Chapter One

Zylar Brennen stared out the tinted glass window of his seventh-floor office, sipping a coffee as he watched the rioters below. He turned to his desk and set the cup on a coaster, careful of the smooth finish of the cherry wood. The cherry matched the dark red walls and carpet of the office, which was large enough to fit a sofa and bookshelf and still have room for much more.

A knock at the door signaled the arrival of the day's mail. "Come in," Zylar said, leaning on the desk.

"Good afternoon, Zylar," said the woman who entered. She was twice as old as Zylar, and twice as experienced in his eyes. She inclined her head as she closed the door behind her. In her other hand was a pile of envelopes.

"What do we have today?" Zylar mused as he took the stack from her. Quickly, he flipped through the gold and manila envelopes, noting which ones needed the most attention from the department they came from.

"Did you have a good lunch, sir?" the woman asked.

Zylar smiled. "I did. And you?"

"My break begins in a few minutes, sir," she replied as she again inclined her head.

"You're dismissed early." Zylar heard the distance in his voice as he stopped on a letter-size envelope with handwriting across the front. He did not hear the door close as he sank into the leather chair behind the desk and dropped the remainder of the letters onto the desk calendar covered with scribbled notes.

Carefully, he tore the end off the envelope and unfolded the letter. It was from Beth's Candle, a tiny town in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky--and coincidentally, his birthplace and childhood home.

As he read over the letter, he picked up the phone, sparing a glance to dial the correct extension. "May I speak to Chancellor Pierce, please?" he asked absently when a receptionist answered.

"One moment, please," came the reply. Zylar set the phone on the cradle, pressing the speakerphone button as he did so.

"Gainer Pierce speaking," came a male voice from the other line.

"Hey, Gainer," Zylar said. He finished the letter and began at the top again.

Gainer laughed. "I just had lunch with you, Zylar. What could you want already?"

"I got a letter," Zylar replied. He propped his feet up on the desk and pushed the chair closer to the phone. "From Beth's Candle. They say they're in trouble."

"Is there a rain cloud overhead?" Zylar knew the coffee had not been a good idea for Gainer, and shook his head as he sensed the tension fighting to be released in Gainer's body.

He smiled. "No, but if you want that metaphor, its flame has been abducted, three of its children. Says here that the town has a pretty good idea of where the children are, but have no way of getting to them."

"BC wants to stay hidden, right?" Gainer asked, his tone serious now. "Do you want me to send some people down there?"

"I want to go down there," Zylar said, folding the letter as he took his feet off the desk. He looked through the rest of the mail more closely. "I don't want just anyone to go."

"Zylar, you know that would be a bad idea--"

"I don't care, Gainer." Zylar began a pile of important envelopes. "I was born there. My family's old house is there. It's as much for my sake as for the children's. You would be coming with me, you know. I wouldn't go without you."

"Don't I feel special?" Gainer sighed. "Okay, Zylar. I think we both need a vacation anyway."

Zylar smiled. "I know, right? I think we can get there by tonight if we leave at three. Is that long enough for you to get your work done?"

"Not if my workload keeps replenishing itself from the deep, dark depths of someone's twisted idea of tree killing. I'll have my assistant work on it. Are you bringing Wynn? Tell me you're smart enough to do that."

"Wynn and whoever you want to bring for yourself. Get a few of your other agents, too. Good ones, preferably." Zylar set aside a letter from his mother that he had missed before. "We'll try to be back in a week."

"Sounds good. Is that all you would like, sir?"

Zylar tossed a heavy envelope at the phone, hearing Gainer laugh as it hit. "Yes, Chancellor. Now get off my phone." He could never be threatening; he had found that out long ago. Gainer hung up anyway and Zylar stood to retrieve the envelope from the floor.

--

Jenna Harlere sat nervously at the long oak table, her hands fumbling out of sight. She felt hot beneath the florescent lights, adding to her apprehension. At the head of the table sat her superior officer, Samuel Podgorica, impatiently tapping the eraser of his pencil on the tabletop.

Jenna tried to cheer herself up, to gaze around the room with the awe of someone who had just accomplished their dream. She told herself that she belonged to that group, after completing her training for this position two weeks previous. Since she was a child, she had wanted to be among the ranks of Junhfar, to help her people and be someone who is looked to in times of need.

This was the day the dream would begin--if only her soon-to-be partner would show up.

She looked up at the clock; it was just after one in the afternoon. Maybe he's late getting out of lunch? she thought, just as the door to the room opened.

