She shakes her head slowly, and pity dances across her eyes.
“Not exactly. The past is fixed. But you can travel back to learn from it.”
I swallow. “And the future?”
Her lips curl into a shadow of a smile.
“The future is not fixed either. But I do not recommend looking for it. Time is complicated, and you are just a beginner.”
“So, I can do more than stop time?” I ask. “I can alter the future but not the past?”
“I reckon,” Prue says. “Your powers are listed as illegal on the Registry. In their eyes, you are an Untamed. There must be something about it that they fear. They study the ones who are listed as Untamed in their facilities. They learn the intricacies of their power before they list it as destructive.”
“What is your gift?” I ask curiously.
“I’m a Shield.”
Just like Kaia. Powers don’t work on a Shield.
“But you were frozen,” I say, frowning in confusion. “When I stopped time.”
Prue’s mouth tilts in a smile, and she winks.
“I pretended.”
chapter
sixteen
Ender
Icut into my steak with careful precision, trying hard to smother my anger. Blood trickles from the incision, pooling onto the turquoise plate. It is almost ten, andsheis still not here. I only invited Haven so I could watch them interact and see how well they keep up the ruse. I was hoping that they would slip and call the other by the wrong name or reveal some other detail giving me an opening to apprehend them.
“You said my sister would be here by now,” Mercy says in an accusatory tone. “Where is she?”
The only reason she’s sitting at the dining table and not holed up in her room is that she expects Haven to arrive. We both go to great lengths to avoid each other.
“It is clear to see your sister is incapable of keeping her word,” I say, between gritted teeth.
My radio beeps, and I slip it from my pocket.
I head to my private office and shut the door behind me.
“Knox?” I bark. “Where the hell are you?”
“Ender Vale,” a woman says. “It is nice to finally speak to the Supreme Director’s most brutal enforcer.”
My jaw tightens. Rebels. Of course, I should have known that Knox would never be late without an advanced warning. Despitehis cavalier attitude, he is a good soldier who understands the value of my time.
“Where is he?” I ask, seething. “If you touch him, I will kill you.”
“The boy is safe for now,” she says. “As is the High General’s daughter.”
“You have Mercy?” I ask.
The question is foolish. They were both traveling together. In fact, I am certain that she is their target.
“Is that her name?” she asks. “The girls are so hard to tell apart.”
