“No, but we assumed he was showing you something,” she says. “You were frozen in fear a few times.”
“It wasn’t a fair fight,” I say bitterly. “He is a coward.”
Sora glances around nervously.
“You have to be careful,” she says. “He is dangerous.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” I lie.
His powers terrify me. Each time he created a new illusion, I fell for it.
“Why is he so interested in you?” she asks.
I hate that I am lying to her when she is my only friend here, but I am not ready to reveal the truth. I’ve gone this far without mentioning my ties to the High General or that my sister is engaged to the Commandant of the Forge. Even if the truth grants me protection, I refuse to rely on the reputation of Ender and Warrick to keep me safe.
Those men have more in common than I realized.
“He is a cruel, heartless man,” I say. “Just like the other Gifted.”
Sora tenses. But I don’t give a damn who overhears. I’ll repeat the words to his face. I’ll scream it from the damn rooftops. He came here to humiliate me, to dangle my sister like a prize when he had no intention of finishing the fight.
Ender will burn for this one day.
And I will be in the distance, smiling when the flames swallow him whole.
chapter
nine
Ender
The war room is silent as I wait for my unit’s arrival. The wall hosts a giant digital map of New Foundry, lined with city grids and glowing markers that highlight troop movements. There is an identical screen to the left with a live feed of the different boroughs. I can make out the smog-choked skies and the unending mining companies that fill the Flatlands like roaches. Arrow Hill and its brick-stone universities and green lawns. Fort Canyon and its reservoirs and deserts.
People flitter across the streets, unaware that we arealwayswatching.
The old continents are blacked out, but their names are written below. There were Stellar, Port Miles, Bay Islands, and Alpha Point.
The Bay Islands are completely submerged, and the rest succumbed to radiation. Millions of people were wiped out during the aftermath of the Nuclear War. The nuke came from here, Division Two to be specific; it’s the only reason we’re alive right now. It’s also why the sky looks sick most of the time. Bleak and gray, like fog that never lifts.
We’ve been surveying the old continents to see if any are habitable. Alpha Point seems to be the most promising.
I pace steadily, studying the increase of red dots that highlight potential rebel hideouts. Their numbers are growing, and with it, my father’s agitation. We suspect that the Resistance has about five thousand dedicated members and a semi-functioning military.
The Supreme Director has a leash around my throat, by the name of Ansel Ashford––a Colonel who is under Reed Sullivan’s command and, by extension, Orson Warrick––who secretly reports to my father and is always following me around the Forge like a shadow.
Ansel wanted to be the Commandant after Breckin stood down, but he was passed over for me. He’s been bitter ever since.
“First one here,” Knox says, obnoxiously loud.
He’s always the last one to arrive, but he has a bet with Spider Halstead. They always have some wager or another going on. I don’t know why Knox indulges him.
The door bangs open, and Spider rushes inside, skidding to a stop when he sees Knox. His boots screech annoyingly against the hardwood floor.
I sigh deeply and turn back to face the map.
“Fuck,” Spider curses.
I’m trying to study the pattern of these attacks, but these two idiots rarely keep quiet.
