What are you keeping from me?
His lips form a thin line, and he shakes his head in response to my question.
“We need to know what you were talking about. My stuff can be discussed later,” he sighs out, his brow riddled with stress.
“I don’t know. There were tons of images on that board with purple eyes glowing for all to see. There were a hell of a lot more than just me and my mother. I don’t know if that means they’re hiding their powers or what, because Mom has never had anyone outshine her.”
“Araya had Clay helping her unlock her abilities. He was good with her blood, and he found ways for her to tap into the power she wouldn’t have known she had otherwise,” Uncle Grayson insightfully adds. “It’s possible these either don’t know of their full potential, or they don’t want anyone else to know. Just because they’re emergent-bred, it doesn’t mean they are violent. Only the human carrying the emergent gene becomes vile, and we don’t know if that would subside or not. It could be like the full blood changelings. After so many decades, the rage could subside.”
I grip my head in near agony. We never discuss these sorts of things. We always acknowledge what my mother and I are, but we never speak of it.
“So you think the Unaligned have figured out about the emergents and they’re planning on studying them and using them in this war,” Jase states rather than asks as he looks at my brother.
Rex scowls at him while crossing his arms in front of his chest, and then he snarls out, “Yes. That’s what I think.”
I roll my eyes at my antagonistic, judgmental brother, and then I turn my attention back to the screen I had abandoned as I step in front of it.
There’s nothing here. There aren’t any tracks, no evidence of people coming or going, nothing at all to use. They didn’t leave any clues as to who they are.
Is it the entire Unaligned or a special militia? Is it someone like Ty Silvers, or is it the government? I sigh out, and then my phone buzzes.
The clambering theories rattling off in unison by our little group grows distracting, so I walk out onto the balcony and shut the soundproof door before answering the number I don’t know.
“Aria Banner,” I huff.
There’s a pause on the other end, and I check my phone to see if I’ve lost signal. I return my ear to my phone to listen closer when I see the call is still underway.
“Hello?” I prompt.
“The Unaligned don’t know about emergents or their power. You need to look closer at the footage caught from the underground facility you were in.”
“Who is this?” I urge, my whole body tingling, my scalp prickling, and chills forming all over me.
It’s the same voice that warned me of the aerial strike. It’s the same accent of the man I don’t know; the one who possibly saved my life. Who is this phantom?
“Look at the footage. Study it closer,” he says again, and the line goes silent, leaving me with only the eerie crawl on my skin.
I almost burst back through the door, and everyone startles out of their seat as I toss my phone to my uncle.
“Trace the number that just called me. It was him again,” I murmur while flipping through the mounds of data storage devices.
“What the hell did he say?” Jase asks in panic while joining me at my side.
“This is Captain Morris. I just sent you a number. Run a trace and contact me immediately with your findings,” my uncle asserts into his phone.
“Aria, what the hell did he say?” Jase prompts again, and my eyes trail over to my uncle as I wait for him to hang up before I answer.
Jase tightens his lips as he turns and waits as well, and my eyes go back to their mission of scouring the massive pile.
“No problem, Sir. Is this classified?”
“Very,” my uncle says while finishing. “Only me or the commander are to know about these results. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir, Captain Morris.”
My uncle finally hangs up, and my full blood’s expectant eyes turn back to me.
“Now, Aria,” he demands.
