“Taylor,” Nathan said, “Why didn’t you take the rest of us?” “I didn’t want to put you in danger,” she said. “Gee, thanks,” I said. “Hey, I brought Jayden, remember? He insisted on bringing you.” “Gee, thanks,” Jayden crossed his arms and frowned.”

“That’s not necessary,” Mr. Bradshaw said, “although you are all perfectly welcome in the guest rooms upstairs, I won’t ask you to lie to your-” “Mr. Bradshaw.” Nathan grinned. “You’ve been asking us to lie to our parents from the moment we each set foot in this house. We’re spies; we’ll all find excuses to stay here. No one wants to leave the only place in the city where the Pentagon won’t dare enter. Not tonight. Not after what happened.”

“The lie detector didn’t react to anything I said, but I wouldn’t dare smile.”

“Are you okay?” someone asked. “I’m fine,” I snapped, turning to face Jayden Griffin. “I have to admit, you’re getting better at lying, Tess Embers,” he said quietly. “However, I know you’re not okay.”

“Waiting. That’s always what being a spy comes down to, isn’t it?”

“The thing is, Ms. Embers, they aren’t exactly on our side.”

“Jayden shoved through the crowd and pulled me to my feet. I hadn’t realized I was crying until he wiped a tear from my face. “What happened?”

“Why would you tell us the truth? If Christina really wasn’t here, you’d tell us she was, to stall us from finding her. If James taught us one thing, it’s how to detect a lie. You just want us to leave so you can get her to talk. By the way, good luck with that -- Ida can’t even get her to admit that she stole her cousin’s candy at Halloween last year. And that was pretty obvious.”

“The Didots created happiness and power, or in this case, pain and sadness...but only within its subject’s mind. The power it held was real, but it was not a physical power. It was the power of persuasion, the power of illusion. Mr. Bradshaw was a genius.”

“Taylor, listen to me. I could tell you that it’s okay. That she wasn’t a wonderful person, or I didn’t love her. I could tell you that she’s happier now, and her life would’ve been sad and filled with pain and longing to see her love again. I could say that I’m not struggling with her death, as well as the death of the hope that she could once again be part of my life. But instead I’ll just say that I’m sad, too, sweetheart. That way I can spare you the struggle of detecting the lie in my words.”

“His hair was red, and his eyes were a color blue that put the ocean to shame.”