Spark Rising by Kate Corcino Page A

safe as he had been to keep himself alive. He hadn’t been powerful.
    But she was. She was so powerful, so different, that her father had been willing to die to keep her hidden. He had paid the price in pain. So could she. Her breathing calmed. Her hands relaxed. The tears still flowed, but they were for her father. She could do this.
    She opened her eyes.
    As if he’d been waiting, Reyes finally spoke, his voice hushed. “Councilor Three, I would like to reiterate my protest for the record. This is unnecessary. If you would allow me to use my methods, I could discover what you need to know without damage to her trust.”
    “Oh, please, stop with the trust.” Lucas had clearly had enough. “Like it’s going to matter where she’ll be?”
    “Sir, we don’t have to lose her to use her.” Reyes’s face was bleak, as if it pained him to say the words.
    That, or even he didn’t believe his words would move the Councilor. Why did he bother? He had her in custody. He’d achieved what he’d set out to do. So let them have her, and enough with the charade of charm and caring.
    The Councilor turned to Lucas then, the heat in his expression tamped down. “What would you do, young Agent Brayer? You are the one who lured her to us, after all.”
    “He’s the one who endangered everyone in the building, you mean!”
    The Councilor managed to raise his voice over Reyes without increasing his volume. “Yes, Alejandro, I know. And your quick thinking saved us from his irresponsible actions. But were you never a junior agent with more enthusiasm than sense?”
    “No, sir.” Reyes’s denial came quickly, flat and final.
    “I value enthusiasm, Agent Reyes. I’ve already said I think an enthusiastic agent should be allowed a moment of redemption.” He turned back to Lucas. “Tell me, Agent Brayer, would you like a further opportunity to salvage this situation?”
    Reyes was still. Disbelief flared in his eyes.
    “I would, very much, sir.”
    The Councilor nodded firmly. “You’ll have it, then. Do what you must to get what we want. You have full authority.”
    Hernandez nodded his agreement. The Councilor clapped his hands once. Reyes made a suspicious survey of the other three men, lightning fast, before dropping his gaze back to her. He seemed confused and angry. Had he fallen from favor? Good.
    The Councilor’s gaze raked over Lena once more before he left them, his satisfaction evident in the angle of his chin and the gleam in his eye.
    Reyes managed to catch her eye. He held her, staring down as if trying to impart something to her without words. She wasn’t interested. She returned his gaze, feeding him all of the rage and betrayal that she felt in one hateful look. His lips parted. He took a step back, then turned and walked away to a corner of the room, outside her field of vision.
    Lucas, smug, tracked him. “What are you doing?”
    Reyes’s low voice rasped out. “You want to salvage. So salvage. Don’t worry about me.”
    “You’re not leaving?”
    His brief laugh slashed across the room at the younger man. “No. I’m not leaving, Lucas. I’m witnessing. And I’m waiting for the inevitable fuck-up.”
    If not for the current creating burning static through her body and her mind, Lena might have laughed.
    Lucas curled his lip. He turned his back to Reyes and breathed in through his nostrils. After a moment, he reached into his pocket and removed a small folded packet of papers. After tearing off a square, he carefully refolded and pocketed the packet. He crossed to one of the agents guarding the door and passed him the slip of paper. “Go to this address. Ask the woman there to accompany you back.”
    Reyes snapped, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought you were going to salvage the situation, not compound it.”
    Hernandez spoke up, too. “Agent Brayer? What are you doing? We have everything we need here.”
    Lucas turned his head back and spoke to the Councilor’s Director of Security coolly. “The