Page 80 of The Tribes of Magic
Kato had expelled the net that held the mercenaries, and the Watchers were marching them toward the parked SUVs to load them inside.
Agent Mackenzie turned her eyes from them to look at me. “Yes?”
“Why were you at the conference center, pretending to be a chef?”
“The General wanted eyes on the delegates, the staff?—”
“The Apprentices?”
She chuckled. “Yes. He wanted eyes on everything that was going on at the Summit, so he sent me and my team in undercover.”
“Did he ask you to spy on me?”
“Your name might have come up.”
“I knew it.”
“You don’t know anything, Savannah Winters. When the General sent me in, he didn’t single you out astheperson to watch. After your little performance there, however, that might have changed. You certainly have the General’s attention now.”
“Swell.”
She patted me on the back. “Don’t worry about it. The General has his attention on a lot of people. But unlike most of them, you don’t look like an insurrectionist.”
“I’m not.”
“If that’s true, you have nothing to worry about. Just keep your head low, and the General will eventually forget about you.”
“Yeah, so I’m not really very good at that. Keeping my head low.”
“I figured that out. Why do you think I asked you to find Mr. Ashbridge?”
“So about that… Why did you put on this whole show, pretending to be his grandmother?”
“I’ve studied your file. I decided that story was the one most likely to help me achieve my aim. You have a soft spot for lost children and despondent family members.”
“You manipulated me.”
She shrugged. “I did my job. I knew you’d find him before I did. I’d read you were scheduled to train in the Park today, and I knew he was here. I also knew, based on previous reports, that it was likely you’d have an incident of explosive magic, and your mentor would send you off alone for everyone’s protection. Mr. Ashbridge is shy, but he’s very curious about magic. As long as you were alone, he was very likely to approach you.”
“Yes, at which point, I talked to him and realized that you arenothis grandmother.”
A smile stretched her lips. “And how did that make you feel? Even more curious to get to the bottom of things, I’d imagine.”
Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. Agent Mackenzie was deceitful, manipulative, and deviously intelligent. If I weren’t so mad at her for lying to me, I might have even liked her.
“Well, then, Savannah Winters, I have a witness to question and prisoners to deliver. You have a good day. And do try to stay out of trouble, dear.”
She bowed her head to me, strode back to the SUVs, and climbed into one of them. The pair of vehicles drove off down the gravel road, leaving me alone with Kato—and a whole lot of questions.
CHAPTER 5
NEWS
The news was playing on the TV in the Castle’s dining hall when all the Apprentices gathered there for dinner that evening. After thoroughly questioning the witness and the mercenaries, the Watchers discovered the culprit behind the stolen Government supplies. It was a man named Jeremy Rubin, a storage facility site manager and underling of Governor Melanie Meyer.
Suffice it to say, the Governor was not pleased. She’d spent the last few hours making the rounds on the TV networks, doing damage control.
“Mr. Rubin has betrayed this office, betrayed this city, and betrayed humanity. He put his own avarice ahead of Gaia’s well-being, and he will be punished for his crimes. During the course of this investigation, it’s come to light that Mr. Rubin is a member of the Brotherhood of Earth, the terrorist organization that attempted to poison the Spirit Trees just three days ago. We believe the Brotherhood used Mr. Rubin and his connections to steal supplies from the Gaian Government. To what end, we do not know, but one thing is clear: we have not seen the last of the Brotherhood. They will strike again, and we will be ready.”
