Pawn

VII Trust

Time seemed to slow down as the platform raced through the forest, away from Nina’s dead body.

She was gone. Nina was gone, and it was my fault. Her being here today, Daxton killing her—

I couldn’t breathe. The trees felt as if they were closing in around us, slowly suffocating me as reality set in.

Nina was dead. She was really dead.

The only thing that kept me from kicking the life out of Daxton was what Celia had told me that morning. If I upset him, I would become one of them for sure, no matter who I looked like. And it wouldn’t change anything anyway.

I buried my face in my free hand and sobbed. Celia had known this was going to happen. Maybe she’d even known about Nina. She’d known, and she hadn’t warned me. She really was no better than Daxton.

For the rest of the afternoon I sat on the edge of the platform, closed my eyes, and tried to ignore the shots from the rifle and the howls of joy that followed. I tried not to picture their faces. I tried to forget watching Nina die and not think about what she could’ve possibly done to wind up here—what any of them could have done. Steal an orange, maybe, except they hadn’t been lucky enough to have Lila’s eyes and get away with it.

Daxton unshackled me before we returned to the lodge, a rustic building full of overstuffed armchairs and trophies in cases. I didn’t wait for him to show me around. The moment I spotted the door, I headed outside and back to the plane. Daxton didn’t stop me, and as soon as I was alone in the jet, I went into the bathroom and was sick.

This was Elsewhere. All those elderly people, all the criminals, all the people who weren’t smart enough to meet the standards of the government—this was their fate, to be sent Elsewhere and hunted like animals.

Lying there on the cool tile floor, I wondered how many people knew about this place and had never said anything. Lila had been here, and Celia knew, as well. This was why she’d wanted me to go, I realized. This was why she’d wanted me to think about her offer before I answered—so I would see this and understand exactly how twisted Daxton was.

It wasn’t only Daxton, though. It was Minister Bradley, too, and Minister Creed. Every minister, as far as I knew—would Knox one day stand on the same platform and hunt people whose only crime had been to speak their mind or steal a pair of shoes when theirs fell apart? Had he done so already?

No. I refused to believe he could have gone along with this. If he hunted, Daxton would have invited him along. Besides, Knox had been there when I’d watched Lila’s speeches. He was as much a part of that as Celia.

But how many children of ministers changed their tune once they had power? How many stopped caring when they no longer had to worry about becoming one of the hunted?

By the time Daxton returned, I was curled up in the armchair in front of the fire, shivering despite my layers of fur. He said nothing as the jet took off, and it wasn’t until we were well on our way that he settled into the seat next to mine.

“How did you get a III?”

The sound of his voice made my stomach churn again, but there wasn’t anything left to come up. I stared resolutely at the fire.

“You seem too clever for it,” he continued. “I was sure Mother would make us wait another few weeks for you to get more practice, but you’re perfect as Lila. No one there suspected a thing. Did you throw the aptitude test on purpose?”

I shook my head, dumbfounded. “Do you not get how important that test is to your people? Do you really think someone would ever purposely fail?”

Daxton drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair, perfectly calm. “Then what was it?”

“I ran out of time,” I said through gritted teeth. If Celia and Knox hadn’t told him I couldn’t read, I wasn’t about to give him something else to hold over my head. “I had to leave a third of it blank.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You left a third of it blank and still received a III?”

My nails dug into the soft leather of the chair. “You want to talk about my test when you just killed the only mother I’ve ever had?”

“You have Celia now,” he said. “You are in need of a mother, and she is in need of a daughter. It’s a perfect fit.”

“What about the other people you killed? What about their mothers and daughters?”

“They were criminals,” he said. “Ones who were warned ahead of time what the penalty of their crimes would be.”

“What did they do? Steal a bit of food? Talk back to a Shield? What did Nina do to deserve to die?”

“She hid you,” said Daxton, and he might as well have punched me in the gut. “You think I don’t know about that? I know about everything, Kitty, and you would be wise never to forget that.”

I struggled for air, and the walls of the plane pressed in on me like the trees had done in the forest. It really was my fault. All she’d done was try to protect me, and she’d died for it.

Oh God. Benjy.

“Did you know,” said Daxton as he folded his hands and studied me, “that if we did not punish every criminal, there wouldn’t be enough to feed everyone?”

