“Because you’re a sadistic asshole who likes to hurt sweet, innocent girls.”
“If that’s the case, why would I pickyou?” He raises a brow. “You are neither sweet nor innocent.”
“Very funny,” I say dryly.
A low hum vibrates as his badge scans, and the gates grind upward. The enforcer gives him a curt nod before we step inside the secure base. The building is sunk into the ground at an unnatural angle. It is windowless and unwelcoming. Watchtowers ring the perimeter, and armed enforcers track our every move.
A spike of anxiousness travels down my spine.
“I’m serious, Vale. Where are you taking me?”
We enter the building, and he scans his badge again. The advanced level of security frightens me. Whatever is in here, they want to keep it hidden. Rumor has it that they have containment cells here. Transport trucks come through every few weeks, escorting a handful of prisoners. We see it every Tuesday like clockwork when we’re doing our outdoor training.
An enforcer sits at the front desk with a bored expression. He straightens when he sees the Commandant, dutifully pressing his fist to his chest in greeting.
Ender barely acknowledges him, leading me down the stairs and into an empty corridor. Wherever he is taking me, nobody will be able to hear my screams from down here. Doors line the walls, each marked with coded numbers, and somewhere below us, a generator drums, feeding power into the building. The air is colder the lower we go, and I shiver.
I commit every detail to memory just in case I have to escape this place. I can’t help but wonder if Ender knows what my sister and I did. Surely, he wouldn’t dismember me, because I did a little twin swap, would he? He can’t be that uptight.
I eye him subtly. He moves like a panther, like a creature that belongs in the woods and not in civilized areas. I realize then that hewouldhurt me for tricking him. He is brutal. He had to be to climb the ranks so quickly.
Even if he is the Supreme Director’s son, there is nothing rich or pompous about Ender Vale. He is a soldier. He is a fighter.
I stop walking.
“Come along, Warrick,” he says harshly. “I don’t have all day.”
“I want to know where you’re taking me?”
The fluorescent light dances across his beautiful face as he turns to face me. He looks particularly wolfish today. And I take a reluctant step backwards. I don’t like this place. I don’t like him.
“Do you know what I do?” he asks. “In the military, that is?”
“Hunt rebels and collect medals,” I say.
A corner of his mouth lifts. It can hardly be considered a smile. But it is close.
“I don’t hunt,” he says. He stops an arm’s length away, close enough that I can smell the clean scent of his uniform and see the bone-white scar that traces his jawline. “Well, perhaps sometimes if I am bored, but I am the one who crawls in here.” He taps my mind. “You can’t even begin to imagine the horrors I can make you see.”
A shiver runs through me.
“You’re here because you were hand-picked by a trusted member of my unit to join my training program,” he says, his tone low and even.
My eyes narrow. “Why would they pick me? I have no powers.”
Ender steps aside to reveal a glass door. He scans his badge again, and it slips open.
We step into an expensive indoor drill hall. The ceiling is arched and high enough to swallow sound. Strip lights line the ceiling, casting a white glow around the space. The floor is a composite of dark stone and shock-absorbent plating. Obstacle courses are placed across the floor with retractable walls, suspended platforms, and skeletal towers of metal and mesh designed for climbing and pursuit.
To one side is a sand-filled sparring pit, and beside it is a shooting range, with training dummies lined up in rigid rows. Each one is embedded with sensors that blink faintly, prepared to register damage.
Nine recruits wear muted gray practice clothes and stand in a circle. I feel a little ridiculous in my outfit. Maybe I slightly overdid it with the vest.
“This is Black Star,” Ender says. “My operations unit. Our specialty lies in infiltration, extraction, recon, and neutralization.”
Ender walks towards the north wall, where four other people linger. His hands are clasped behind his back, posture flawless. Several pairs of eyes shift towards him, trailing his every move. He surveys the recruits with clinical precision, as if he already finds them lacking.
Knox leans against a metal pillar. He gives me a faint nod when our eyes meet, unsurprised by my arrival.
