Captivate (Manipulate, Book 2)

Chapter 33

Claire thought furiously. “Yes, that is what I want… eventually,” she said slowly. “I just… I have to think about what you’ve said. I’m overwhelmed. And no offense, but I’m going to have to take the glasses off. My friends won’t trust you.”

Yeah, I get it. But before you go, Basher wanted me to warn you. Faal no doubt left people to watch the restaurant. If you try to get to Upper Selta, they’ll probably try to stop you on the way.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll – I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

Claire quickly folded her glasses and put them under her pillow. She believed that they couldn’t be used to locate the restaurant, but she felt more secure with them safely blinded.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, Sage was packing a satchel and talking to Francois about various methods of getting to the Chunnel. “Suppose they have watchers ready to trap us; the twelve main thoroughfares offer some options…”

“But better the mining tunnels,” Francois said. “You are assuming the presence of others will limit their force, but it will not.”

Claire held up her hand to interrupt. “I have another complication to add.” She explained the conversation she’d just had, repeating it almost word for word at Sage’s insistence. She left out the part about Basher knowing she was human. Plenty of time to think about that. Sage seemed more perturbed at each word as it was.

“Also, I just remembered. The glasses – uh, warned me about Faal. They told me to run when he came through the door, but it happened so fast that I didn’t realize until now. And then – ” She thought of Sage’s kiss, but didn’t say that out loud. “I forgot.”

“You FORGOT? Your glasses were talking to you and you FORGOT?” Sage said.

“I’m sorry! They usually only – ”

“USUALLY?”

Claire bit her lip guiltily. She hadn’t told Sage what her glasses were capable of, because she’d been sure he would overreact. “They had translation software built in, I thought, and it was so helpful! I didn’t want to worry you, but I didn’t want to give them up either. They seemed to have access to some of the files from the embassy, but I never suspected it was more than a clever AI system.”

Sage took a deep breath. “May I see them?”

He and the others followed her upstairs where Sage examined the glasses closely. “I don’t see a camera or microphone – but then I’m not familiar with this brand.”

Sage quickly folded the glasses, examining the joints. “Usually smart glasses automatically shut off when folded... I suppose these have an override.”

He put them back under her pillow. “I believe that they don’t have a positioning system, but I’m still surprised they haven’t deduced our location.”

Juliet was looking thoughtful. “Claire was ill the whole way here, and the glasses were put away. And she hasn’t left this café since we arrived, so they have nothing except distance to pinpoint our location.”

Sage looked puzzled. “But if she even looked out the window...”

“Not enough,” Juliet said positively. “I know. I was trained in how to pinpoint a location. If someone kidnapped me, you see, and disabled my tracker, I would have to find a way to tell my mother where I was, without giving myself away. There’s things – electrical infrastructure, construction material, even the type of foot traffic – that can help someone fix a location. But this part of Lower Selta is so homogeneous...”