t even want to imagine how the FEA had gotten access to them.
    Madison was so full of life in the photos; all shiny blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, and happy smiles. And someone had taken that light from her.
    I snapped the file shut as tears prickled the corners of my eyes. I didn’t want to get to know Madison, didn’t want to learn about her quirks and interests, because it made her too real. This wasn’t right.
    “Tessa?”
    Alec.
    I rubbed my hands over my face—silently thankful for waterproof mascara—and rearranged my ponytail. “Come in.”
    The door opened with a creak.
    Alec took up most of the doorway, tall and muscled as ever. He’d never entered my room before, and it didn’t look like that would change anytime soon. Sometimes I wondered why he was so reluctant to come in. I often wondered if he didn’t trust himself to be alone there with me. But I knew that was probably just wishful thinking.
    “You okay?”
    I felt my skin flush. “Yeah, I’m fine. Is there something you want?”
    For a moment he seemed to look right through me. His eyes were so intense. Did he remember that moment last night? Heat gathered in my stomach, but then he cleared his throat. “Major wants our training to start today.”
    “Oh, right. Sure.” We didn’t normally have any classes on the weekends, but our time before the mission was tight. Alec’s eyes lingered on me for a moment before he disappeared from view. “In the dojo in ten minutes. Don’t be late.”
    Had I imagined the way he’d just looked at me? I shook my head to get rid of the thought.
    I grabbed simple gray sweat pants and a white T-shirt from my drawer. Just as I was about to get dressed, Holly burst in, her hair still damp from her morning swim. Her natural color, a nice light brown, showed at the hairline. “You’re leaving already?”
    “Yeah, Alec wants me in the dojo in—” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Nine minutes.”
    She took my clothes from me and dropped them on the ground. “You’re not wearing those.”
    “Holly, I don’t have time for your styling tips right now.” And I didn’t have the patience either. Looking cute wouldn’t get me out of the mission alive.
    “Don’t be stupid. You’re