“Then why don’t you sell the damn jet and buy more food?” I choked, my eyes watering with anger. What if Benjy was there, too? Had he been one of the others Daxton had killed?

He shook his head. “You don’t understand. Shortly after my grandfather was elected into office, our economy collapsed, and everyone was destitute—no one had enough, and people were starving. The country had—still has—a finite number of resources. There is only so much food and drinking water. There are only so many teachers, so many doctors, and so many scientists. The mediocre and the dim vastly outnumber the intelligent, and it has been that way for far too long. We outgrew ourselves. Our economy suffered, and so did our people. Crime was astronomical, and no one had any hope of a better life. That is why he helped turn the ruins of the United States into the shining beacon it is today.”

“At least then you didn’t get shot for stepping out of line,” I spat.

“At least now you have enough food to eat,” he said. “At least now you can sleep safe in your bed and not fear your neighbors ransacking your home and murdering your entire family.”

“Why would I fear my neighbors when my government does it for them?”

Daxton took a deep breath. “I did not make the laws. My grandfather did, and he did so with the welfare of the entire country in mind. Without Elsewhere, the overpopulation would be so bad that we would still be where we were seventy-one years ago—too many mouths, too little food, and no one had enough. There was no clean water. The currency was useless, and everyone had to fend for themselves. Do you understand what kind of chaos that brings?”

I knew what kind of chaos this government brought, and that was enough for me.

“We needed a way to help average out the country,” said Daxton once it was clear I wasn’t going to answer. “Yes, there are winners and losers. Yes, it is difficult for those who are at the bottom of the heap and those who lose loved ones to Elsewhere. But our society must make those sacrifices in order to survive.”

“Like the Harts make sacrifices?” I muttered.

“Someone must rule, and it is imperative that those who do know the ins and outs of the country. America has thrived under my family’s reign. This world exists because my grandfather had the courage to step up and give everything he had to fixing this country. Now, because of him, we have a controlled population whose value is decided through identical measurements, and they are given resources to equal their worth. Everyone contributes what they can. As a III, you could never hope to do the work of a VI.”

“But I can be a VII.”

“Yes, because VII is inherited, not earned.” He patted me on the knee, and I jerked away.

“Don’t touch me.”

Daxton leaned in close enough for me to smell the faint trace of whiskey on his breath. “Like it or not, this is how it’s been for decades, and this is how it’s going to stay. Everyone gets what they deserve based on what they’re worth, and if they do anything to take away from our society, they pay the price. The elderly can no longer do the jobs the young people can do, so they go. The criminals choose to take that risk, and when they’re caught, it’s usually not their first offense anyway. And the Is—” He shook his head. “Useless, drooling idiots, the lot of them. Some of them show signs of worth, and they’re kept in special facilities until we can determine that. But the vast majority do nothing but eat, sleep, and use up resources they do not earn. They have no place within society.”

“So you kill them.” It wasn’t a question. “Not even humanely, but as entertainment.”

He shrugged. “Occasionally, if they’re still alive after we harvest their organs.”

Sickened, I stood. Before I could storm off, however, Daxton grabbed my arm and held me in place. Remembering Celia’s words, I didn’t struggle. As much as I wanted to kill him for what he’d done to Nina, the price was my life, and she wouldn’t have wanted me to die because of her.

“Let’s get something straight,” he said in a low voice that slithered through me, chilling me to the bone. “You might have a VII on the back of your neck, but it only entitles you to the privileges that come with it as long as I say so. You aren’t here to change the world, Kitty. You’re here to do what I tell you. Don’t mistake your face with who you really are and what you’re worth to society. You are just as replaceable as Lila.”

“You think I don’t get that?” I said. “I know you own me. You didn’t need to kill Nina to prove it.”

His grip tightened, and I hissed in pain. “Do you know how we found you at that filthy club?” His eyes glittered with malevolence, and every trace of his usual charming facade was gone. “We looked you up, Kitty Doe. We tracked you down. We went to your group home, and your matron lied for you. Now she’s paid the price, and you only have yourself to blame.”

I blinked back tears, refusing to give him the satisfaction of making me cry.

“Luckily we did manage to find someone who knew where you were going,” said Daxton. “Benjamin Doe.”

All the blood drained from my face, and my knees buckled. “What did you do to him?”

His lips twisted into a calculating smile. “I see I’ve hit a nerve. How fascinating.”

“Tell me what you did to him, or I’ll throw you out of this jet.”

