Caroline

Ains and Vanessa were lounging outside the school gates when I walked into school the next day. I tried to curl my mouth into a convincing smile, but the nerves swirling in my stomach only allowed me to go halfway before I gave up. Ains gave me a sympathetic look before he grabbed my hand, pulling me against him and wrapping me in his arms.

"You okay?" He breathed in my ear.

"No," I whimpered. I pulled back so I could see his face. "But I kind of have to be, don't I?"

"That's my girl. Always so brave and strong." he said, and I smiled shyly, looking down.

Vanessa wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Oh, please. Ex-boyfriends are easy. It's only when KORPS gets involved when shit gets serious."

I laughed, turning to look at her. "Are you okay? It is your boyfriend who my ex-boyfriend is replacing."

Vanessa sighed but then smirked, throwing my words back at me as she said, "I kind of have to be, don't I?"

I poked her in the side. "Shut up, Collen."

Note to self, don't ride MI9 elevators when it feels like bats have taken up residence in your stomach. It makes things three hundred percent worse.

When Ains, Vanessa and I walked into HQ, I looked around, but Jase was nowhere to be seen.

"So where is he?" Ains asked, his voice cold, even as his fingers slipped between mine.

"Jasiah's dealing with some stuff with the headmaster. He should be down soon," Oscar explained, as we all gathered around the table. Oscar turned to me, his mouth curling into a faint smile although his eyes were sympathetic. "I heard you were less than enthusiastic when you discovered who your new teammate is."

"Stark's an idiot if he thinks him being here is going to make things easier," I said. Oscar opened his mouth to say something in reply, but then the lift opened, revealing a guy with dark brown hair. He looked about seventeen and he had warm brown eyes, a colour more similar to Vanessa's than Ains'. He had lightly tanned skin and a soft mouth. He was attractive, but in a different way to Ains. Ains was attractive in a more mature way, where this guy was hot in a boyish way.

"Team," Oscar said from behind me. "Meet your new teammate, Jasiah Collins."

Grinning, Jase stepped out of the lift. His eyes swept his surroundings quickly, first taking in the base, then Vanessa, and Oscar before his eyes turned to me and Ains, standing close together.

"Caroline Morgan," Jase said, and his voice deeper than I remembered. Last time I'd seen him, puberty hadn't been finished with him, and his voice would sometimes go higher. Dan used to call him Siren Boy.

Jase walked forward until he was standing only a few feet away from me and Ains, and Ains stiffened at my side as Jase asked, "Did you miss me?"

"No," I said, and lunged forward, pulling my arm back and punching him squarely in the face. I only got the one in before strong hands grabbed me, yanking me back and away from Jase. I didn't bother struggling, I just watched as Jase's hand flew to his face, his eyes following me as I was dragged backwards.

"Get her out of here," Oscar ordered, and I was dragged out and into the training room. As soon as the door shut, Ains turned to face me. "What was that?"

I gaped at him. I couldn't believe this. Surely him, of all people, would take my side on this, especially after hearing about what Jase had done. "Are you serious?"

Ains groaned quietly, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Violence isn't the answer."

I rolled my eyes. "I thought the whole point of my career was that violence is the answer."

"Care, for the love of God, I get that he hurt you, okay? I get it. But it was you who told me not to – "

"All I did was punch him!" I protested. "I didn't – " I broke off as the door opened and Oscar walked in, his blue eyes full of annoyance.

"Would one of you like to tell me," Oscar said, as I turned away, throwing my hands up, "what the hell that was?"

I kept my mouth shut as Ains told Oscar everything I'd told him about Jase. I figured that I was going to be lucky to get off with just a suspension. We were trained to fight, but it was against protocol to assault other agents unprovoked.

"In light of recent events, I'm going to give you pardon, Caroline," Oscar said. "It's been stressful on all of you, but you especially, since Camden died."

I turned. "You're not suspending me?"

Oscar raised an eyebrow. "Do you want a suspension?"

"Not particularly, no," I told him flippantly.

Ains glanced across at me and then looked back at Oscar. "It's going to be a while before Caroline can go on a mission with him. We – "

He broke off as the door swung open, revealing Vanessa standing in the doorway. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Jase's story differs from yours," Vanessa said, and she looked apologetic, like she wished that it didn't.

"How?" Ains demanded. "How could it possibly – "

Vanessa bit her lip. "If you can refrain from attacking him, maybe you should go and talk to him, Caroline. If that's okay with you, Oscar," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Oscar glanced from Vanessa, to me, Ains, before looking back at Vanessa. "Alright. But make sure you're all in the room." He glanced over his shoulder at me. "If you're comfortable with that?"

