“Thank god, no. I’m based in Minneapolis. Williams and Callie and I are part of the Upper Midwest group. Graham too. He was in charge of it, actually. I’m sure that’s going to change, now.”

“Oh. Does that mean you’ll head back there soon?”

“I sure hope so.” She must’ve seen the expression on my face. “I’m sorry, Beth, but I couldn’t stay here with you if I wanted to. And god, I don’t want to. I’m sorry.”

“I know. I understand.”

I did understand, but I felt very alone. I liked Kara, but liking someone only mattered so much. Real friendships must be hard when any of us could be sent anywhere, anytime, and where fear was such a dominant force. Another part of Cordus’s control system, maybe.

“You’ll get to know the New York people. They’re good folks. Maybe you’ll get to hang out with Koji.”

She gave a half-hearted whistle as tribute to his hotness.

“Yeah, maybe so,” I said, and tried to smile.

Gwen knocked on my door at 6:00 the next morning. She suggested I shower and dress, then come with her to breakfast in the dining room at 7:00.

The staff had been bringing my meals on a tray, but I guess that was too good to last.

Noting that Gwen hadn’t been wearing black, I put on a pair of beige slacks and a white knit top. Pairing them with the black heels wouldn’t have been my first choice, but beggars couldn’t be choosers — it was either that or boots.

Breakfast was served in a huge dining room on the second floor. It took up a corner of the house. Tall windows looked out over the front lawn, which swept down and away to the distant tree line. When I stopped by a window and commented on how big the property looked, Gwen said it was over a thousand acres and had been parkland when Cordus took it over in the 1970s.

“He took over a park? How?”

Gwen looked a little uncomfortable. “Lord Cordus is gifted at influencing others.”

I’d seen that gift firsthand with the green man, but that was just one mind. I remembered that it was indelicate to ask about Seconds’ abilities. Still, how was I going to find out about these things if I didn’t ask?

“But millions of people live around here. Can he really influence that many people?”

“He doesn’t have to. A few key people needed influencing. I think they believe it’s a top-secret military installation. Everyone else still thinks it’s a park. But if they decide to come hiking here, they end up changing their minds at the last minute. If they notice cars coming and going, they forget about it. The roads and buildings don’t show up on satellite photos. The barrier around the property takes care of that sort of thing.”