Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“I’ll count down the seconds,” Domino said. “You will simply walk out of this room and keep going without pause. I have a hologram of you strolling along a path to this location. That image will vanish as soon as you make contact. You are safe.” He pointed to someone approaching the sidewalk in front of our section of the Rock.
I gasped. Me. It was me. I wore the same pink tank and shorts, my hair braided.
No time to process anything.
“Five. Four. Three. Two.” He gave me a gentle shove, his touch warm and firm, and I stumbled outside.
The hologram walked into me, disappearing for good, igniting a tingling whoosh all over my body. As instructed, I kept moving, awed. I didn’t let myself look back at the Rock as I headed toward the train station.
I descended the steps and joined a growing crowd on the dock. Though I had to force my way through, I made it inside a cart and whisked back to the base, where I holed up in my cell to unpack what I’d learned in the library.
Cyrus. In danger. Perhaps my enemy.
The doom I’d buried overwhelmed my memory garden, as if its roots had invaded every section. It had always pointed to this, hadn’t it? Astan might choose Cyrus as his host . . . and Cyrus might say yes.
When was this supposed to happen? And what about the war itself? Finally, I’d learned the truth about what had spurred it, but so many questions remained. At the top of the list: All this for jealousy? Seriously?
What was Astan’s goal, anyway? He must want more than just the destruction of the Rock.
Quaking, I shot the high prince a message.
I need to speak with you ASAP.
I awaited his reply, hoping he’d come visit me. Minutes ticked by. An hour. Curfew arrived, and I was sealed inside my cell.
I tossed and turned all night.
The next morning, I checked my reader, but there was no response. Looked like I’d have to go about my day as if nothing was wrong.
My guards followed as I stomped from my cell. They even accompanied me inside the locker room. “Hey,” I snapped and shooed them off. “Go.”
“We have new orders from High Prince Cyrus,” one said. “Stay with you at all times, no matter where you go or who you’re with.”
Defiant, I tugged on my fatigues. Orders from Cyrus, not the emperor or Mr. Vyle? But why? Confusion set in, and I steeped in it.
Winslet stomped over. “I lost you in the crowd yesterday.”
“Yeah,” I said with a wince. “Apologies. It was packed in there.”
She leaned against a cubby and crossed her arms. “What did you end up doing?”
“This and that.” What else could I say without lying? I sat on the bench and tied my boots. “How about you?”
“Same. Look,” she said, plopping beside me. “If you don’t want to be friends, just say so. You’re dating a high prince, and I’m a nobody. I get it.” Resentment replaced her tinge of anger.
An urge to soothe bloomed from a seed of guilt. At the same time, part of me wondered if she purposely sought to rouse such an emotion. She might be a CURED spy . . . or the Soalian I searched for. “I’ll pretend you didn’t just insult me. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, so let’s pair up and change that.”
“Fine,” she replied, as if she didn’t care, but I noted the glint of satisfaction in her eyes.
We spent the day tied together by the chain I despised, but I admit, I enjoyed her more every hour. Her quick wit kept my mind off my problems and grounded me in the moment.
Was she the Soalian or not? And if not, how could I recruit her?
“You know Roman better than anyone,” she said at the end of the day as we changed in the locker room, readying for our free time. Well, she changed, uncaring that my guard stood in the doorway. I just removed my fatigues, leaving me clad in the pj’s I hadn’t shed this morning. “You got any tips for snagging his attention?”
Oooh. Was he responsible for her sudden interest in hanging out with me? “I don’t know him well. Just well enough to understand a girl only needs to keep breathing for a shot. He likes variety.”
She snorted and finished up. “Yeah. That tracks. Anyway, you should come to the commons for once. We always have fun.”
“Maybe one day,” I hedged. Just not today. I bid her goodbye and hustled to my cell to check my special reader.
Grrr! Still no response from Cyrus.
Nor was there a message the next morning. Or the next. Thanks to my guards, I couldn’t sneak off to hunt him down and demand an answer face-to-face. My optimism plummeted, which soured my mood. Though I held my piece of the Rock close each night, while alone in my cell, Domino never appeared either.