Free Talented by Sophie Davis Page B

didn’t want him to that think I expected special treatment because of Mac or Donavon or whoever else.
    “It wasn’t a big deal; after all, being practically related to the Director does have its perks,” he winked at me to let me know he was, at least partially, joking.
    I smiled, “I’ll see you later.”
    I jumped out and watched as he took off back to the city, to join Erik for the evening.

 
    Chapter Eleven
     
    I didn’t go back to my own cabin; instead I went directly to Donavon’s.  I raised my hand to knock, just as the door opened.
    “Hey, you,” Donavon smiled as he leaned down to kiss me softly.  “You smell like the ocean.” He buried his face in my mass of dark brown curls, and inhaled deeply.
    “Henri took me out to the beach after we roamed around Washington,” I smiled.
    “You okay?”  Donavon had seen my sand collection; it was one of the few things Mac had managed to rescue from the hotel room where he found me.
    “Yeah, I’m good,” I replied honestly.  “You look nice,” I commented as I pulled back from his embrace, really loo king at him for the first time.
    “You think?  Would you come home with me if y ou met me at a bar?” he teased.
    “Absolutely.   But if you stay here, you don’t even have to spend money for me to go home with you,” I teased.
    “Tomorrow I’m all yours.  Tonight, I promised Harris an d Arden a little team bonding.”
    “I see,” now it was my turn to be irritated.
    “Are you mad?”
    “No, of course not,” I lied.
    “You’re lying,” he accused.
    “I’m not mad.  I just don’t like that I have to stay here while you get to go have fun,” I tried to smile.
    “You hate going out with groups of people anyway,” he reasoned.
    “But I like being with you,” my v oice was just short of a whine.
    “And I love being with you,” he said softly.  “And all day tomorrow t hat’s what I plan to do, okay?”
    “Okay,” I whispered.
    “Don’t worry, Tal, I’ll make sure he behaves,” Harris said sticking his sandy blonde head out through the door.
    “I’m not worried, Harris,” I said, pulling myself together.
    “Good, ‘cause we have to go.  Come on, Donavon, kiss her goodbye so we can leave.”
    “Start w alking Harris.  I’ll catch up.”
    Harris squeezed my arm as he walked by and I gave him a nod goodbye.
    “ I love you. ”  Donavon said, as he bent down to kiss me again.
    “ I know.”
    I headed back to my cabin in a far worse mood than when I’d left that morning.  The bottom of my dress was still damp from the ocean, so the first thing I needed to do was change.  With Donavon gone, I didn’t really have any friends around and there wouldn’t be any messages on my communicator.  Our communicators were actually portable, but I never took mine anywhere, since no one besides Donavon and Mac ever called me.  Unlike my dorm room at school, that was equipped with all of the latest technology Toxic had to offer, the cabins at Elite Headquarters were barebones.  The idea was that, as Hunters, we spent a lot of time in less-than-ideal situations, and we needed to be accustomed to boredom.
    As I crossed the Hunters’ Village, I noticed tall, gangly girl, with unnaturally bright red hair, coming out of the woods.  Her eyes were large and bright green, and the oversized yellow plastic glasses that she wore seemed to magnify her eyes giving her a bug-eyed appearance.  The Agency performs corrective eye surgery on all students, so I knew the glasses were purely decorative.
    “Hi!” she greeted me with an enthusiastic wave.
    I glanced around, unsure she was actually speaking to me.  I was the only other person in the vicinity.  I returned her wave uneasily and waited for her to get closer.
    “I’m Penelope.  Well, Penny actually.  Everybody calls me Penny ,” she said, sounding a little out of breath.
    “Talia,” I replied cautiously , not sure what to make of her.
    “You’re a P ledge right?  A