“Aric and his friends are colluding against me. They are corroborating each other’s lies.” I stare at him harshly. “Also, did you think that maybe the rebel has standards. Who wants a lowly Common when there are so many powerful Gifted ripe for the taking?”
Ender’s hand comes down on the table.
The sound cracks through the room like a gunshot.
“You’re not clever enough to joke your way out of this,” he says, voice low. “So I’ll ask you one last time. Did you help her escape?”
The air feels hotter, and that damn light is burning my skin.
“No,” I say.
And that, at least, is true. Serenity used her powers to flee.
Ansel studies my face, searching for cracks. They exchange a long, silent look. One that makes me nervous.
Ender straightens. His gaze returns to me.
“Get out of my sight.”
“We’re done.” Ansel stands. “For now.”
The door opens behind me. Ender speaks just before I leave.
“Warrick, if you’re lying to me…”
He lets the sentence fall unfinished. The threat is clear in his voice.
I don’t look back, because if I do, I’m afraid he’ll see the deception in my eyes.
Rei is waiting for me outside when they release me.
“How did it go?” she asks.
“My retina aches from that light. Did they shine it in your face?”
“Yes,” she says. “They must want answers if Ansel is there.”
“Why was he even there?” I ask. “Ender Vale doesn’t need him to frighten a bunch of young recruits. His freaky eyes do that with no help at all.”
“Ansel Ashford is a Class Two Gifted,” Rei says slowly. “He can sense when one is lying.”
For a moment, the room spins around me, and I fear that I’ll pass out. This information is alarming to say the least. Most of my answers were a twist of the truth. Serenitydidescape on her own. I just provided her with the opportunity. But I don’t know how Ansel’s powers work. I have to assume that my words didn’t hold up under his scrutiny, which is a frightening thought.
I understood the risks of working with the Resistance, but now that my life is in peril, I realize that I don’t want to die before I’ve accomplished anything of worth. I can’t leave my sister behind in this cruel world.
“That’s…”
“A crazy power,” she finishes. “He’s often used for torture sessions and can tell when a prisoner is misleading. He also happens to be Clover’s father.”
My eyes widen at this newfound knowledge.
“He wasn’t pleased when the Supreme Director chose your sister over Clover,” Rei says. “Clover and Ender were raised together. Everyone assumed they would get married. It made sense. Until it didn’t.”
I suspect Warrick forced the Supreme Director to make this match. He must have dirt on him. Warrick had an intensive spy network. It was why he commanded so much fear. He was always greasing someone or the other’s pocket. He was both a strategistanda politician.
“My father could not resist making the match,” I say. “I think a part of him hates that my sister and I do not possess any gifts. It left him with no choice but to find a way to enhance our status in society. And what better way than through marriage?”
“I used to think that not having powers made one weak,” Rei admits, glancing at me with a pointed look. “You showed me otherwise, Mercy. You are the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
