Without Mercy (Mercy 1)

Her pod leader and Ethan thought she was in the restroom, so she had to hurry back to the rec hall, where everyone gathered after dinner. She bit her lip and grabbed the handle of the door. God help her if anyone saw her slip into the hallway.

Now or never. She opened the door and found the hall empty. With a loud click, it shut behind her. Barely breathing, she hurried to the main corridor that, beneath the roof of a breezeway, led back to the rec hall.

She was nearly to the door when she heard footsteps behind her. What? She had thought she was alone.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Dr. Wade Taggert, one of the psychology teachers and counselors, following her. Shay’s heart nosedived. Wade, with his thin goatee, was somewhere around forty years old and seemed always a little edgy, tweaked. At his side was that stupid Missy Albright, the platinum-blond TA with the squeaky voice who had nearly caught Shay in the admin building.

Great.

“What’re you doing in here?” Wade’s voice boomed down the hallway.

Was it the same male voice she’d heard while she’d been hiding, the same guy talking with Missy? Shay wasn’t sure, but now she had no choice but to stop and turn.

“Isn’t this where the restrooms are?” she asked innocently.

Missy’s eyes narrowed.

“I mean, why are you in this building?” Wade explained. “There are restrooms in the rec hall, and that’s where everyone’s supposed to be at this hour.”

Except you two, Shay thought, but held her tongue. She decided to go with confusion rather than say something that might land h

er in trouble. “Well, I thought so, but I couldn’t find one, and I knew there was one here, because I’d used it the first day when I was being registered. I really had to go, so …” She left the rest for their imagination and tried to look sheepish and flustered.

Missy obviously wasn’t buying it. “Really?” she mocked. “There’s a set of bathrooms just down the hallway from the conversation pit. You must’ve walked right past them on your way out.” God, her voice was grating.

Shay shrugged as if she knew she’d been an idiot. “I didn’t.”

“Well, now you know. Come along.” Wade was glowering at her as if he didn’t know what to believe. Beneath his goatee, his lips flattened over his teeth in irritation. “Didn’t your pod leader assign you an escort?”

“Yeah,” she said, thinking of Ethan Slade. “But, you know, he’s a guy.” If only she could blush! That would help. Instead she tried to appear uncomfortable, staring down at the floor. She hoped this was all worth it, that Jules would show up.

As Wade reached for the door, Shay saw movement from the corner of her eye. She turned just as “Father Jake” appeared from the shadows, walking rapidly, long strides moving him along the breezeway toward the admin building. “Is anything wrong?” he asked, quickly sizing up the situation as Wade opened the door.

“Miss Stillman apparently got lost.”

“Easy to do.” Father Jake didn’t appear worried.

“She couldn’t find the restroom,” Missy supplied, her littlegirl voice disbelieving as she rained one of her I’m-just-so-darned-cute smiles on the handsome preacher.

“But she found one. So we’re all okay?” Father Jake said with an easy smile. “Right?”

“Right.” Shaylee couldn’t help liking him a bit.

Father Jake grinned. “Good, good. Then you’d better join the others.”

“Let’s go.” Taggert’s eyes had slitted. He held the door open, and the girls passed through.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Father Jake said, then continued walking swiftly toward the chapel. Shay wanted to follow him, the preacher in jeans and a thick down jacket. He, at least, seemed real.

During the walk along the breezeway, Missy sent Shay a withering I’ve-got-your-number look, but Shaylee ignored it and opened the door to the rec hall. Inside, she walked briskly along the short corridor, past the clearly marked restrooms, and into the wide expanse of the common area.

Kids were studying and talking, and Banjo was fiddling around on her guitar while a few others from their pod listened.

Ethan was flopped in a worn chair, while Lucy Yang sat next to Banjo in the same grouping of rust-colored furniture. Lucy was one of the few people Shay liked here at the academy. Obviously smart, Lucy was as unbending as steel. She still had the tough-girl thing going with her spiked hair, untrusting eyes, and hints of the irreverent attitude that had forced her to the academy.

Thank God not everyone had been converted to freakin’ robots. Shay cast a casual glance at Nona, who leaned over her open book to chat with Maeve and Nell. Despite the differences in their looks, those three tried to be cookie cutters of each other with similar clothes, hair, and attitudes. The three girls glanced up at Shay as she walked past. When Shay returned the stare, Nona and Nell looked away, but Maeve sent Shay the same frosty glare she’d been giving her since her arrival.

When he caught sight of Shay being escorted across the cavernous room, Ethan straightened and bolted out of the chair. “Hey! I was just starting to wonder about you.”