Uriel's men were going down, one by one, starting with those who’d hurt me and my guys.
Brainwashing got under way after that, right on schedule, and honestly, if I didn't hate Uriel so much and love two princes like I did, I'd be on the side of the resistance too. The absolute atrocities I had witnessed over the past days of conditioning… they were enough to give me nightmares for the rest of my life.
No matter what developed from all of this, change was needed in the system. It was flawed. Broken. And it had been that way for too long.
Did I have a solution that didn't include killing all the monarchs and replacing one broken system with another? Because Uriel was way too crazy to be any sort of leader. So, nope. I had no solution, but I was eighteen years old with zero experience running anything. Surely there were others out there who had plans. There had to be.
"Lunch time," a voice called, and the images faded from the display in front of me. It was almost immersive, the screen experience here, so I got the double benefit of feeling like I was right in the midst of the murder and mayhem. The only step closer would be if I could smell the death rather than just see it.
Caine unlocked my wrist cuffs, and I massaged the skin there as I shakily got to my feet. After a few more weeks of this, I had a scary suspicion that I'd be lost in their propaganda world, unable to tell one reality from another.
Just as he was leading me toward the small area I was allowed to eat in, there was a buzzing on his palm reader. Mine had been gone since I was imprisoned, and every single time I saw one on someone, I longed to contact Mattie or Nolan, to hear their voices and find out who had survived that night.
They both better have.
And Rafe's dad. My heart ached at my last memory of him, unconscious and covered in blood. His injuries hadn't looked good. Hopefully those medics were really fucking spectacular at their jobs.
"There's been a change in plans," Caine said abruptly. "Lunch has to wait. Uriel needs you now."
Rafe's warning from this morning flashed in my mind, blaring red because he'd been dead serious. I couldn't go with Uriel, no matter what happened.
"I need to go back to my room first."
I ground to a halt, and Caine took a few more steps before stopping and turning back to me. "What do you mean? I'm to take you to the meeting stadium. There will be a few thousand of us gathering there to plan our next attack."
Caine clearly thought that I was all on board the royals-must-die train.
"I—I just got my period and need a tampon."
He froze. Apparently anything else he had been prepared to argue over, but the thought of me bleeding through my pants had him hesitating. "I have to be there to head up Uriel's protective detail," he kind of muttered.
Reaching out, I placed my hand on his forearm. "Look, I know my way around now. I can run back to my place and then get to the stadium before it starts. You don't have to come with me. That way you can do your job."
His eyes bored into my soul as he tried to ferret out any deception, but he'd never find it. I’d been trained by Uriel himself. Up close and very personal.
"Yes, okay. But don't worry about getting back. I'll send a car for you. It's not that close." That was his compromise to ensure I didn’t run.
"Yep, great!"
As long as it wasn't Uriel, I'd have no problems taking the driver out, and then I'd have a vehicle to utilize.
"Do not go anywhere but back to your apartment," Caine warned me.
I kept my face neutral. "You have my word. I'm interested to see what this meeting is all about. I don't want to miss any of it."
Caine nodded. "Okay, then run."
I patted his shoulder as I sprinted past, not bothering to look back. Just the thought that something was finally happening was all I needed to run like my life depended on it.
Chapter 10
After weeks of torture and “reprogramming” without exercise, I was decently out of shape. So I was a little out of breath by the time I got back to my room. Rushing inside, I changed into clothes that were dark, easy to move and fight in, and would keep me warm. I had no idea what the rest of this day would bring, but as long as I was out of this shithole and away from Uriel, I could deal with almost anything else.
There was a knock at the door just as I finished fixing my braid.
The driver was here.
Crossing over as silently as I could with shoes on, I slowly opened the door, smile in place to lull them into a sense of security. No one ever expected women to just attack them without provocation.
