Free The Syndicate (Timewaves Book 1) by Sophie Davis

tangles, and ran a bit of coconut oil over them to smooth out the frizz. After applying a layer of suncream to my face, I was good to go. I rarely wore makeup while on the island, so this face was my norm. Gaige would just have to deal with looking at it.
    Five minutes later, dressed in pink shorts, a navy tee with white writing that advertised some long-defunct clothing brand, and leather flip-flops, I went to join Gaige in the living room. Except, he wasn’t there.
    Loud laughter and the scent of strong, Ethiopian coffee drifted from Molly’s open doorway. I was still groggy from the lack of sleep and unpleasant awakening, but my yearning for caffeine led me to her bedroom, despite being concerned about what I might find there.
    Propped up by a bevy of pillows, Molly was sitting in the middle of the bed with her patchwork quilt drawn up over her legs. Gaige perched on the side of the mattress, his body angled so that he was facing her with his back to the door. He was talking animatedly with his hands, making sweeping gestures that looked suspiciously like he was recreating the scene from earlier in my bedroom, when he’d tried to make me a real girl.
    “Hey, roomie,” Molly called when she noticed me, waving her fingers in greeting.
    “How’re you feeling?” I asked, pushing away from the doorframe and crossing to stand beside the bed. “You look much better.”
    She did, too. Her color had improved drastically overnight. The visible burns on her arms appeared far less severe, as well. The prima within our tattoos had incredible healing powers, and was more effective than any of the new-age medications developed by the syndicate’s med teams.
    “I feel a million times better, actually,” she said with a tired smile.
    “ Prima power!” Gaige cried, shooting his fist up in the air.
    He really needed to stop watching cartoons from the 20 th century.
    “I was starving when I woke up, though,” Molly continued. “Luckily, Gaige was nice enough to bring us breakfast.”
    “Too bad he ate mine,” I said, giving him a pointed look before returning my attention to Molly. “Just take it easy today, okay? Maybe try not to overdo it? It’s only been like twelve hours, your body needs time to heal.”
    She smiled cheekily. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”
    After saying a quick goodbye to Molly, I scooped up my dossier from the coffee table and practically dragged Gaige out the door.
    Our conversation on the walk to the conference center was all business. Gaige and I reviewed the plan we’d made the night before. Despite their reputations for being tough, I felt confident the historians would be impressed by what we’d learned.
    Gaige held the door for me when we reached the conference center, then followed me inside. With a wave to the desk attendant, we crossed the large lobby and headed for the library, which made up the entire west wing of the center. The four-story depository held the syndicate’s massive book collection, as well as the historical archives. Every time I entered the rotunda, I was awed by the impressive array that lined the shelves.
    By the mid-twenty-second century, the depletion of the earth’s trees had led to the digitization of books, phasing out the printed word almost entirely. And when the world’s technological networks crashed during the Epic War, many of time’s greatest works were lost to the ether. Cyrus believed this loss such a great tragedy that he offered a credit bonus to runners who brought back bounds books from their runs. Now the island library had the most impressive collection of titles, both print and digital, on the planet.
    Given the vast amount of knowledge located in the Atlic Syndicate’s library, it was only fitting that the classrooms for our seminars were located there, as well. Ringing the upper floors of the library’s rotunda, each historian had a dedicated space to brief us on everything we needed to know about the times and places we’d be visiting. Most of