He chuckled. “I would love to see you try. We’ve done nothing to him yet. He shows quite a bit of promise, and we are of course keeping an eye on him, but he’s safe for the time being. You have my word that as long as you behave, he will live a long and happy life.”

So that was it. As sure as I’d been that they couldn’t possibly have known about Benjy, they knew anyway, and now his life was directly attached to how well I could sit, stay, and roll over.

There was nothing Daxton could possibly do that could ever make me hurt Benjy. Even if it meant putting up with this and staying silent about the things Lila had the courage to fight, Daxton had me, and he knew it.

When the jet landed and the pilot welcomed us back to the District of Columbia, I was so worn down and weary that I allowed Daxton to take my arm and lead me down the steps. Just like every other decent thing Daxton did, I knew it was only to show a waiting Celia that he had me, and her expression hardened as we walked toward the cars.

“Have a nice hunt?” she said. Daxton released me, and Celia wrapped her arm protectively around my shoulders.

“Lovely,” said Daxton as a guard opened the door for him. “I’m afraid all the excitement seems to have worn Lila out, though, so as soon as we get back to Somerset, you may want to put the poor dear to bed.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” said Celia coldly. After Daxton got into the first car, Celia ushered me into the second, where Knox was waiting. I said nothing until the door was closed and we were driving away.

“Why didn’t you warn me?”

Celia fixed a drink from some sort of icebox in the side of the car, and she thrust the cold glass into my hand. “Because you needed to see it for yourself. Drink.”

“He killed Nina,” I said. “She was practically my mother.”

“I’m sorry,” said Celia. “Truly. But there’s nothing we can do about that now, and you need to calm down. You’re shaking. Please, drink.”

No, but there was something she could’ve done about it that morning. I took a sip and nearly spat the burning liquid out. “That’s disgusting.”

“It’s brandy,” she said. “It’ll help calm your nerves.”

I wrinkled my nose and set the drink aside. “What I need is a damn phone.”

“Don’t say damn,” she said, and Knox wordlessly fished something out of his pocket and offered it to me.

“What is that?” I said, taking it warily. It was a piece of glass roughly the size of my little finger, and it was so thin that I was afraid I would snap it in two.

“A phone,” he said. “Touch the screen.”

I brushed my fingertip against the surface. It lit up with blue symbols, and there were so many that I didn’t know which to press first. “How do I dial?”

Celia snatched it from me. “Who are you calling?”

“None of your damn business,” I said. She narrowed her eyes.

“I’m not trying to stop you. Tell me the number and I’ll dial it for you, but first I want to know who you’re calling.”

“A friend,” I snapped. “To make sure he’s still alive. Is that all right with you?”

Knox grabbed his phone. “Both of you, stop it. Kitty, what’s the number?”

I rattled off the number of the group home, and he dialed and pushed a button so I could hear it. Instead of ringing, however, the line clicked, and a cheerful voice spoke. “We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

Knox pressed another button, and the blue light went dark. “Are you sure that’s the right number?”

“Positive,” I said numbly. “I’ve known it forever. Can you—can you try again?”

I repeated the number slowly, but the same message played. My chest tightened as if someone were squeezing a fist around my heart. “I don’t understand. It was working before.”

“Any number of things could have happened,” said Knox. “Nina was the matron of your group home, right? They probably shut it down after she was arrested and sent the kids somewhere else.”

“They wouldn’t hurt him, would they?” I said. “He’s not even seventeen yet.”

Celia sat across from us, her legs crossed and her foot bobbing up and down as she studied me. “What did Daxton say to you?”

“Does it matter?” Knowing Daxton, Benjy was probably already dead.

“It matters a great deal,” she said. “If there’s something I can do to help you, I will.”

“You’ve done a great job so far, seeing as how I’m stuck in this situation to begin with.”

“You’re the one who agreed to this mess, Kitty, not me, and whining about it isn’t going to change a thing. You’ve been given an incredible opportunity, and if you waste it by letting Daxton blackmail you into being his puppet, I will kill you myself. So tell me,” she said. “What did he say to you?”

