I shudder at the thought. I had my tongue down Gray’s throat before.
“No,” he says quickly. “Come on, Mercy.”
“It was just a thought,” she says sheepishly.
“It wasaftermy mother died,” he explains. “He helped her settle in at Division Eight and paid her bills to keep you all afloat when he learned about the pregnancy. She told him about her fears regarding your powers.” His eyes dart to me again. “He was deployed in the Wastes when the execution happened. He would have saved her.”
My throat tightens, and I glance back at Mercy to see the same pain reflected in her eyes.
“You lied to me,” I whisper.
“Yes,” he admits. His shoulders drop in guilt. “To keep you safe. Prue never told him she was using you as an undercover spy. He was mad when he found out.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,theyknow what I am,” I say. “The Supreme Director knows.”
“Knox told me about the arrest,” Gray says. “He took me to Mercy. And she explained the rest.”
I glance back at Mercy, surprised.
“Knox helped you?” I ask.
Her cheeks flush.
“I think he felt bad for me,” she says, staring down at her lap.
I don’t know how she can’t see that he likes her. He risked his neck to get her out. He went against his best friend for her.
“He knows that Ender is compromised,” Gray says. His eyes flash towards me. “And that the Commandant would not want you or your sister to be hurt, despite how it may appear.”
The mention of Ender makes my chest ache. I can’t stop thinking about how he defended me in front of his father. How he broke every rule he’s ever followed for me. He owes me nothing. Yet he risked everything.
“We left him,” I say. I sit upright. “We have to go back for him.”
“His Bind was upgraded.” Gray shakes his head. “Ender is gone.”
“That’s not true,” I say. “We can fix him.”
“How?”
“I’ll force him to remember,” I say. “I’ll remind him of who he is.”
“And who is that?” Grayson scoffs. “A raging asshole?”
I open my mouth to defend him when Mercy speaks.
“Can she do that?” Mercy asks. “Can she fix him?”
“This isexactlywhat your mother warned us about,” he says. “At any minute, they can turn our emotions off remotely. We have no control, no autonomy. We’re trying to find a way to remove the implant without blowing off our heads, but it’s difficult. The one person who can help us got arrested a few months ago.”
“We can find a way to help Ender,” I say. “He doesn’t want to serve his father. Not anymore. Not after everything.”
I saw it in the arena. Ender was done with him.
“Let’s get you to safety first,” Gray says. “And then we’ll worry about everything else.”
Several miles later, we finally reach our destination. The forest thickens around the road. Bare branches scratch at our roof. The trail forks, veering sharply off the asphalt and into the dirt path ahead. Gray drives into the shadows until a massive stone facade appears.
It’s a building constructed into the mouth of a cave. The car slips inside the opening.
