The metal collar bit into my neck, suffocating me.
Was this my punishment for discussing what was wrong at the Capitol? For breathing a word about the rebellion to a member of the Illum? Hal had been right: I didn’t know the first thing about my Mate.
“D-did you make this?” I stammered, dread blazing in my chest.
“I have no desire to sign my own elimination,” Rose scoffed.
“Then why am I wearing it? I’m a—” I tugged at the too-tight collar. “I’m an Illum’s Mate.”
Her eyes widened mockingly. “Do you think that makes you special?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“I’ll share a secret,” she said as if I hadn’t spoken. “It doesn’t. Mates send their playthings little gifts. It isn’t my job to question the Illum. I simply play my role.”
“Did Collin send this?” I asked.
“I do not know. It only had your identification number,” Rose told me, walking away.
Collin had stood up to my birth family, defended me. He had treated me as though my voice mattered. He hadkissedme. That meant something. Right?
I couldn’t imagine the version of him I had seen doing anything like this. And yet, had he known this blue dress trial was coming? Was that why he needed my forgiveness?
“Here.” Rose returned with simple gold slip-on heels and an envelope chain-mail clutch that matched the collar. I slipped on the heels, holding the clutch close to me. Rose came up behind me and pulled my shoulders back.
“Remember, you’re dining with the Elite. Act like it. Because whoever sent you this dress is praying you fail. I have to say I might be on their side.” She pushed me toward the exit, slamming the door behind me.
Clearly, something horrible had happened to Violet and Rose. What had I done?
The question chased me into the Pod and farther into the sky, where storm clouds gathered, thunder rumbling in their dark depths. My collar felt too tight, anxiety constricting my ability to breath. I wondered if I might pass out.
My Comm Device dinged inside my clutch. I pulled it out, reading the message. Then I read it again—the message that spelled my undoing.
A work requirement came up and it’s running late. I can’t make it. Forgive me. Collin
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THIS COULDN’T BE HAPPENING. I SUCKED IN DEEP, DESPERATEbreaths as the Pod slowed to a stop, trapping me. I had no way out of this. I couldn’t face them without Collin at my side. Vincent’s unwavering support of the Illum would keep his viciousness in check if Collin were present. I felt more comfortable jumping from the Pod than entering their living quarters without him.
The blue silk wrinkled in my fist. I had been a fool—a brainwashed, naïve fool—to have trusted an Illum for even one moment.
The doors to the Pod opened, and my heart plunged to the ground below, smashing on the earth’s surface. I was entering my birth home at the top of one of the tallest towers dressed in Major Defect blue.
It belongs with the Majors, with those like it. Mark my words, she will end up there.When my heels clicked against luxurious tile, my birth father’s words escorted me instead of a Mate.
“Good evening, Ms. Emeline,” a male Defect said, bowing. “May I scan your wrist for dinner? Then I shall escort you.”
I extended my wrist, and he took in the deep blue dress. Quickly, he stepped away from me. A knot formed in my throat as I followed him through my birth family’s living quarters.
Floor-to-ceiling windows covered the entire wall, and the rest of the room was adorned with varying white and cream furniture, an ode to the fluffy clouds, swollen with the oncoming storm, that drifted by the expansive windows. Light danced upon the white marble tiles from the largest chandelier I had ever seen, a swirling brass structure embellished with hundreds of delicate white ceramic petals. A black fountain rested below the petals, as if waiting to catch any that fell. Trickling water fell from the edges, filling the space with a soothing sound. It looked more like a sculpture than a chandelier—alive, free, and so at odds with those who lived here. I wondered why my birth father allowed it.
The place should have felt familiar. I had lived here once. Yet I recognized nothing except the shame and loneliness that had been my only companions.
My pulse quickened as male voices drifted from the room the attendant disappeared into. I swallowed around the lump lodged beneath my metal collar and followed.
The room was darker, and for once the beauty was lost on me as three members of my birth family waited for me.
Richard, the oldest birth brother, sat on the sofa. My middle brother, Gregory, lounged in a chair, swirling a drink. And an impressive and immovable man stood in front of a marble mantel, staring at a glowing-hot rod in the hearth.