I turned away and rested my forehead against the cool window. It was tinted so that no one outside could see us, but I could see everything through the waning light of dusk. We drove through a part of the city I’d never been to before. Shining glass buildings rose high above us, and everything looked brand-new. Even the streetlamps were so bright that I had to squint. The wealth in this section, undoubtedly meant for Vs and VIs, was obvious. The buildings in the Heights were squat, made of brick, and older than any citizen who occupied them. There was no newness, only old that was no longer needed and could be handed down to us, the people who weren’t valuable enough to merit glass skyscrapers or shiny cars or fruit that wasn’t hours away from rotting.

Benjy would have loved this. And if Celia could help make sure he lived long enough to see it, then I had no choice but to tell her.

“I have a boyfriend,” I said at last. “Had a boyfriend, I guess. Daxton said he’d send him Elsewhere if I didn’t cooperate.”

Beside me, I heard Knox exhale, and when he tried to set his hand on my shoulder, I shrugged it off. “What’s his name?” he said.

“Benjamin Doe,” I said hollowly. “Everyone calls him Benjy.”

Celia pulled out another electronic device I didn’t recognize and pushed a few buttons. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to him. Daxton thinks he has all of us cornered, but he overestimates his own power.”

And I was sure Celia overestimated hers. “How?” I said bitterly. “Are you going to have him followed? Assign him personal protection?”

“Something like that.”

Knox fixed another drink and offered it to me. “It’s just water,” he said, and reluctantly I took it from him and sipped. I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since breakfast. “How did you meet Benjy?”

When Knox said his name, I gulped down the contents of the glass to buy myself a few moments. The idea of sharing Benjy with them made my skin crawl. No matter how much Celia and Knox pretended to care about me, it was clear they were using me as much as Daxton was. The only question was for what.

“We grew up in the same group home,” I said, staring at my drink. “We played together sometimes, and when we were seven, he did my writing homework for me without being asked—”

I stopped. They didn’t care, or if they did, it was only to use him against me. Instead of moving on, however, Knox shifted so he was facing me. When I glanced at him, I saw real interest in his eyes. Something about him was less intimidating than Celia, so as he silently encouraged me to go on, I focused on him and tried to forget that she was listening, as well.

“He knew I was struggling in class, and the teacher liked to pick on me.” It had seemed like such a big deal at the time, what Benjy had done for me, but he would have done the same thing for anyone else. He was that kind of person—the same kind who offered to run away with me and destroy the rest of his life so mine might be easier. “So he started doing my homework for me. He read to me every night, and eventually we just...” I shrugged.

Knox smiled faintly. “It sounds like you have a good friend in him.”

“He probably thinks I’m in Denver by now,” I mumbled.

“I doubt that,” said Celia, and Knox gave her a murderous look. “What?” she added. “She has a right to know.”

“A right to know what?” I said, and when they seemed too busy glaring at each other to answer me, I raised my voice. “A right to know what?”

Knox looked away, clutching his glass so tightly that I thought it would shatter. “Kitty Doe was legally declared dead the day after you arrived at the Stronghold.”

I opened and shut my mouth, but there was nothing to say. Benjy thought I was dead. First Tabs, then Nina, then me—it wasn’t just my life I’d destroyed. It was his, too. The pain and worry I’d felt for him had to be nothing compared to what he was going through. Did he blame himself? After telling the Shields where I’d gone, he must have. But it wasn’t his fault. I was the one who’d done this to him. Not the Shields, not Daxton, but me.

“What’s the date?” I said suddenly.

“The twentieth of October,” said Celia. “Why?”

I didn’t answer. Benjy’s birthday was the twenty-second, which meant I had two days until he took his test.

“Kitty—” said Knox, but I shook my head.

“Don’t,” I said softly. “Please.”

Two days. I had two days to find him until he would be gone forever, and I would never have the chance to tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

I spent the rest of the drive to Somerset in silence, staring out the window. Everything here was more than I had ever seen before. There were television screens everywhere: in shop windows, mounted on the sides of buildings, even scrolls that ran around intersections broadcasting words I couldn’t read. Instead of sidewalks, this section of the city had motorized walkways, and even though it was nearly nightfall, the rich and the powerful stood still as the walkways carried them wherever they wanted to go. How could a world like this exist so close to the Heights?

The car glided through a gate in a brick wall covered with ivy, and the world outside transformed into a lush green lawn that seemed to go on forever. I sat up straighter. A row of trees bordered the drive, their leaves brilliant shades of gold and ruby, and in the distance I noticed the edge of a looming mansion.

