That left no one to follow Taylor.
Well, no one except for Kopano.
“I know that walk,” Kopano said, his longer legs matching her stride for stride. “We are about to do something badass.”
Taylor glanced over at him, too drained for jokes. Frankly, she didn’t understand how he could be so upbeat after getting kidnapped, having a chip installed in his head and then fighting a massive battle against a genuine Loric. But Kopano was going to Kopano.
“Got to get Miki,” Taylor said, her voice scratchy.
“Yeah, we talked about him on the flight back,” Kopano replied.
“I know.”
“And we decided not to do anything rash.”
Taylor picked up speed. “Who decided? Not me.”
All the voices in the student union abruptly fell silent when Taylor shoved the double doors open with her telekinesis. There was Maiken, front and center, probably having just finished telling everyone about how she’d seen Lexa’s ship land. The girl edged away from Taylor with a nervous look.
Taylor couldn’t blame them for staring. Her face was windburned, her hair greasy and matted. She wore a heavy-duty black snowsuit, totally inappropriate for California, looking like she’d just gotten back from climbing the Himalayas or, more accurately, like she’d fallen off a mountain. The suit was ripped in patches and smeared with mud and blood, mostly not her own.
Taylor scanned the room. Maiken, Nicolas Lambert, Omar Azoulay, Simon Clement, a girl with aquamarine hair whose name Taylor didn’t know, about forty others.
Where was he?
Simon, the French boy with the Legacy of knowledge transference, finally broke the silence. “Mon Dieu. Taylor, what happened to you?”
She said nothing. Her eyes bounced from table to table.
“Holy shit, Kopano,” Nicolas exclaimed. “They let you out of prison?”
Kopano had followed Taylor inside, slightly out of breath from trying to keep pace with her. He wore a dress shirt and slacks, not a winter getup like Taylor, but his clothes were similarly ripped and bloody. Unlike Taylor, he immediately processed the fact that they were making a scene.
“Hi, guys,” he said sheepishly. “I’m back. And, um, I wasn’t in prison. It’s a long story.”
“I think I speak for everyone when I say we’d love to hear your story,” Maiken said to Kopano, still side-eyeing Taylor.
There.
At the back. A table of tweebs.
“Well—,” Kopano started to say.
“You,” Taylor said, and she pointed right at Miki.
That took everyone by surprise, except maybe him. The tweebs sitting with Miki all turned to look at him, but soon they were yelling and shooting to their feet as Taylor telekinetically swiped their table out of the way. Taylor strode into their midst, ignoring questions and complaints, until she loomed over Miki. He didn’t even stand up.
“I’m not going to fight you,” Miki told her. Everyone around them exchanged looks—like, what would Taylor want to fight Miki for?
“Good,” Taylor said. “If you’re thinking of running, don’t bother. All we did on the ride home was think about ways to stop you.”
Miki squinted at her, then cracked an uncertain smile. “I think you’re bluffing. But I’m not going to run either.”
“It wouldn’t be running, really,” Kopano said, relief in his voice. “Breezing. That’s a more accurate term.”
“Breezing,” Miki said. “I like it. I won’t do that either.”
“Who cares what we call it?” Taylor snapped. “You’ll come peacefully then?”
“Sure,” Miki replied. “Where are we going?”
“Professor Nine wants to see you.”
Behind them, Nicolas let out an exaggerated ooohh that failed to lighten the moment. Taylor grabbed the smaller boy by his upper arm and marched him right out of the student union without another word.
Kopano rubbed his hands together.
“So,” he said. “What’s for lunch?”
Outside, Miki wiggled his arm in Taylor’s grip.
“You don’t have to drag me all the way there,” he said as Taylor pulled him across the lawn, towards the administration building. When she didn’t respond, he added, “You’re hurting me.”
Taylor glanced down at Miki. His eyes were wet and earnest. She hadn’t even realized how tightly she’d been squeezing his narrow bicep. Her mind was singularly focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She was operating on no sleep. It was hard to calculate on account of the time zones, but she was pretty sure she was fighting Mogadorians in Siberia just a couple of days ago. From Siberia to Switzerland. Always in danger. From Switzerland back here. She’d traveled halfway around the world, catching fitful naps on private jets or Loric spacecraft.
What had all that stress accomplished? She had three less friends, for starters. Her big infiltration plan had taken one Foundation member into custody—one—and she was Nigel’s mother, at that. Not to mention, it almost seemed like the woman wanted to be captured.
And now, she had Miki. No more moles burrowed into the Academy. So that was something. A small victory.
But what good were those?
The more Taylor saw of the world outside of South Dakota, the less it made sense. Everything was a mess, and the corrupt people at the top just kept getting away with their shady plans, driving good people like her —like Isabela and Caleb and Ran—further and further towards the edge. How far would she have to go to win against an organization like the Foundation that completely lacked morals and boundaries? What would “winning” even look like?
“Ow,” Miki said. “Taylor. Come on.”
Taylor realized that she’d been digging her nails into his skin. She let him go.
“Sorry,” Taylor mumbled.
“It’s okay,” Miki said, rubbing his arm. “So what happened? Did you get them?”
Taylor glared at Miki again. She knew that he could escape if he wanted. She had been bluffing before about having a plan to stop him from using his Legacy. The best they’d been able to brainstorm was arming themselves with some high-powered vacuums. If Miki wanted to fly out of here, she couldn’t stop him.
But he looked relieved to be caught.
“We got . . .” Taylor rubbed a hand over her face. “We got one of them. A leader, I think. But I’m not sure it matters.”
“Oh,” Miki said, crestfallen. “I was hoping you would tell me it was all over.”
“Sorry, but remind me why you care, exactly?” Taylor replied. “Don’t you work for those jerks?”
“Not willingly,” Miki said. “I could’ve told them about your plans. Your secret meetings with Professor Nine and the others. But I didn’t.”
“Or maybe this is all just a cover to get you in tighter with us so you can do maximum damage.”
Miki chuckled. “Seriously? That’s way paranoid, Taylor.”
“You’d be paranoid too if you’d seen half the crap I have.”
“I can’t blame you for not trusting me,” Miki said. “I wouldn’t trust me either. So if it makes you feel better, I’ll let you guys lock me up in the cells underneath administration. I won’t try to escape, even though we both know I could. I’ll sit down there until you’re ready to trust me.”