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Hunter shoved to his feet and went to the doorway.
His father was sitting at his desk, two files on the surface in front of him. Both were closed.
“First,” he said, “I’m not happy about the spying.”
“But you never tell me anything! I’m sixteen years old, and—”
“And you’re acting like a teenager. Not yet, Hunter.”
“I can handle it.”
“Like you handled those boys at school?”
Hunter flinched. “I don’t know what that means. What do you want me to do, break their necks? Get expelled? They’re just playing stupid pranks. I can’t exactly kill them for that.”
“What if I told you they would grow up to be criminals? What about then?”
“What about then?” Hunter glanced at Uncle Jay, but there were no answers there. His uncle was leaning against the doorjamb, his arms folded.
His father leaned forward in the desk chair, bracing his arms on his knees. “If I told you they would grow up to be criminals, that they could potentially hurt people, could you kill them then?”
Hunter licked his lips. This felt like a trick question, and the wrong answer wouldn’t be something he could take back.
His father didn’t wait long. He shook his head. “You’re not ready.”
“I’m not ready because I didn’t say I could kill my classmates? You’re not making any sense. What does this have to do with one stupid surveillance job?”
“Sometimes watching leads to action.”
Hunter felt like the right answers kept springing up in front of him; he just couldn’t grasp them quickly enough. “Fine. If it comes to that, I’ll stand back and let you guys do the action part.”
“That’s not how this works. If you’re there, you’re there. Nothing halfway, right?”
Hunter nodded. “Right.”
“This is a different surveillance case.” His father flipped open the file folder. “These aren’t full-blown Elementals causing major problems.”
“Then . . . what are they?” Hunter reached for the file, but his dad snapped it closed.
“They’re teenagers. Your age. They haven’t come into their full powers yet.”
“So it’s safer—”
“No.” His dad laughed, but there wasn’t any humor about it. “There’s nothing safe about this one. Not from what I’m reading. These could be four of the most powerful Elementals to surface in years.”
“What have they done?”
“I don’t know yet. There are conflicting reports about deaths and threats and . . . hell, I can barely wrap my head around what’s going on in that town. But really, Hunter, it’s not about what they’ve done.”
so, she swallowed when the metal clicked.
“We don’t have to do this,” he said.
“No. It’s fine. It’s good.”
Hunter made sure the safety was on, then stood. He showed her all the parts to the gun, going over the safety features, glad for his father’s and uncle’s thorough instruction, because he could talk about this stuff in his sleep. He paid close attention when she started to take the gun from him, and it was a good thing, because she almost pointed it directly at him.
“Downrange only,” he said, holding her wrist. “Always pay attention where you’re pointing it.”
