Code S

I

Sweat trickled down my forehead as I glared up at my instructor. I could taste the salt in my mouth and could feel the blood that was trickling from my eyebrow on my chin. I probably looked great. Jace stared at me, daring me to quit. I used the bow to lift myself back to my feet, my ankle aching to crumble beneath me. I hit the side of his head with the bow and took him down just by booking my foot behind his right food and shoving his shoulders back. I notched an arrow and pulled it back, letting it point right to his throat. He laughed. I threw the arrow back into my quiver and helped him stand up.

"How was that?" I asked.

"You have a bow. A bow is for shooting, Esther," I cringed at his use of my real name, "why wouldn't you shoot it."

"I won, no fatal injury necessary. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"No, because if I were trying to kill you, you wouldn't have even had time to get up to hit me with the bow. You need to be able to shoot from anywhere with accuracy. You chose a target weapon, you need to live with it."

"Yes well, I am sorry that Katniss Everdeen influenced my choices when I was TWELVE."

"Even so, I'm still in shock as to how your skills in this haven't improved in five years."

"The same way you can't seem to master disguise or even history. My focuses are elsewhere and honestly, I just suck at combat, okay?"

"Yes I understand, but you'll never be given a real assignment until you can do this."

"That's fine I guess. I'll never understand combat anyway." Jace handed me a towel and I wiped up the blood and sweat from my face and knuckles.

"Never say never, Skye," he said, using my middle name, an endearing nickname he had adopted when we were kids. But don't get confused, we have a deep distaste for each other. His parents just took me in when I was a kids, since my parents didn't want to rejoin the organization, "you'll get it someday. Just like in starting to understand disguise makeup."

"You'll never understand disguise makeup, but nice try," I said picking up my bag and following Jace to the door.

"How's the new apartment treating you?" All of us get an apartment to ourselves once we turn seventeen.

"Great. Yours still a mess?"

"Of course," my contact device buzzed in my back pocket. The CD's were like really advanced iPhones, only since all of us had been assumed dead when we were taken into the organization, we couldn't contact anyone in the outside world. I pulled it out and read the message.

Gwen Bleu- I need you to come to my office, I have a tad of a situation that I need your help with. -Gwen

I sighed. Gwen was the lieutenant in charge of all new recruits and minor training. I got into the elevator and went to the top floor- the offices of all our leaders. I stepped out and walked down the hall to the last office on the floor. The room was painted a light pink. I almost gagged. Pink was not one of my favorite colors. I pushed open the door.

Gwen, with her perfect blonde hair and blue, twinkling eyes, stood to hug me.

"Hello Esther!" She said in a high pitched squeaky voice.

"Hi Gwen. I was just in training with Jace for three hours and was going to go eat so can we make this quick?" I asked.

"Of course! I just have some kids I need you to mentor if that's okay?"

"Wait- kids? Plural? Gwen I know I'm considered one of the better mentors because of my photographic memory and ability to answer any and all questions, but Jace really wants me to put all my time and effort into training, and for once I agree because that's the only thing left I need to master!"

"I know, I know, and of course I agree but everyone else is getting sent out on a mission or coming back from a mission and you teach more classes that they'll be in than Jace does. Plus they should be very easy. Just come meet them," she said. I sighed and nodded.

I followed her out her door and down the hall to a waiting area. There was a tall, rather attractive guy, staring out the window. He had a sharp jawline, lighter brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He was sitting, but I could already tell he was very tall. Then there was a young girl, probably twelve, and she looked familiar. It took me a minute to notice, but it was because she looked like me. She had  light brown creamy skin, big, sunbleached, curly hair, and was rather short. The only difference was one I noticed when she looked up at me. While I had light blue eyes with a hint of green, she had one hazel eye and one silver eye, a color I had never seen before. It was very intriguing.

"This is Warner, he is one of our late recruits, but he is excellent with technology. We snatched him right out of St. Michaels advanced tech program. And then this is Fiona, she came from a long line of spies but was lost at birth and raised by a different family. Fiona, Warner, this is Esther, she is one of our recruits, but has done very well and should prove as an example for both of you."

"Um, Gwen, who is she staying with? Couldn't one of her host parents mentor her? I have a lot I need to do," I said. Gwen looked at me and grinned bleakly. "Gwen," I started.

"It's just for a little while until some of the hosts get back from their missions."

"Fine," I said sighing. It was her first day. I didn't want her to feel too unwelcome. I turned to the two recruits, "are either of you hungry? Let's get lunch."