The Gathering by K. E. Ganshert

don’t want to understand his motives. I don’t want to understand him, period. All I want is to make sure the people I care about are safe. I glance at Rosie and Jillian and the knot in my stomach pulls tighter.
    Voices rise.
    Accusations are thrown.
    Fear is his weapon of choice. He uses it to sow seeds of division, doubt, mistrust. We can’t let him get a foothold.
    Whoever he is, I think he already has.
    Nobody agrees on anything. Not on Clive or what to do with Gabe’s body or who to trust or where we’ll go or what we’ll do once we get there. It’s all arguments and scowls and passionate objections. Hurt feelings and panic escalate. By the time Cap finally rolls into the room, poor Rosie’s face has turned the color of chalk and judging by his expression, he’s heard the gist of the conversation—probably from all the way down the hall.
    “This is not how wars are won.”
    Everyone goes silent.
    “Emotions cannot steer our decisions. We make them based on fact.”
    “Here’s a fact,” Danielle says. While everyone else wears the signs of stress, her eyes have taken on an odd glow. She’s the kind of girl who thrives off of drama. “We’re sleeping with the enemy down here. For all we know Clive could be communicating with the other side right now.”
    Declan rolls his eyes. “He’s not a Linker.”
    “It doesn’t matter. If he’s opening his mind, they can get to him.”
    “They can get to all of us,” Ashley adds.
    Declan mutters an exasperated curse under his breath. He seems to be taking Danielle and Ashley’s fear mongering personally. “Only if you’re inviting them in.”
    “So you think Claire actively invited them in? She was one of the first people down here. If she wasn’t trustworthy, then who is?”
    Cap raises his hand sharply.
    Declan—who had opened his mouth to respond—presses his lips together.
    “Clive is under control. Right now, we have bigger issues at hand.”
    “Like the genocide,” Luka says. It’s the first he’s spoken since the heated conversation began.
    Bass narrows his beady eyes. “What genocide?”
    Cap pushes out a heavy breath. “Patients in mental rehab facilities are being killed off. Link’s confirmed it. Whole databases are disappearing around the country.”
    “What does that mean?” Jillian asks, rubbing Rosie’s shoulder reassuringly.
    I glance at Non. She sits in one of the worn-out chairs we’ve pulled into a slapdash circle, squinting at Cap and rubbing her chin. So far, she’s been as quiet as me. “If it’s fact you’re after, you’ll find it in the journals.”
    “What journals?” Declan asks.
    Jillian scrunches her nose. “You mean those composition notebooks Tess is always looking at?”
    Everyone’s attention turns my way.
    Yes, those. Non had me study them. She wanted me to find the connections. Genocide was the common theme. They also referenced a prophecy. One I never would have thought had anything to do with me until I overhead Cap and Luka’s early-morning conversation in the cafeteria last week. Those journals are currently tucked beneath my bed.
    “The ones in Tess’s possession are only a small subset of the whole collection. The rest are with a Scribe named Cressida Rivard.” Non winds a loose thread from the hem of her shirt around her finger and gives it a yank. When she looks up, she seems surprised that we’re all still staring. “The Rivard family became a safe haven for me many years ago. Cressida’s grandfather was the Scribe before her. Once he fell ill, Cressida was chosen.”
    “Chosen for what ?” Jillian asks.
    And by who? I want to add.
    “Preserving the history of The Gifting. The Scribe is charged with studying, recording, and transcribing the accounts of those who came before. These accounts also contain several prophecies.”
    Luka shifts beside me, his jaw tightening. If he doesn’t want anyone to know the enemy is after me, specifically, then I’m sure he really doesn’t want