Special Agent Breydon Raup looked younger than his nineteen years, but when he sat opposite Jenna, she could see every day in his gray eyes. He laid his jacket across his lap and straightened the collar of his shirt, acting as if he was not half an hour late.

"You're late," Podgorica said, narrowing his eyes.

"Hailey refused to let me go," Breydon replied simply.

Jenna sat straighter in the chair, already gaining a bias against Breydon. She should have known someone like him was taken.

Podgorica turned his eyes to the files stacked in front of him. He handed one to Jenna and the other to Breydon, saying, "Jenna, this is Breydon Raup. He will be your partner on this assignment. Breydon, this is Jenna Harlere, your trainee. These files detail the mission you will be departing for when this meeting is over."

Jenna opened the file and looked at the first page. Paper-clipped to a detailed information page was a picture of a high school student Jenna's age, apparently from a driver's license. Her name was Madison Peters, and she had an identical twin sister Morgan--Breydon must have had that file. Both were from a small town in central Pennsylvania called Lock Haven, three hours away from the building near Erie.

"Madison and Morgan Peters come from a family that detached itself from Kyoonyt two generations ago, but they do not know this, and their parents have requested that they do not find out." Podgorica paused briefly. "Their school is one where there is little variety in the way of races, but much variety between social levels. Rumors have been circulating around the school as to who may be from Kyoonyt, and the twins' parents fear that one will be started about their children, and from there violence may result as the twins are both very stubborn people."

Breydon gently bit his thumb as he skimmed the file and flipped a page. "Under cover at a high school?" he questioned. "You're kidding."

Podgorica shook his head. "This is more than undercover, Raup. You need to show Jenna the way things work on the job. This task is a simple one, so you can spend a lot of time teaching."

"How long will this last?"

"A month, at most," Podgorica replied. "Unless something happens, which is unlikely."

"Phone?"

"Yes."

"Visits?"

"No."

Breydon sat up abruptly, slamming the folder on the desk. Jenna lifted her eyes to his disbelieving face. "You want us to be away for a whole month? Hailey barely wanted to let me go for a day. This place is what, three hours from here? I can make a weekend visit if I have to."

"You will stay in Lock Haven for the duration of the job," Podgorica said sternly, staring at Breydon.

"But Hailey's birthd--"

"No, Breydon."

Giving up, Breydon slumped into the chair, eyes focused in the opposite direction. He looked closer to genuine sadness than pouting.

Podgorica turned to Jenna. "You two will be staying in an apartment in Lock Haven, near where the twins live. You will attend school with them--" he slid a class schedule to each of them "--at Central Mountain High School. You will keep an eye on them, but you will not tell them who you are. If anyone asks, you are a brother and sister who just moved into town."

"But won't we both be in the same grade?" Jenna asked. "We couldn't pass ourselves off as twins, too. Wouldn't that be strange?"

"Step-siblings," Podgorica clarified.

"What about our parents?"

"Breydon's father is dead and your mother sent you to Lock Haven to get an education. Your last name will be Phillips, placing you near the twins on an alphabetical class list." He straightened a small stack of papers and slid it into an empty folder. "The rest of the information is in this folder. You may go now."

Breydon stood and slid his jacket over his shoulders, not looking at Podgorica as he took his folder and walked out of the room. Jenna followed behind him.

"Where do we go now?" she asked, trying to match Breydon's pace.

"I'm going to get my stuff from my car, and you can go get your things." He spoke in a deadpan tone, obviously thrilled to be leaving the building. "There is a car waiting for us outside."

"Okay." Jenna stopped and waited for the elevator with him. "So is Hailey your girlfriend?"

"No," Breydon replied after a brief moment. "Why would you think that?"

The elevator doors slid open and the two stepped inside. Breydon pressed the button for the ground floor.

Jenna shrugged. "The way you were talking about her back there, I just thought--"

"The first thing you will learn about this job is that you assume nothing--not about me, not about your charges, not about anyone or anything. It can get you into a shitload of trouble."

"Who is Hailey, then?" Jenna asked as the door opened on an empty landing. She followed Breydon down the hall and out of the building.

"You'll find out eventually. Meet me back here in ten minutes with your things." He went in the opposite direction, to a bench where a young woman with a similar face sat waiting for him.