“We’re almost here,” said Celia. “So answer me this, Kitty—are you all right with what you’ve seen today? Do you think it’s acceptable for people to be treated no better than game?”

Still stinging from the news that Benjy thought I was dead, I glared at her. “Of course not. What do you think I am, a monster?”

“No,” said Knox. “If we thought you would go along with Daxton and Augusta, we wouldn’t be talking to you now. But you have spunk, Kitty, and there’s so much good you could do now that you have Lila’s face. Things even Lila wasn’t able to do.”

Spunk. Daxton had said the very same thing to me. I pressed myself against the door, ready to spring free. I knew what was coming, and the car began to feel like a cage.

“You saw the speeches my daughter made,” said Celia. “She was starting a revolution right under Daxton’s nose.”

“And that’s how she wound up dead in the first place,” I said. “I’m not your puppet. I won’t dance because you tell me to.”

For a moment I thought I saw a flash of guilt cross her face, but it was gone as quickly as it’d come. “No, I suppose you won’t,” said Celia. “Whose puppet are you, Kitty? Daxton’s and my mother’s? Because from where I’m sitting, that’s exactly what it’s beginning to look like.”

“I’m not—” I began, but she cut me off.

“What do you intend to do with your life? With my daughter’s life? Will you waste it doing their bidding?”

“What, when I could be doing yours?”

Her expression hardened, but before she could say anything, Knox held up a hand. “We know you didn’t ask for this, but no matter how unfair it is, that’s the way your life is going to go from here on out. You have a choice. You can let Daxton control you and tell you what to do, you can rebel and get yourself killed, or you can listen to us and do something worthwhile. Something other than just be Lila’s replacement.”

He said that like it was easy, like there were no consequences, but each choice had a price I would have to pay one way or the other.

Knox leaned toward me, and the leather squeaked underneath him. “They gave you a III because they thought you would never amount to anything more. Are you going to prove them right?”

I scowled. I wasn’t a coward. I wasn’t afraid of dying. I didn’t want to, but I wasn’t afraid of it. What I was afraid of was getting Benjy killed, and that fear was paralyzing.

Celia must have sensed my hesitation, because she said, “If it’s your friend you’re worried about, you have my word that he will be protected.”

“The same way you protected Lila?” I said, but there was no venom in my voice.

She flinched anyway, and Knox quickly cut in. “What happened to Lila was terrible, and it’s a mistake we won’t make again.”

I swallowed. Celia wouldn’t meet my eyes, and I couldn’t blame her. “You’re asking me to trust you when I don’t even know you.”

“No, you don’t,” said Knox. “But you do know Daxton and what he’s capable of. You have my word—our word that no matter what you decide and no matter what happens to you, we will protect your friend to the best of our ability.” He glanced at Celia, and she nodded wearily. “Even if you decide to play it safe and do what Daxton wants, we won’t let anything happen to Benjy.”

I covered my face with my hands and took a deep breath. There was no way for me to know if they were lying or not, and either way, I’d be pissing someone off. I wanted to believe that Knox and Celia would protect Benjy, but Celia had let her daughter die. She couldn’t guarantee Benjy his safety any more than she could guarantee me mine.

I might have lost my identity, but this was still my life, and the thought of taking orders from Daxton until he decided I was better off dead made me sick to my stomach. He’d killed Nina to show me what would happen if I didn’t behave. He’d threatened Benjy. Once he was dead, what would Daxton do to control me? Find my real parents and kill them, too?

With Daxton, the bloodshed would never end. With Celia and Knox, I could at least pretend that not everyone I loved would die for my mistakes.

The image of Nina’s blood spattered against the tree flashed in my mind, and I dug my nails into my palms. Daxton had had me until that morning. I would’ve done anything he wanted as long as it bought me time and kept me alive, and he’d known it. He’d killed Nina not to control me, but to lord over me—to prove how much power he had and how little I possessed. And now Celia and Knox were offering me a way to get some of my own. It might not have been much, but if Daxton wanted a pissing contest, then that was exactly what I would give him.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll do it as long as you keep Benjy safe. But you have to be honest with me, too. No keeping things from me, no bossing me around, and don’t treat me like I’m stupid, all right?”

Celia nodded, and Knox moved to pat my shoulder again. This time I let him. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” he said.

Except as we drove down the winding drive, I was all too aware that there was only one way this could end, and it wouldn’t be with Celia or Knox taking the fall for me.