He barks out a laugh. “That means yes. And you didn’t answer my question—does anyone else know about you and Redden?”
“Only Xavier.” Bitterness creeps through me. “Why, is that something I need to disclose tomorrow?”
“No. Your personal life is none of their business. I just wasn’t sure if Ade already knew.” Gray sips his wine, watching me over the rim of his glass. “Was he involved in your escape?”
“No,” I lie.
His eyebrows rise in challenge. “He didn’t order Ford to get you off the base?”
“No. Cross would never give up his best lieutenant. Xavier acted on his own.”
Gray nods. I don’t know if he believes me, but I’m not going to sit here and try to convince him. I’m too tired for that.
“Still can’t believe Lyddie turned you in,” he muses. “I mean, I knew she was a hardcore loyalist, but that girl loved you.”
“Apparently not. After she saw my bloodmark, I tried to feed her a story about how the Company knew all about it and I was an undercover operative, a loyalist like her. For a moment there, I thought she believed me. She promised she wouldn’t say anything. Then she turned around and reported me for concealment.”
“Quat.”
Sadness lodges inside me, filling the corners of my chest where Ithought I’d found a real friend. “She’s been programmed to hate people like us. So I get it. That’s what happens when you’re fed Company propaganda your entire life. She felt betrayed by me.”
“She betrayedyou.”
“We betrayed each other, I guess.” I wearily get to my feet. “I need to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I leave the wineglass on the counter and walk toward the bedroom, a heavy feeling settling over me.
“Wren.”
His voice stops me before I can slip away.
I turn to face him. “Yeah?”
“Don’t lie tomorrow during disclosure,” he advises. “Just be honest.”
“I will,” I assure him, even though I plan on lying about plenty of things.
I hesitate in the doorway. I can’t decipher his expression, whether he’s warning me or showing concern. I do see a softness there, though. A familiar flicker that reminds me of our tight-knit friendship on the Command base.
“Grayson…do you trust these people?”
“I do, yes. And you can, too.”
“Kallister told me that he voted to rescue Jim from the execution. Is that true?”
“It is. Majority ruled against it.”
I take another step, but he stops me again.
“Darlington, I really don’t want to vote to send you back to the wards. So do me a favor and don’t give them a reason to call that vote.”
Chapter 4
“Are you ready to begin?” Adrienne says the next morning. I sit at the head of the war room table, five sets of eyes trained on me.
I gulp, wiping my damp palms on the front of my pants. I feel like I’m back in school. Ihatedschool. I was the worst student, the one who could never sit still. From the moment the first class started until the second we were dismissed, I’d fix my gaze out the window, desperate to be outside riding my horse or shooting my rifle.
“Should I be treating this like a test?” I ask, feeling uneasy.
