The Secret by Taryn A. Taylor

other gun…and then I heard a shot, and…”
    Jake stilled, ceasing his pacing a few feet in front of me.
    The familiar anger surged through me. “I don’t know. I can’t remember. Everything seemed to blur and go into slow motion. I must have blacked out because, when I woke up, Dr. Luth was gone…and my dad was covered in blood.”
    Jake stared at me. “So you shot him?”
    I shuddered. “No. No, I didn’t shoot him. I never pulled a trigger. It…it had to have been Dr. Luth.” Tears started down my face and I wiped them away angrily.
    Compassion flooded Jake’s expression and he reached for me again, pulling me back to him. “Shh—it’s okay, Lanie.” He rocked me gently back and forth. “It’s a miracle you escaped. But…how did you find Rob?”
    I thought of Rob’s body, curled into a ball on that mattress. “I started checking the rooms next to mine. He was down the hall.” My heart ached at the memory.
    “And…then?” Jake’s arms tightened around me.
    “We ran. We ran from The Foundation. I called one of my father’s oldest friends.”
    Pulling away, Jake was intense. “How do you know you can trust him?”
    “Stewart? He and my dad served in the war together. He was my godfather. We were really close to him when I was little. He didn’t know about The Foundation or anything.”
    Jake considered this, his jaw clenching. “How long did Dr. Luth hold you, Lanie?”
    I dropped my head, feeling ashamed that I hadn’t been able to get away from The Foundation sooner, and shrugged. “Seven months.”
    I could feel the anger coming off of Jake in waves. “I knew he was behind everything.”
    I frowned. “What do you mean?”
    Walking over to my dad’s coin on the floor, he picked it up. “Lanie, we need your help. We need our powers back.”
    I was confused. “There’s nothing I can do, Jake.”
    Jake took both of my hands into his, the coin pressing into my left palm, and his eyes turned a dangerous grey. “You can help us, Lanie. You can help us draw out Luth.”

Episode 8: The Chosen One

    “I think you should help them.” Rob turned down the music in his Jeep, pulling up to the curb next to the high school.
    Mondays. I hated Mondays, and now Rob was starting this fight again? “I’ve told you—all weekend—I’m not helping them.”
    Turning resigned eyes at me, he shrugged. “I think you have an obligation to help them. Their powers mysteriously disappeared on the same night they tried to save you. And…your powers became stronger. Don’t you find that to be a little too coincidental?”
    I tried not to start a blinking spree. “Obligation? What are you talking about? I had nothing to do with it—I mean, I didn’t mean to, even if I did.” Folding my arms, I tried not to seethe. “And they are normal !” I threw my hands in the air, hitting the top of his Jeep in punctuation. “We’ve been searching for the last year and a half for a way for me to be normal.” I pursed my lips and gave an exaggerated shake of my head. “No! No way. I am not going to be the bait for Dr. Luth. And you know that’s what would have to happen.”
    Rob tilted his head down and looked at me over the edge of his glasses. It was exactly what my father used to do, and a jolt of pain went through my chest, thinking of his possible betrayal. “I don’t want you to be used as bait. ” Rob cleared his throat, then looked away. “But we could tell them about mom. We could tell them what she said…” His voice trailed off.
    “What?” I gave Rob the best ‘are you kidding me’ look I could muster. “We cannot tell anyone about mom. That would be a mistake and you know it.” I poked him in the shoulder.
    He pulled away from me, but sighed.
    I sighed back, annoyed that we were even discussing this. “Plus, I don’t think mom telling us we need to find ‘the book’ could be considered information.”
    He pointed at me. “She’s reliable. She told us about the Equinox,