But why would she ever think such a thing?

  Danny had pondered that, until finally deciding that someone else had betrayed them. That Red Legs officer had known about their operation. Maybe they’d found a way to bug the store again without detection. It was possible, though Cait was confident in her ability to root such things out.

  Danny toweled off and walked into his closet, searching for his evening attire. He settled on a black suit, white shirt, and the black tie he usually reserved for funerals. His way of protesting imprisonment in front of tonight’s guest.

  He dressed, then looked himself over in the mirror. He looked good, as he did in all his tailored suits, but with the appropriate expression, Danny looked somber. It was the best he could do.

  He started downstairs a few minutes before six. As he descended the curved staircase to the entry hall below, Danny heard male voices and saw several armed Red Legs officers standing by the entry door. He wondered who Father was having to dinner.

  Two guards noticed Danny’s descent and followed him with their eyes as he reached the bottom of the stairs. A man in a black overcoat and hat stood with his back to Danny, discussing something with Father. He heard the man’s voice and his blood froze.

  Director Kane was coming to dinner.

  Danny’s father saw him approaching and gestured in his direction. “Director Kane, this is my son Daniel, home recovering from his ordeal with the chanters.”

  The man turned and Danny saw the Director’s face in person for the first time since he’d seen the man casting a spell on his parents, clouding their minds when he was a child.

  “Hello, Daniel. You have certainly grown a lot since we first met.” Kane extended a pale, bony white hand to Danny. He kept his face straight as he internally winced at the man’s powerful grip. The Director grinned. They let go together, Danny resisting the urge to massage his bruised hand.

  “I remember our first meeting Director Kane. A profound moment in my young life.”

  The Director nodded. Danny was sure the man knew exactly what he meant. His father smiled, missing the point.

  “Director Kane, please come into the dining room. We are almost ready to serve dinner. I’ll mix you a drink so you can relax and enjoy your time in our home. Marian is waiting.”

  “Excellent. It will be a pleasure to see her again. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

  The pair walked toward the dining room with Danny trailing behind. Father kept the small talk going as they reached the room. Danny’s mother was directing one of the maids to adjust a setting. She looked up and smiled as her husband led their guest into the room.

  “Director Kane, welcome to our home. We’re so glad you took us up on our standing invitation to join us whenever you’re in town.”

  “Marian, I was pleased to hear your invitation still stood. I understand your cook is one of the best.”

  Mother blushed. Danny wanted to scream. This man was not the man they believed him to be. But it was futile. They would never forgive the insult to their guest. Even if they believed him, the Director would just work his magic again, this time on all of them, including Danny. He was trapped into sitting through this dinner, regardless of how much he wanted to flee.

  Father offered the Director a drink. He asked for a single malt Scotch on the rocks. Father found Danny’s eyes and let him know that he was the evening’s bartender.

  Danny walked to the liquor cabinet, selected a glass and putting two large cubes of ice inside from the bucket. He wished he had some hidden packet of a drug in his pocket, like in the movies, as he splashed the rocks with Father’s best Scotch.

  He turned and handed the glass to Kane.

  “Danny, your mother will have her usual and I’ll have a martini. You may have a cola, if you like.”

  Danny grumbled to himself. Punishment included a dry dinner. So be it. He mixed Mother’s cosmo, then Father’s martini. Maria took the drinks from him to serve to his parents. He poured himself a soda over ice and steeled himself for dinner.

  Director Kane sat and looked Danny’s way. “Your father has been in touch, and I’ve been following the details of your recent situation. How are you recovering from your ordeal?”

  Father glared from the corner of his eye. Danny needed to step carefully. Director Kane was up to something. He wasn’t sure what, but the question was curious, since he had to know Danny was a willing participant.

  “It was an eye-opening experience. I learned a lot about myself and those around me.”

  Kane smiled. Yes, he knew all about the circumstances involved in Danny’s release and what had really happened. He needed to think on his feet here. The Director was fishing for sure.

  Danny was ready for more verbal sparring but the conversation turned to talk of the Temperance movement and the passage of Resolution 85 instead. His parents laughed at the meager protests from a few who Kane called “chanter dissidents.” Danny kept his thoughts to himself, hoping that Winnie hadn’t been arrested in the protests. He was curious as to why no more than a few dozen were protesting. The latest requirements were surely a precursor to something worse. That was how his parents thought: they wanted all chanters — men, women, and children — locked up, regardless of whether they’d broken the law.

  Dinner was over soon enough and Father excused Danny to his room, telling the Director that he was “always so tired since his ordeal at the hands of the chanters.”

  Danny went back upstairs and sat on the end of his bed. He should have said something. He should have stood up for his friends, but he hadn’t, and now the shame was draped over him like a blanket.

  He sat, brooding, until a deep rumble of voices from the corner drew his attention.

  He looked toward the sound, remembering that he could hear people talking in Father’s study, just below his bedroom, through vents in his floor. Kane and his parents must be having after dinner drinks in there following the meal. A part of him was disgusted with having to hear more of their hatred and lies about the chanters he’d come to know in recent months. Another part wondered why the Director had come here.

