Rogue (Exceptional) by Jess Petosa

as bossy as the Guards,” Cody said quietly behind Ally.
           When she let out a small laugh, she could feel Max boring a hole into the side of her head with his glare.
           Max led the way into the building in front of them, which smelled damp and musty.  They entered into a large foyer with a desk off to the right where a short Ordinary girl sat.  A long, hall full of doors stretched in front of them, lit by lights on the wall.  That meant that this town had electricity, even though they were off the City’s radar.  Heath motioned for them to follow and led them into the first door on the right, which turned out to be an office.  It looked like a closet compared to the office Aden had held in the City, but Ally could tell the Ordinary man took pride in it.
           Books were stacked neatly on a bookshelf against the wall, and Ally resisted the urge to step over to them and run her fingers along the binding.  Were the settlements the only places void of them? Uncle Heath’s desk was “L” shaped and held several stacks of paper, a few more books, and what Ally recognized as a computer. There were standing frames on his desk with pictures of people in them.  Luke’s family had some framed artwork on the wall in their home, but never pictures of real people.  Ally studied one from across the room, which was simple with her Exceptional eyesight, and thought she recognized a much younger Max.
           “I don’t have enough seats for all of you, but if we can move through this meeting without interruptions, we won’t be in here for long.” Heath motioned to the four chairs crammed along the wall before he took a seat behind his desk.
           Willow automatically received a chair, as well as Cody and Sabine.  Ally and Stosh argued for a full thirty seconds about who should sit before Max shoved Ally down into the chair.  She stared at him in stunned silence but he had already turned to lean against the wall, his hands tucked into his pockets.
           “Are you here to spy on us?” Heath leaned forward in his chair, his forearms resting on the desk.
           So he was going to get right to it, it seemed.
           “No,” Ally responded.  “We left the City on our own about a month ago.”
           “You escaped the City?” Heath seemed interested now, leaning forward even more. “How?”
           “Is that really important right now?” Ally asked. “We aren’t here to hurt you, we just want to get to the southern City.  We have some friends headed there.  Maybe you’ve seen them?”
           Heath held up his hand to stop her. “I think you’ll find that I’m going to have a lot of questions to ask you, and I’m going to need the majority of them answered.  If you want to stay in this town, we’ll need your cooperation.  You saw how the others out there acted.  Having one of your kind around is going to unsettle them. I should send you out the door and on your way, let you fend for yourself in the Wilderness.”
           “ My kind?” Ally laughed.  Had she been this put off by Exceptionals when she was an Ordinary? No, definitely not.  “I used to be one of your kind not too long ago, and I don’t remember being this arrogant. Maybe we should leave.”
           Both Heath and Max appeared shocked at this information, as they should be.  Ally could see Max move nervously beside her but it was Heath’s expression she was watching.  His eyes grew wide and the color drained from his face.
           “You what?”
           “Didn’t you hear her?” Stosh leaned forward.
           Heath brought his hands up and rubbed them along his cheeks. “That isn’t possible.”
           “Oh, but it is.” Ally smirked. “And I can tell you how.”
           “Are you contagious?” Max asked from beside her.
           Ally raised an eyebrow at him. “No. No one has been contagious in