You’re no better than Warrick. You killed someone to get ahead. You hurt a person for power.
It is impossible to remember what I am fighting for right now. I want the truth. I want justice. I want to change the world. But at what cost? Is one to become a monster to defeat another? Didn’t the regime begin to liberate the people from the greed of our war-hungry predecessor, the president, whose face and name were erased from history, like solvent on an oil painting.
But somewhere along the way, the men in power changed, morphing into the very evil they claimed to save us from.
How fickle human nature was that they could so easily forget their oath, and change so drastically that one day, when they looked in the mirror, they wouldn’t recognize what stared back at them.
I’m too deep in now to turn around. I have to follow this path even if I lose my soul along the way.
I signed my life away to Black Star.
It’s kill or be killed. And today, I showed the world which side I stand on.
A knock sounds on my door. I rouse from my slumber, warily eyeing the door. It’s too late for visitors, and Ender has his pass. He wouldn’t bother with announcing his arrival. He would barge in like the entitled prick that he is.
Maybe it’s Aric and his friends who’ve come to punish me for killing their squadmate. I grab my gun and let the doors slide open.
Rei stands there, looking terrible. Her face is bruised, and there is gauze wrapped around her arms from the burn marks she sustained. Her head is shaved. Her hair must have gotten scorched during the fight.
“What do you want?” I bark. “If you came for a fight, I’m angry enough to give you one.”
“No.” She shakes her head before taking a deep breath. “I came to thank you.”
My eyes widen slightly before my brows furrow. I don’t care about her empty words. Rei has been nothing but awful since I met her. If she weren’t on my team, I would probably let that girl roast her like a pig.
“Don’t expect it to happen again,” I say harshly. “Your friends want your head as bad as they want mine. Next time, I might just let them take it.”
I punch the button to seal the doors, but she slides a hand in the air, forcing the automatic seal to reopen. I know I wanted to work with her, but I didn’t expect to see her so soon. Right now, I despise Rei Carver.
“I mean it,” Rei says. There is something that looks suspiciously like guilt in her eyes. “I wouldn’t be alive without you. You didn’t have to save me.”
“You’re right, I didn’t,” I say. “So, leave before I rectify my mistake.”
“You have no reason to trust me, but I’m done with Aric and hi?—”
“No, they’re done withyou,” I correct.
Her cheeks turn red, and I enjoy the sight of her humiliation. She deserves it.
“I want us to work together, as Flint said. I want us to protect each other in there until we’re the final three.”
“I remember what you said when Flint brought that up.”
“We hated you because you were strong and unafraid,” Rei explains. “The Commons never meet our gaze. They never challenge us, but you are not like them.”
“So, I deserve to be insulted and tormented for it?” I ask.
“No,” Rei says hastily. “It was wrong of us to hurt you. I apologize for my actions.”
As much as I want to close the door on her again. Itwouldbe wiser to work together. She’s a strong Kinetic who trained with Aric before, so she knows his fighting style. She might also have more information on the others’ weaknesses.
“Fine,” I say. “Partners until the end.”
Rei sighs in relief and offers me her hand. I resist the urge to swat it and shake it instead.
This is a partnership. It doesn’t mean we have to be friends or like each other.
We’ll work together until the end.