Reluctantly I nodded.

Jase looked up as I walked in, Ains beside me. The look in his brown eyes as he regarded Ains was one I – unfortunately – recognised from when I'd been dating him. It was a look he'd used to warn other guys away from me, and it made me want to lunge at him and slam my fist into his nose again. It was Ains who held the right to that look, not him.

Ains tightened his jaw and slipped his fingers between mine. Jase's expression darkened and then he looked to me, his expression changing to something similar to how Ains regarded me, although it wasn't quite the same. The eyes weren't quite as dark a brown as Ains', and his eyes weren't filled with love so much as this odd look of wistful, almost worship. It made me uncomfortable more than anything else.

"Jasiah," I said, squeezing Ains' fingers.

The kicked puppy look disappeared from Jase expression and he grinned at me, his mouth curling in that way that used to make my heart thump irregularly in my chest and kiss him hard. Instead, it gave me an irregularly strong urge to punch him in the throat. In truth, it scared me. It terrified me that he could affect my emotions like this – that only a simple grin made me become so angry and violent. This wasn't who I was. This wasn't even someone I wanted to be.

"You've only ever called me that once, Caroline Morgan," Jase said, and Ains snorted quietly. Despite what he'd said, I knew he was on my side with this. He was always on my side.

"Yeah, well, get used to it," I snapped, glaring. "We're not friends."

Jase's mouth curled. "More?"

"I wouldn't, Jase," Vanessa said from her spot against the wall. "Caroline can be a real bitch when she wants to."

I bit back a retort, along with another urge to punch him as his grin widened and he looked me up and down, Ains' fingers tightening against mine as Jase said, "Oh, I know all about Caroline's bitchiness."

I glared, stepping away from Ains' side. "I would watch your mouth if I was you, Jasiah."

The grin dropped from Jase's mouth and he pouted slightly. "You used to be more fun, Care. What happened to you?"

"I grew up," I told him, pulling up a chair and sitting down directly in front of him. "And don't call me 'Care'. Only my friends can call me that."

"We were more than that, once," Jase said.

"Yeah, once," I snapped. "Before you . . ." I trailed off.

"Before I what?" Jase asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It doesn't matter," I said sharply. "It was a long time ago and it's long over now."

"I assume you're talking about the instance where I cheated," Jase remarked, sarcasm dripping from the last word.

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Why should I tell you?" Jase snapped.

"Tell her," Vanessa said, shaking her head. "Just tell her, Jase."

Jase looked from Vanessa to me, sighing. "Dan was the one who told you?"

I nodded, frowning at him as Jase sighed, raking his hands through his hair so that it stuck up at every imaginable angle. He clasped his hands between his knees and squared his shoulders. "He did . . . He did walk in on something between me and Maliah, but not what you think."

At the mention of my ex-best friend, Ains and Vanessa both looked sharply at me. They both knew who Maliah was and they both knew the story behind why Jase and I broke up, but I'd never said the name of the girl Dan caught Jase with. They'd both obviously just assumed Maliah and I grew apart after I was recruited to MI High.

I could feel their eyes on me and I felt the urge to brush my hand across the back of my neck, but I resisted, instead focusing all of my attention on Jase. "What did he walk in on?"

"Her trying to kiss me," Jase replied. "I pushed her away after Dan walked off." He paused. "I know you have no reason to trust me, Car – Caroline, but I admit it – back then, I was a lot of things. I was a druggie, I was an arsehole. I was a bad brother, a horrible son, and the boyfriend from hell, but there was one thing I was not. I was no cheater."

"Answer me this then," I said. "What the hell were you and Maliah doing at my house on – "

"We weren't," Jase interrupted. "We were at school. I wanted to organise something for your birthday." He hesitated before he fished something out of his pocket – a small box – and held it out to me. "That reminds me. I know this is a couple of weeks early, or a couple of years late, depending on how you want to look at it, but . . . happy birthday, Caroline Morgan."

Tentatively, I took the box from him and sat back. I pressed my lips together and slowly opened the box. Inside sat a necklace, just a simple silver oval locket with a design of birds engraved into it.

"What – " I looked at Jase. He was smiling, but it was softer, not as sarcastic as it was before.

"I bought it before you ended things," Jase explained. "I was going to give it to you for your birthday, but . . ."

"I – " Shaking my head, I stood, dropping the box onto the chair as I walked out. I could feel Ains and Vanessa staring at me as I walked out, and Oscar looked up as the door shut behind me. He opened his mouth, but I turned away, pulling up a chair and falling back into it and staring up at the ceiling.

Oscar started to speak, but I got in first. "Please don't. I don't want to talk about it."