  After a while, Danny could no longer throttle his curiosity.

  He got up, crossed to the other side of the room, sat on the floor, and leaned towards the metal grate. The voices were clearer now. He heard Father talking.

  “ … I’m glad to hear the plan for the chanter problem is progressing. I am surprised more of them aren’t up in arms over this registration plan.”

  Then, Director Kane: “It’s simple, really. They are like the frog in a pot of water. If you place the frog in the water when it’s boiling, they’ll jump right out. If, however, you place them in cool water and slowly heat it, they’ll swim around until they boil to death. Most chanters are the same. They don’t see this as a big step, so they go along for the ride.”

  Father laughed. “Go along for the ride. I like that. Have your officers been able to move forward with Project X? In light of the recent arrests, I would think there are others who will be taking a ride.”

  “Yes, well, as you know, we were unsuccessful in our attempt to harvest that part of the brain used to access magic. It cut off the chanters we opened from magic, but we couldn’t enliven the tissue taken or use it to draw magic into the machine. We’ll have to force a living chanter to cast magic directly and siphon the power directly from them. Results are promising, but the effects are inconsistent.”

  “Worse than recovery from brain surgery?” Mother asked.

  “I’m afraid so. About fifty percent die outright once we’ve siphoned all the magic they can channel. Of the rest, we’ve seen everything from catatonia to high levels of aggression requiring officers to euthanize them. I suppose, in the end, we’ll have to terminate them all.”

  “It’s a shame, but unavoidable, I suppose,” Mother said. “Still, once the magic is stored in the machine, we’ll no longer need them. We’ll have all the magic required to run our cities. Why keep the cows if the faucets are all pouring milk?”

  “Indeed,” Father said. “Shall we return to the dining room? I’m sure the dessert service is in place.”

  The voices receded. Danny stared at the grate in shock. What the hell had he heard? They wanted to kill all chanters by drawing off their magic into some machine, and his parents were part of the conspiracy?

  Danny spent a long time sitting there, practically paralyzed, trying to wrap his brain around the truth that he’d been raised by monsters.

  He had to do something. His friends had to be warned. Maybe they could try to stop it. Maybe Artos Merrilyn would have some answers. He wanted to know more out about this Project X, too.

  He had to get word out to Winnie, save her before she got picked up by Red Legs. They had a list of threats. Surely she was on it.

  Danny stood and looked around his room. It was time to plan his escape.

  Chapter 41

  Winnie held the cup for her mother, urging her to sip the water.

  She’d just woken from a long nap. Winnie and the day nurse had raised the head of the hospital bed so she could sort of sit up. Her mother was steadily improving. The doctors said the process could take a while, and that she’d have to be patient. She was sick of being patient. Even with help from the nurses, it was exhausting at home, taking care of her mom.

  Though it wasn’t much easier away. She was at the warehouse with Cait, Joey and Tris, planning their runs. They had to wait until dark to avoid Red Legs. Meeting at night was an annoyance for their clients, but it was for the best, considering the way Red Legs were hurling chanters into cells for every sort of minor crime.

  And they weren’t getting released. Relatives were told that their loved ones were being detained for “public safety.” Everyone smelled the lie. Whispers said experiments were leveled on the missing, something Winnie believed, considering what had happened to Joey.

  The apartment’s doorbell rang. She handed the cup to the nurse then walked out to the living room and peeked out the peephole to see who was at the door.

  She staggered back in shock.

  “Go away, Danny. I don’t have anything else to say. You made your choice, now get out of here.”

  “Winnie, let me in. I know you’re mad at me. I don’t blame you. But I’m not the traitor. I could never do that to you. You have to believe me.”

  “Go away.”

  “I can’t. I have nowhere else to go.”

  “Go home to Mommy and Daddy.”

  “I can’t. Not now. Not after what I just found out. Please, Winnie. Let me in. I can explain everything, but not from out here.”

  Winnie rolled her eyes. She knew Danny Barber well enough to know that he wasn’t going away. She would hear him out, then kick him out. She’d get Cait to help her if needed. Winnie was looking forward to pounding on Danny.

  She opened the door and stepped back, staring him down as he entered. He dropped his eyes to the floor as he passed.

  They stood in silence until Winnie had waited enough.

  “Spill it, Danny. Then go. I don’t want you back in my life. There’s too much happening right now for me to have anything to do with you.”

  “Don’t say that, Winnie. I know you’re mad, but you don’t know what I know.”

  “Fine. Talk. I’ve got to get back to taking care of my mother.”

  “What’s wrong with your mom? Is she alright?”

  “No, and you don’t get to worry about her. Just tell me what’s on your mind. I’ll hear you out.” Then I’ll show you out.

  Danny opened his mouth but was interrupted by the nurse stepping into the room.

  “I think you two need some alone time. I’ve turned on the TV in your mom’s room and raised the volume to give you some privacy. I’m going to run down to the market for a bit while you two hash this out.”

  Winnie nodded, waiting while the nurse grabbed her coat and left the apartment.

  “Alright, Danny. We’re alone. Talk.”

