“The lieutenant’s son? Why?”
“She says she is married to him,” I say between gritted teeth.
Knox’s eyes widen.
“Do you think that’s why they switched places?” Knox asks. “Because she eloped without Warrick’s permission.”
“It makes the most sense,” I murmur.
“What will you do if they are wed?” Knox asks.
“I will destroy them both,” I say.
Nobody makes a fool of me. And lives to tell the tale.
chapter
seven
Haven
My fingers shake from my encounter with Ender. Anger coils in my belly like a sleeping beast, waiting to claw its way out. It takes everything in me to walk away from him without lashing out. Sora is waiting for me inside the main building, eyes tight with worry.
“He rarely comes to the training field,” Sora whispers. “Certainly, not the Commons side.”
I am not the only one surprised by his visit. Even though he is the Commandant of this place, people rarely see him. Apparently, he spends most of his time in Block A, the restricted building intended for high-level personnel.
It is clear to see that Ender had come with a single purpose: to break me. And while I can appreciate his dedication to the cause of humbling me, it unsettles me that he came all this way to put me in my place.
Maybe he and Mercy disagreed on a topic? And this is just him taking his frustrations out on me.
Ididadvise Mercy to rile him up.
I roll my shoulders, trying to shake the phantom weight of his blade at my throat. He looked like he wanted to sever my head.
The field had gone silent when he arrived. Everyone’s eyes had been wide with fear. A few strands of his dark hair had fallen into his icy blue eyes, and his ruby-red mouth had been tightened into a razor-thin line. Even I had been a bit alarmed at his presence.
When he looked at me, Ifelthis anger.
“Why did he pick you?” Sora asks.
I shrug.
The worst part isn’t that he attacked me. It’s the fact that I had let my temper get the best of me. I’d made mistakes. Too many. I used my powers to slip out from under his blade when he insulted my mother, slowing the moment just enough to step sideways and punish him. My mother is my weakness. The one person I will defend to my last breath. But using my powers is too dangerous. It had been twice now that I’ve relied on it.
And then there was my little lie.
Grayson Sullivan.
Poor, Gray, I never meant to use him as a scapegoat. I’d thrown his name like a grenade, hoping it would buy me protection. If Ender thought someone powerful cared whether I lived or died, maybe he wouldn’t slit my throat in my sleep. He must have noticed that Warrick doesn’t care for my sister or me.
But the way Ender’s expression changed, I wonder if maybe my lie made thingsworse,not better.
“He looked like he wanted to kill you,” Sora murmurs.
I snort softly.
“He can get in line.”
