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Besides, I liked you in high school,” he purred, alluding to the ill-fated tryst that led them to where they were today. He couldn’t regret it, and he took every opportunity to remind her of why she shouldn’t regret it either.
    Eve bumped her shoulder into his. “Can you guess which one is ‘Mastermind’? That one’s a bit harder.”
    Alec looked around. There were seven people in the room besides themselves. Since he had already identified four of the Marks, he quickly ruled them out—Ken, the red-haired princess with her glitter mascara and lip gloss, the Goth girl with her pale blond hair and pixie-perfect features, and the “Fashionista”whose height and rail-thin figure were the stuff of supermodel dreams. The remaining occupants were the guy who greeted Eve when they entered, a wan and slightly portly teenage boy in a nylon jogging suit, and a gray-haired gentleman in dress slacks and polo shirt.
    “The old guy?” he guessed. “He kinda has that Magneto vibe.”
    “You’re older than he is,” Eve reminded. “And no, he’s ‘Gopher.’ His name is Robert Edwards.”
    “Okay. Then it’s the guy in the jeans.”
    “Nope.”
    Alec’s eyes widened. “The kid? You’re shitting me.”
    Laughing, she said, “No, I’m not. He’s older than he looks. Early twenties. Name is Chad Richens. He and Edwards are both from England, so I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons why they gravitated toward each other. The other is that Richens can come up with schemes, but he doesn’t like to do the dirty work.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like the time he had Edwards swap out everyone’s bayonets with dull ones from the previous day. We all worked twice as hard as he did that session, because he and Edwards were the only ones to have freshly sharpened blades. It was Richens’s idea, but Edwards was the one who actually made the switch. Claire freaked when Ken figured it out. I thought she was going to give herself an aneurism.”
    “The fashionista?”
    “Yes, Claire Dubois, from France. Isn’t she gorgeous? She says she wasn’t before the mark. Apparently, she used to be a meth addict. She burned herapartment down and killed her boyfriend in the process, which is why she was marked. She’s still very high strung and fidgets a lot.”
    Alec studied the teenager. “How is Richens doing in the physical portion of the class?”
    “Not good. Even with the help of the mark, he has trouble with the combat training, which is why I think he tries to get through the sneaky way. He’s a video game junkie and strategy is his strength, not his fists. He also has a short fuse.” Her voice lowered. “Edwards told me Richens’s dad was abusive. I think he carries some of that around with him.”
    It didn’t escape Alec’s notice how well Eve had researched her classmates in order to better understand them. It was a sign of a natural hunter. Killing wasn’t merely a physical act. It was also cerebral. “There must be some potential in him, or he would have been assigned to a nonfield position.”
    “He killed someone. I don’t know the details. He won’t talk about it.”
    “Murderers usually end up with field work automatically.”
    “Stupid,” she muttered. “I think his being here is a major screwup on someone’s part.”
    “Watch it.” Alec shot her a chastising glance. Eve’s beliefs were her own and he respected her right to have them, but sometimes she voiced her opinions in a way that was too irreverent to be safe. “So, that leaves us with the dark-haired guy. He’s ‘Romeo,’ I take it.”
    Eve nodded. “Antonio Garza, from Rome. But that’snot why I call him Romeo. He’s got a thing going with Laurel . . . and being discreet isn’t his strong suit.”
    “Which one is Laurel? The princess?”
    “That’s the one. Laurel Hogan. Romeo wooed the Goth girl first, but she says he’s too much of a gigolo for her tastes. He’s better off with Laurel anyway. If you ask me, Izzie is