Enders(46)

“Callie, we’ll get out here,” Hyden said to me. “Michael, take the wheel. Park it a couple of blocks away and meet us inside.”

We got out and walked to the café.

“Now, don’t scare her,” I said just before we entered.

“Don’t worry, we’ll play this low-key.”

Inside, dusty maroon half curtains hung above windows thick with dust. Some blues played softly from cheap speakers that muddied the sound. The floors were unfinished concrete. It seemed like the kind of café you’d only go to if you needed to cry into your cappuccino.

One mopey, skinny Ender sat at one of the four tiny round tables, sipping his espresso. He looked like he would have been happier with a stiff drink.

Emma stood with her back to us, at the counter, staring at the airscreen menu. Little holo-mations popped out, illustrating the specials. A bacon sandwich spun around, emitting that bacon scent. A bored Ender barista waited with folded arms while Emma made up her mind.

A scraggly orange cat jumped up on one of the empty tables. I stroked his fur, trying to act casual, while Hyden put his hands in his pockets and glanced around. I’d shut off my illusion dress so it was just white. Hyden was dressed casually, but Emma and I were still in our fancy club wear, grossly overdressed for this place.

The cashier looked at Hyden and me and then looked away. He said something to Emma.

She mumbled something back to him, and then she walked to the back.

“Restroom?” I whispered to Hyden.

“I think she’s slipping out,” he said.

As the cashier turned his back, we followed Emma’s path through a doorway curtain. Our eyes had to adjust in this darkened hallway, but we followed the sound of Emma’s footsteps just ahead. When we passed the kitchen, something struck me as wrong. It was completely empty. No canisters of food or pickle jars or bread on cutting boards. Emma opened a door at the end of the hallway and exited. We followed, plunging into a pitch-black space.

The lights burst on, harsh white, blinding us. I blinked, and eventually the world came back into focus, but all through the prism of this disorienting light. We faced a huge warehouse-sized space, with various machines, computers, and equipment I couldn’t identify lining the walls.

We’d happened upon the worst surprise party ever. Standing around us, guns drawn, were Emma and a few Enders, one with a splotch on his neck … a silver leopard tattoo. That was the man I’d seen talking to Reece just before she died. Several other Enders stood surrounding us, dressed in dark clothing. It looked like military gear, though like none I’d ever seen. They kept their rifles aimed at our legs.

My heart pounded in my chest.

One of the men ripped my purse out of my hands and pulled my arms behind my back. He cuffed my wrists just as another Ender cuffed Hyden’s.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Who are you?”

I looked over at Hyden. They were emptying his pockets, pulling out his phone. He was sweating. I knew the touching was killing him, but he struggled not to reveal his weakness as one of the Enders patted him down.

“No weapons,” the military Ender reported.

“Check her as well,” the leopard tattoo said. “Never let it be said I don’t treat women equally.”

The military Ender patted me down and nodded. “Clean, sir.”

“You can’t detain us. We’re claimed minors.” I realized after I said it that Hyden probably wasn’t technically claimed since he didn’t live with his father.

The leopard man stepped up. “If that were true, you wouldn’t be chasing this girl all over town.” He pointed at Emma. “You’d be in your warm home, with your loving grandparents, watching insipid talent shows on the airscreen. But you’re here because you’re Metals.”

Surprised, I looked at Hyden, but he kept his eyes forward. He acted like he’d been imprisoned and interrogated before. Maybe with his father, he had.

“You led us into a trap.” I glared at Emma.

She stood stone-faced. The leopard man was about to respond when someone banged on the door. The leopard man nodded for them to lower the lights. One of the Enders opened the door partway, standing behind it. I gasped when I saw who stood on the other side.

Michael.

He was squinting, trying to see in the dark. Someone put a light on me.

“Callie!” Michael smiled with recognition.

“Michael, no, run!”

But it was too late. He stepped inside like an unsuspecting fawn stumbling into a hunter’s trap. The lights came on and one of the Enders snapped cuffs on his wrists. Poor Michael stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of him.