"Ten," he countered.
"Six," I shot back.
His smile grew.
"Eight days in which you open your mind and learn everything that the resistance has to give you. Eight days and then you can have your friends back. But after that, your training will be over, and it will be time to step into the role you were born for."
If I had to hear that one more time, I'd probably lose my mind.
"I agree to those terms, but if in eight days you do not give me my family back, then all promises are null and void. I will raze this compound to the ground, and even if I die doing so, I will take so many of you with me that you'll need years to rebuild."
Not even a flicker of his megawatt smile. "I would expect nothing less, Rose."
He turned and left, and as the front door closed quietly—controlled, as were all things he did—I sank down to the floor and forced myself to swallow the screams that were trying to rise from my chest. He'd be outside waiting to hear a reaction, and if he so much as sensed that I did anything other than stand here calmly, there would be hell to pay.
I needed to get through the next eight days.
I needed to get my friends back.
Then I needed to destroy the resistance.
* * *
Turnedout this apartment was completely decked out for me. Regular clothing in my size, fight clothes in my size, toiletries to my liking—and bymy, I meant the ones that had always been provided to me by Uriel.
For the first time in weeks I was able to shower without a taser-happy woman staring at me, and I slept in a bed. A soft bed with nice sheets that smelled of violets. Ironic? You betcha. My sensei knew exactly how to push my buttons, and the fact that I'd been named after flowers by a mother who’d died giving birth to me was something I’d held tightly to—the belief that I’d been loved so much, at least for a few minutes.
But even that was a lie.
How the fuck could my entire life be manufactured to give them the perfect opportunity to emerge as a superpower, I had no idea.
I mean, it made sense when the facts were laid out, but it also didn't. I was a teenager, the absolute worst front person they could have chosen. No one trusted teenagers... most of the world didn't even like them. Hell, I didn’t like teenagers, myself, and I was one.
But Uriel had been right about one thing. The worldloveda Cinderella story. Rags to riches. Prince Charming and all that crap. They'd rally behind a pretty girl with a tough upbringing, but more than that, they'd rally behind a commonerwith a prince. It made me worry what other plans the resistance had for my stolen princes.
And then there was the issue of the monarchies themselves. Or more specifically, of certain monarchies and theirbreedingprograms. Maybe backing the Society wasn't the worst choice I could make after all.
Ugh, but how could I forget the callous way they'd triggered that earthquake? How they'd given no regard to the loss of life...? How Claudette had beenexecutedin the ensuing panic? No, I couldn't throw my lot in with Uriel and his ruthless Society.
Surely there could be a middle ground somewhere. Like my sensei had said, I had been placed into the perfect position to become their figurehead, theirfacewhen the resistance took their fight public. Perhaps that could also be the perfect position to instigate some positive changes onbothsides?
It was all so complicated and mind blowing, but I couldn't ignore the thread of hope, that tiny flicker of possibility that I could actually have landed in exactly the right place tostopa war. Notstartone.
A sharp knock on my door startled me from my thoughts, and I cautiously made my way over to answer it. Uriel would have just let himself in, arrogantly thinking that he owed me no privacy. Why would he when he thought of me as hiscreation?
"Can I help you?" I asked the sharply uniformed guy standing there. He was young, maybe a few years older than me—the same age as Rafe and Jordan—and handsome, in a brainwashed sort of way.
"Hi, Violet," he greeted me with a bland, polite smile. "I'm Caine. I'll be escorting you to your first training seminar."
I stared at him a moment, debating my odds of choking him out and searching him for keys or something.
"Okay, sure," I finally replied with a sigh. Uriel was no fool; he wouldn't just hand me the means of escape so easily. More than likely this guy was a test of my loyalty. Already. Damn, this was going to be a long eight days.
"Oh, cool," he said, sounding a bit surprised. "You're much less... uh... I was warned you might be a bit reluctant to start your induction."
I rolled my eyes. Definitely a test and a shitty one at that.
"Nope," I replied with a bright smile, "not me! I was basically born to be in the resistance. I'm very excited to be here."
