To my surprise, he releases me.
“You can visit her for one hour tomorrow,” Ender says. “At 10 o’clock.”
I scramble to my feet, staring at him with a wary look. Is he letting me see Mercy even though I lost? That seems highly unlikely.
“I didn’t win,” I say slowly. “And I attacked you.”
“Do you want to see her or not?” Ender asks sharply.
“I’ll be there,” I say quickly, in case he changes his mind.
I can’t resist my next words.I hate that he bested me. It infuriates me in ways that I cannot describe.
“One day,” I say, my voice steady despite the tremor in my hands. “I’m going to be the one standing over you. One day, I’ll have you on your knees.”
Ender stills. He leans in slowly, close enough that I can feel the heat of his body and inhale his warm scent. He smells like fresh laundry and mint.
“If I am ever on my knees before you,” he says, “it’ll be because Iwantto be. Not because you forced me.”
chapter
fifteen
Haven
“Excited to see your sister?” Knox asks.
I’ve been rolling and unrolling my window for the past two minutes. I can’t help myself. It’s been far too long since I saw my twin. Five whole weeks. Mercy and I aren’t exactly attached at the hip, but we have lived together our entire lives. This distance feels strange.
“You have no idea,” I say.
“I’m surprised Ender allowed you,” he says. “All things considered.”
My head turns towards him. His blue hair is lazily mussed.
“You know windows are supposed to be kept up during transport,” he advises. “The military truck is bulletproof, but it doesn’t apply if you give them a clear shot.”
I wind up my window and sigh.
“What do you mean by ‘all things considered’?” I ask.
“You lied about your marriage to Grayson,” Knox says.
“Huh,” I say thoughtfully.
“What?”
“I didn’t think he’d look that up,” I say. “But I can’t say I’m upset he wasted a few precious hours of his day.”
“Actually,Iwasted a few precious hours of my day,” Knox says, giving me a pointed look.
I smile sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“Why did you lie?”
Knox has this easy-going quality about him. It makes me want to confide in him. Besides, it’s a twenty-minute drive to Ender’s house, and we have to kill time somehow.
“Grayson is not my husband, but he is my best friend,” I say. “We were close before he got transferred to Division Six. And even if he isn’t my husband, if anything happened to me, Grayson and Reed Sullivan would destroy Ender. I said it to frighten him.”
