The Handler Read Online Free Page A

that I had officially invited Serena to join us.
    Serena was busy clearing racks in the far reaches of the factory, safe from the possibility of future kisses. The more I thought about it, the more kissing Serena seemed like an error in judgment. Playing favorites or getting personally involved with recruits would only sabotage my efforts to build a united coalition of jackers. I would be more careful in the future.
    Thankfully, Anna had been too busy cleaning her guns to notice the kiss. She had finished her superfluous cleaning, but several weapons were still laid out on the table.
    “You might want to put those away,” I said. “Don’t want to scare off the recruits before they’re even in the door.”
    “They should know what they’re getting into,” she said flatly, eyeing her guns. Her protective instinct flared again. Maybe she had seen Serena and me after all.
    Heat climbed up my neck. “Things aren’t always what they appear to be.”
    She rubbed her temples with both hands then looked up at me. “Just tell me you didn’t promise her anything.”
    Helping Serena learn to control her ability wasn’t so much a promise as an offer. And a necessity, if she was to stay with us. “Not that I’m aware of.”
    Anna’s shoulders relaxed. A soft knock at the door drew both our attention, but barely, like it was a tentative plea. I noted the time on the screen perched on the kitchen counter.
    “I believe our recruit is here.”
    “Maybe you should answer the door this time,” Anna said.
    I grinned and left her to stow her weapons, mentally reaching through the door before I arrived. The instinctual mind of our guest boiled red and hot, like Anna’s standard state of anger, and I hesitated with my hand on the door latch. I had only contacted this jacker on private message once; he had been referred by Henry, an older friend of the family who still ran the secret laboratory in my parents’ north shore estate. The recruit was a volunteer for one of Henry’s testing trials, which usually meant a jacker on hard times or thrown out by their Clan. Not typically someone who played well with others.
    But I trusted Henry more than most people on the planet.
    I took a breath and opened the door, letting in a blast of dry winter air. My recruit was a couple of years older than me, with dark brown skin, black curly hair, and even darker, almost fathomless eyes. His face was stoic, showing none of the raging aggression that churned underneath it.
    “Sasha, I presume?” I asked.
    “And you appear to be Julian.” His voice immediately softened, becoming almost apologetic. “Henry showed me your picture.” Then his eyes narrowed at my crisp, high-collared shirt.
    “I am indeed.” I stepped aside. “Won’t you come in?”
    Sasha hesitated, eyeing the cavernous and dusty interior of the factory, his body held stiff. I slipped through the angry red mist of his mind to read his thoughts. Most jackers couldn’t sense me, going in through the mind’s back door, so to speak, and I hoped Sasha would be the same. He looked like a powder keg about to go off, and I didn’t want to inadvertently light the fuse.
    Why is he so dressed up? Sasha’s thoughts jittered between staying and running. Maybe Henry was lying. This isn’t worth the risk…
    “Or,” I said, trying to keep him from bolting, “if you’d like, we could talk outside.” The street was empty. A plastic bottle tumbled lonely and hollow down the sidewalk, flashing cold winks of afternoon sun. Sasha pulled his gray trench coat tighter around his neck.
    “Inside will be fine.” He stepped past me, enough that I could close the door behind him, but then stopped. Anna watched Sasha with undisguised suspicion. The dart guns were still on the table.
    He turned back to me. “Look, maybe this was a mistake—”
    “You’re not in any danger here, Mr…”
    He ignored me, his gaze darting about the room but finding only Anna and me. Serena must have wandered