  “I don’t expect you to believe me without proof, Winnie. You think I betrayed you and I don’t have any way to change your mind. I think my father and the Red Legs set it up that way when they had me released, but I know I can’t convince you of that right now.” He paused, peering into her eyes, his expression pleading.

  Winnie stared back, her arms crossed.

  “But there are more important things you need to know. That’s why I had to escape and come here. I found out what Project X is.”

  “What? How?”

  “My parents surprised me by having Director Kane over for dinner. They went into my father’s study before dessert. I overheard them: Project X is a magic-siphoning machine of some kind. They’re using it to capture magic from chanters and hold it somehow.”

  “So, where is this magic-stealing machine?”

  “I don’t know, but I haven’t told you the worst part. They capture chanters and force them to cast magic into the machine. Then it uses them as a conduit to draw the magic through them. The chanters are dead or worse. Those that don’t die immediately are getting killed off anyway. The plan is to get rid of all chanters after gathering all the magic.”

  “That’s insane. How do they think we’d let them do that?”

  “Because they already are. They’ve started catching chanters for various crimes then transporting them to the machine for processing. It’s happening and no one even knows.”

  “Danny, we need to tell Artos. He has to do something.”

  “My thought exactly. Hopefully he’s been able to learn the project’s location. It can’t be too far from the city. They’re shuttling chanters there daily.”

  Winnie pressed a finger to her temple, working to remember where her team was traveling. She hoped they were safe. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock. She turned and opened the door to her neighbor, Mrs. Sanchez.

  “Winnie, honey. I was out front on the stoop and just saw the Red Legs pick up your nurse. I thought you needed to know.”

  “They what? Why would they do that?”

  “I don’t know. She said hello and told me she was walking to the market. A police van pulled up and three officers jumped out. They grabbed her and three others, then threw them all in the back in cuffs. Then they drove off with their siren blaring. No one seemed to be doing anything wrong, unless walking down the street is a crime.”

  Winnie looked at Danny. This was bad if they’d resorted to grabbing random chanters.

  “Mrs. Sanchez, can you stay here and watch my mom? I need to find out what happened.”

  “Of course. I’ve been meaning to look in on her anyway.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Sanchez. I owe you one.”

  “Nonsense. You and your man go find out what happened to all those people.”

  She cringed at having Danny labeled as “her man” but let it pass.

  Winnie grabbed Danny by the arm and they left, shutting the door behind them. First, they’d hit the warehouse and tell everyone to stop all deliveries until further notice.

  They reached the street. Winnie looked up and down the parked cars, puzzled.

  “Where’s your car, Danny? We need to get going if we’re going to warn the crew and get to Artos’s in time to do any good.”

  “I don’t have it. I told you, I escaped. They were literally holding me prisoner. I couldn’t come to you until I got away.” He shrugged. “The car was locked in the garage. I had to walk downtown then catch a bus to get here.”

  “You rode the bus? You must be desperate.”

  “Maybe. But it was important to make sure you were alright, and warn you about what was going on.”

  “Well, cabs have stopped coming to the Enclave since the latest resolution. Something about keeping them clean of magic for middling passengers. We’ll start walking and maybe catch a bus on the way. We have to hurry. The closest bus stop is two blocks away. We might get lucky and catch one going the right way.”

  They jogged down the street. Two blocks passed and they were both out of breath. They reached the bus stop, heaving, a minute before the bus.

  With connections, they made it to the warehouse in twenty-five minutes.

  When they entered, Cait looked up from her chair, took one look at Danny, and started out of the chair towards him.

  “Hold it, Cait. You can have a piece of him later. Right now, he’s helping.”

  “The hell he is. What is he helping with?”

  “He has the info on Project X we’ve been looking for.”

  “And you believe him?”

  Winnie looked at Danny — he seemed more than a little uncomfortable with the conversation’s tone. Good.

  “Probably. Anyway, we’ll let Artos sort it out. He might be able to corroborate some of Danny’s information. Then we’ll know. First, I want everyone to come back, right now. Stop all deliveries and come to the warehouse. We’ll be staying here until we figure out what’s happening.

  “What is happening?” Cait asked.

  “They’ve started snatching people off the street. They grabbed Mom’s nurse and a bunch of other people while she was on her way to the corner market.”

  “What? How can they do that?”

  “I’m guessing that they’re about to give up all pretense of following the law and start rounding up chanters on sight. That’s what the armbands are for. Have Tris and Joey take theirs off and come back here without them. It might make it easier to get back here if the Red Legs are hunting.”

  Cait turned to her phone and sent a flurry of urgent texts. She kept tapping so Winnie figured she was getting a response. Good, that probably meant that Tris and Joey hadn’t been picked up by a roving patrol.

  Danny looked around. “I like the new location. What happened to the shop?”

  “It’s closed. Gone forever, as far as the Assembly’s concerned.” Winnie didn’t try to hide her bitterness. She wasn’t convinced that Danny hadn’t betrayed them. This could be a change of heart after hearing Director Kane’s plans.

  “Oh,” he said, looking around the room. “What now? Don’t we need to meet with Artos?”