Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) by Siana Wineland Page A

where the feral colony is. She’s too strong to let fall into their hands.”
    Christoff caught Nickolas’s eyes and raised an eyebrow, calling attention to his brother’s unusual behavior, but Nickolas just glared at him, telling him silently to shut up. He smiled, relieved at something so normal as annoying his older brother, and sat back to watch Jules swivel around to grab the new printout he was receiving. The comm tech handed the sheaf to Nickolas.
    His brother shuffled through them for a moment. “They’ve given us more to go on to track her now. Her name is Jessica Reuther. She’s twenty-five years old. Weighs about one hundred twenty-five pounds, five foot one inch tall. Slender, hazel eyes and chestnut hair. Worn long. She works in a bookstore at the mall a couple of miles from here. Easy biking distance…so I think that’s the direction we should take; she’ll likely stay to familiar paths. They faxed over her driver’s license.”
    Christoff took the page and examined her picture. The dry description the Facility supplied didn’t do the woman justice. There was intelligence in her eyes that even the grainy bureaucratic photo couldn’t hide. Handing it on, Christoff watched Nickolas’s reaction as the other two looked at it. It was subtle. Chris didn’t think Flynn or Jules noticed anything different in his brother’s behavior; he probably wouldn’t either if he wasn’t already watching so closely. Something about their quarry was getting to him.
    “Nickolas,” Jules said. “The Facility sent out five more teams last night just in case; they’re waiting for a destination.”
    “Let’s start with the mall. Regardless of how erratic she’s responding, her thinking is still going to be compromised. She’ll find it easier to stick to familiar routes.”
    “Nickolas, her bike was bright red. It shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Flynn called out from the driver’s seat.
     

     
    Jessica merged her bike into the stream of morning traffic and smiled tiredly at the sun that rose over the water in the distance. What a beautiful morning. I love sunrises. Especially in the Northwest. Almost on autopilot, she jockeyed with the cars on the road, taking a route that had become second nature to her over the years she’d worked in the area. Two cars honked crankily at her as she dodged between them. She waved then veered off into the parking lot of the mall.
    Wheeling up to the bike rack, she dismounted and hauled the bike in, securing it. A quick scan of the nearly deserted lot showed no sign of the Hunters in the vicinity. “Good, maybe I’m still one step ahead of them.”
    Jessica stretched her injured leg a moment before she crossed the two lanes of disabled parking that separated the bike rack from the door and entered the mall. Too many people. Her skin crawled with their nearness. There shouldn’t be that many here yet. We only opened a half hour ago. She kept her face turned away from the people she passed, hitched her backpack higher up her shoulder, and worked to avoid the familiar faces. Her regular shift started later in the day, so an early sighting could cause questions.
    The effort it took to keep her mind from wandering sapped her already tested energy reserves. She slid around a knot of window admirers and entered the food court, the far end of which housed the location of the nearest ATM. Her stomach growled aggressively at the scents of cooking food, and Jessica had to pause, grinding her teeth at the sudden nausea that accompanied the hunger pains. She looked across the gauntlet of food venders and saw the machine she needed.
    Averting her face from the food handlers who knew her by sight, she walked over to the ATM and breathed a shaky sigh of relief for making it this far. Going through the motions, she punched in her pin number.
    “I’m sorry, access to this account has been denied. Please try again later,” The screen stated, refusing the transaction.
    Jessica stared at