Page 76 of The Honor Society

I claimed her. I told her she was mine. I was scared.

Because all I ever wanted was for her to look at me Axel—Proctor—Monster—Man and say the one thing that nobody ever has.

You belong.

To yourself.

And, if you’ll let me, to me.

“I will not ask again. Get back in fucking line, Charlotte.” Famine yells.

Charlie doesn’t even look at her. She locks eyes with me. “You said possession and ownership are two different things.”

“I did.” I barely breathe the words out.

She nods. “Then prove it.”

Famine laughs, the white silk moving across her face. “Then by all means.”

Charlie turns towards her. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Silence descends.

Charlie barely moves. “I request Proctor to remove his mask.”

My heart stops. Wait. That little devil. She’s not voting. She’s asking. It’s not a vote. Anyone can ask, but it’s against the rules for me, it’s against the rules for a Horseman to ask without voting. Charlie is no Horseman. She’s trying to prove something. My brain twists.

Famine snorts. “Then you concede my motion.”

“No.” Charlie shakes her head. “I prove his argument about why he keeps it on and why he should and why this is stupid.”

Rhodes goes very still. This could go so many different ways. The pieces I moved are now knocked over because Charlie’s gone rogue. What the hell is happening.

Charlie looks around the table. “The Proctor doesn’t wear a mask because he’s afraid of us knowing who he is. He wears it, truly wears it, because if you knew every relationship he has, every person he loves, every debt attached to his name could be used to influence this office and The Horsemen.” Her eyes find mine again. “And believe me when I say this man has enough influence to burn this entire fucking organization to the ground. Decimating The Honor Society and everyone within it.”

“But,” she sniffs. “He didn’t. He chose to become The Proctor, your Proctor instead and keep order and balance and sacrifice. He let The Proctor own him instead. And he made that choice on his own.”

Fuck me.

“He gave up his name, so none of you could use it. His family so none of you could threaten it. His face, so none of you could pass judgement on loving it or hating it before he passed judgement.”

She comes closer. “So, no Famine, you don’t get to unmask him.”

Charlie stops directly in front of me. “I do.”

My lungs are having a hard time working.

I know what those words mean.

I know what comes next.

Her eyes shine as she lifts up her hands. “Take off the mask.”

That little devil! She isn’t calling for a fucking vote! She’s asking. There’s a difference. A Horseman can move to unmask The Proctor but doing so formally challenges the neutrality of the office. If the motion passes the mask comes off and The Proctor’s deciding authority transfers to The Chancellor. But Charlie isn’t a seated Horseman.

She has no vote.

She can only ask.