“Oh, fuck no,” Imara said. “There is no way on this stars-forsaken planet that I’m getting in that thing.”
“You have to,” Hawk said. “None of us can say no, unless you want to be the reason all of us are sent back to Perileos.”
Imara’s beautiful features tightened as she frowned, her dark eyes moving from one teammate to the next. She didn’t have a choice, same as Gemma. Staying on Reva was not an option for any of them, and Gemma wasn’t about to let her sister down.
Imara sighed and put her hands on her head as she began to sway in anticipation.
“Bring the ladies first,” the interrogator announced.
Imara jumped behind Hawk as Christian grabbed Gemma’s wrist.
“Let me go first,” Christian said.
The interrogator scowled. “The girl of Indian descent will go first.”
Imara mumbled something repeatedly as Hawk gently swung her around him. Her eyes were glassy, but she stood tall, a vein pulsating rapidly beneath the skin of her russet-brown neck.
Gemma grabbed her hand as two of the guards turned, and the wall in front of them shimmered, like looking through a soap bubble. The female guard reached in and clasped Imara’s shoulder, yanking her toward the chair. Gemma didn’t let go until Imara was ripped from her grasp.
Once in the chair, the guards restrained Imara’s wrists and ankles with unforgiving efficiency, and they attached sensors to locations on her arms, legs, abdomen, chest, and temples. Then a metallic choker protruded from the back of the chair, encircling Imara’s thin neck.
Gemma held her breath as Imara closed her eyes, her hands now visibly shaking.
The interrogator placed a plastic mask over Imara’s mouth and nose, which connected to the chair via a long tube. The sight of it alone made Gemma’s knees weak. The device resembled those she’d used on patients who’d needed oxygen. There were only two reasons that was being used on them. Either they were going to be administered an inhalant, or their oxygen was about to considerably deplete.
It didn’t matter anymore that this was about passing the Trials. In the simulated environment, every sensation was felt, and Gemma feared for her team. Reymond had told her that some interrogators might use torture, and every molecule in Gemma’s body shouted that this woman was one ofthose.
And Gemma could no longer deny how much she truly cared about her comrades as a sharp dread gripped her heart.
“These sensors will analyze your physiological responses to my questions and monitor your vital signs,” the interrogator explained. “Try to resist, and the collar will shock you. Lie, and the collar will shock you. Disobey, and the collar will shock you.”
Gemma wiped her clammy hands on her shorts when the interrogator waved at one of the guards at the console.
The red glow of the chair brightened.
A loud hiss, and the mask over Imara’s mouth and nose filled with a creamy, white gas. She groaned and squirmed in her seat, fighting her restraints. Bright-blue volts shocked Imara’s neck. She stiffened with a yelp.
“I tried to warn you not to resist,” the interrogator drawled. “Now, give me the code to your bomb sequence.”
The same code their guide had provided them appeared on the glass walls of their prison cell:A-1-B-7-F-6. It was mirrored so that Imara could see it, but none of their captors seemed to be aware of its existence.
The simulation was goading her into giving it up.
Imara’s screams were heart-shattering as she continued to dodge the question. Gemma grimaced every time the collar snapped electricity into Imara’s neck. She wanted to look away, to close her eyes and pretend she was somewhere else—anywhere else.
But she didn’t want Imara to feel like she’d been left alone.
“Fine. If you don’t want to share the code, how about I tell your comrades about the man you killed?” the interrogator threatened.
Gemma held her breath as Imara sobbed, shaking her head.She killed someone?
More gas filled the mask over Imara’s face.
“Look at him!” the interrogator shouted. “Look at his lifeless body. Do you want them to know how he died, how he bled out in your bed, and you just left him there for your mother to find?”
“Please stop,” Imara begged, her voice cracking.
“Give me the code, then!”