Jenna walked to her car alone, not thinking about anything. She did not want to think about anything--this was the first time she would be leaving her family for an extended period of time. She thought briefly about her father and mother, awaiting another set of test results from the hospital; and of her brothers, one in college and the other still in high school.

Pulling her rolling suitcase behind her, Jenna made her way back to the building. Breydon sat in a nice car with the woman from before. He stared at the passenger side mirror, and turned away when he saw Jenna coming. Then, he kissed the woman on the cheek before stepping out of the car. The woman drove away.

"The car's over here," Breydon said, pointing to a beaten-up old clunker Jenna was sure her parents had owned at one point.

"Are you sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she pulled the suitcase toward the vehicle. "Was that Hailey?"

Breydon shook his head, staring downward. "What did I tell you about assuming? Now get your shit in the car so we can get going. I'd like to be there before dark."

"It's only a three-hour drive, you know," Jenna reminded him as he opened the trunk. "Can you help me?"

He smiled and turned away, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car. "Hurry up."

Heaving the largest bag into the trunk, Jenna sighed. She threw her duffel bag into the back seat and marveled at the two small suitcases already back there, in addition to the larger one that was already in the trunk.

"How much stuff do you have, anyway?" Jenna climbed into the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt. She took in the scratched interior of the car, so old there was still a cassette player with the radio. The car smelled like mold and hairspray, and she opened the window to get a breath of fresh air.

Beside her, Breydon undid the top few buttons of his shirt, then reached behind the seat into a messenger bag-style backpack and pulled out a gold t-shirt, which he swapped for the one he was wearing with a strange degree of speed.

"What are you doing?" Jenna asked, turning away as he began unbuttoning his slacks.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" he replied. Jenna could feel the car shake as he struggled to get out of his pants. "Potty requires the nicest clothes and I hate them."

"Potty?" Jenna repeated curiously.

"Podgorica in there," he replied. "Hailey calls him Potty. A suitable nickname."

Jenna chanced a glance at him, glad that he had successfully changed into faded jeans. Then she watched in amazement as he produced a belt, three gummy bracelets, an arm sock, gold sneakers, and a leather necklace from the backpack.

When he had placed everything where it belonged, he turned up the radio before Jenna could say anything. Not that she could, after seeing all the articles he had pulled out of the backpack. She wondered if there was anything else in it as Breydon backed out of the parking space.

What followed were three hours of silence, of thoughtful reflection, and of musings about the mission.

--

The private plane was well on its way to Kentucky, a lengthy flight from Junhfar headquarters in Idaho. Gainer Pierce gazed out the window at the passing clouds and the tiny towns and cities below. He loved to fly, unlike Zylar, who sat beside him listening to some loud rock band with his eyes closed.

Gainer had never been to Beth's Candle, and was looking forward to this chance to see where Zylar had grown up. Since the age of eight, Zylar had been his best friend. Both their fathers worked closely in the same positions as they were now: Chancellor of the DEA and High Chancellor of all Kyoonyt.

A stewardess walked down the aisle with a menu, taking orders for dinner. Gainer and Zylar ordered nothing, having filled up on snacks for the first two and a half hours of the trip.

Wynn, one of Zyler's finest agents and usually his bodyguard, approached from the back of the plane and took a seat facing Gainer. "Are you two okay?" he asked, running his fingers through his sandy hair as he closed his tired green eyes. He must have been asleep, Gainer thought, smiling.

"We're fine," he replied. "How's Lopĕte?"

Wynn grimaced, sitting back. "Sick. That's why I came back here."

"I know what you mean." Gainer watched a commercial jet pass below them, trying not to think about Lopĕte. Lopĕte, always uncooperative with airplane flights, was another of Zylar's finest, along to be Gainer's bodyguard.

"We're going to land in about half an hour," Wynn announced after tapping Zylar's knee. "Someone will be waiting there for us. From the airport, it's a two-hour car ride to the city of Wessington, where we will continue on to Beth's Candle."

"BC's really out there, isn't it?" Gainer whistled.

Zylar smiled. "Wait until the hike." He closed his eyes and turned the music player on again.

"The hike?" Gainer exclaimed. "Damn it, Zylar."

Wynn smirked slightly. "I think you'll like it." He had traveled with Zylar to Beth's Candle once before, but that trip had only lasted for a day, five years ago after the death of Zylar's father. "It really is a beautiful landscape out there. You can sort of see it below, but there's nothing like seeing it up close." He gazed out the window.

Gainer did the same, staring down through the wispy clouds at the green mountains and hills below.