Page 54 of Border Control

Morgan hasn’t DM’d me, he’s old school, so he called but didn’t leave any messages. I call him back, heart pounding. It goes straight to voicemail. My notifications inbox pulses, throbbing like a blister in the edge of my blurring vision.

Which one do I attend to first?

‘Law-rah, please.’

“I’m busy,” I state, trying to stay calm when my whole body is shaking.

And then the phone shakes in my hand, the vibrations traveling up my arm. Morgan.

I answer it immediately. “Morgan, I’m so sorry, I overslept, I?—”

“Lisa,” Morgan snarls. “Your disgusting dereliction is the height of unprofessionalism.”

“I know, I can only apologize. Tell me what’s happening, what’s going on?”

“You’d know if you turned up,” he snaps. “John is in there now, trying to salvage things. This is not acceptable at all, Lisa.”

Dom’s huge fingers wrap around my wrist, gently easing the phone from my ear.

“What are you doing?” I hiss at him, glaring into his amethyst eyes.

Which are dark with pain. “Law-rah, we can hear you.”

“Hear me? Of course you can hear me, we’re in the same room,” I hiss. What is he on about?

‘Well, this is new.’A stunned voice.

‘Where are the edges?’An interested one.

‘Stay back.’Dom's firm voice.

Except… in my head.

Fuck. Fuck! He’s a psychic, so he could probably drop in and have a listen whenever he wanted, but now I can fucking hear him inside my mind.

And not just him. The other two must be Arik and Nevare.

‘Hello, new Apex.’That cheery voice must be Arik, who always wears a smile.

‘Not an Apex, nowhere near powerful enough,’Nevare says, matter of factly.‘No energies of her own. She's tangled. Entwined. Borders broken.’

“Get them unbroken!” I nearly scream.

“Who are you talking to?” Morgan demands, voice tinny.

My vision goes fuzzy.

“No one, I—I’m focusing on you,” I say loudly, trying to get him to hear me even though Dom holds the phone a foot away from me. I glare at Dom. “Stop it! Give me my phone, and get out of my head.”

He lets me go with a wince.‘I'll try.’

“Don’t just try, do it!”

“Lisa!” Morgan screams. “You aren’t paying any attention at all, are you? I’ll fire you alright, fire you into the sun. If we lose this inquiry, it’ll be your fault.”

My fault.

My stomach, already as low as it can go, twists painfully. I bend nearly double, staring at white spots sparking in my sight.