I struggle harder, but they’re pinning me down. I open my eyes to see Gavin with a determined look on his face. Asher stands at my side, leaning over my chest, holding my arms down. More pain rips through my body and it jerks. My head spins opposite of my stomach and I think I’m going to be sick, but neither Gavin nor Asher will let me up.
Without warning, I feel bugs crawling over my feet, burrowing into my skin, slithering across my muscles and nerve endings. I try pulling away, but it only gets worse and worse. Those nasty little bugs crawling up over my feet, past my ankles, my shins, knees, until more than half my body feels like it’s infested with the horrible burrowing insects. I scream, wiggling and struggling to get away. But the firebugs continue to ravage my body, over my chest, up my neck, until I’m gagging on them, fighting to breathe.
Voices crowd around me. Shouting, whispering, rising and falling around me like waves.
Then, just when I think I can’t take any more, it stops and I feel nothing. No pain. No burrowing insects. Nothing but the strange floatiness I felt before. My eyes drift closed.
My eyes fly open. Every bone in my body aches. Sweat clings to my skin and blood bubbles on my mouth where my teeth tore into my lips. My whole body feels like it’s encased in ice.
I’m lying naked in a room of all white, strapped down to the bed, Technicians floating around me, murmuring.
“Excellent candidate,” one says. “Procedure went perfectly. Tell Mother. She’ll want to watch this one.”
One of the female Technicians helps me sit up, wrapping a robe around my shoulders. She smiles at me. “Congratulations, Evelyn. You’re officially an Enforcer.”
I kneel, careful not to get too close. He’s quite obviously a Surface Dweller and therefore unpredictable.
“Hello,” I say softly. “I won’t hurt you.”
He shrinks away from me and narrows his eyes, but adjusts his body, bracing his legs. It’s obvious he’s positioning himself to run again.
“Yeah, right.” His voice is scratchy, as if he’s swallowed too much saltwater.
I try again, using a smile this time—a woman’s best weapon is her smile, unless there’s a loaded Beretta 9mm nearby. I frown. What an odd thought. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me. You don’t know me, but I assure you, I mean you no harm. My name is Evelyn Winters. I’m the Daughter of the People.”
“Gavin Hunter,” he answers warily.
I smile again, a real one this time, and he blinks, as if surprised.
“Gavin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Faster,” the woman says, mashing a button on the box in her hand.
Suddenly my blood’s on fire and I scream, collapsing onto the ground. Almost instantly the pain stops, but I’m still gasping for breath, even as I lurch to my feet and jump onto the rope swinging from the ceiling, pulling myself up hand over hand. Even as I push the button to ring the bell at the top, I know it’s my fastest time yet. I let myself drop, bending my knees as I was taught to absorb the force of my weight.
“Good.” The instructor smiles. “Faster.” She presses the button again.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Of course not. Why would I leave? This is my home. I’m just going to make sure you get back to the door that leads to the Surface. You’re all healed, so you should have no problems getting out okay after that.”
“But what about the Enforcers? Won’t they kill you for helping me?”
“A chill tickles my spine and I suppress a shudder, but I say, “I’m the Daughter of the People. Mother will never believe it was me who helped you.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “I’d feel better if you came with me,” he says.
“If you’re really concerned about me, you won’t argue with me. The clock is running and the sooner you get out, the less chance they’ll figure it out.”
“But the guards saw you.”
“Who will Mother believe? The Guards? Or her own daughter? Now come on!”
“Fine, but this conversation isn’t over,” he says, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “So, we’re on the run now, right?”
“Yes.”
“Great.” He grabs my arm and spins me around, and then pushes me back with his body so I bump into the wall. Before I can say anything he leans down so his mouth captures mine.
At first I freeze, afraid of the punishment that’s surely coming. I start to struggle to get away from him, but then, as my mind fogs from his scent and taste, I melt in his arms. If not for his hands holding me steady at my hips, I would be a puddle on the ground. His lips are sweet and soft, but insistent. The kiss makes my head spin. As far as first kisses go, I can’t imagine a better one.
A girl lies at my feet, her face covered in blood, her arm twisted by her side at an awkward angle. She’s older than me and almost a complete Enforcer. Sweat covers every inch of skin and my body is bruised and battered, but I held my own. I stand there as straight as I can, wanting to pant as my body craves oxygen, but I will maintain control over myself. No one will know how I almost lost. How winded and exhausted I am. Especially not Mother.
She watched the entire thing, and now she strolls over to us both, flicking a gaze down at the girl who’s trying to push herself up on her good arm before turning her attention to me.
My lips want to pull up in a smile as she inspects me. Instead, I pull myself straighter, ignoring the excruciating pain in my ribs from where the girl kicked me. Mother’s gaze travels from my head to my feet and back again, before she turns away without saying a word.
I close my eyes against the dismissal and let my shoulders droop.
I struggle to remain standing. I’ll kill him before I go down. Again, I raise the gun, aiming for his head. I won’t miss this time. I won’t fail again.
He closes his eyes and steps forward, pressing the gun to his own head.
“What are you doing?” I ask. Panic is tearing through me and I don’t know why. I should be grateful he’s doing my job for me.
“Making it easier for you. With that arm, you wouldn’t be able to hit the broad side of a barn.”
“Are you crazy?”
He nods and there’s a small ghost of a smile. “Yeah. I think maybe I am. I’ve fallen in love with a girl who’s programmed to kill me. Not a very sane thing to do, is it?
My jaw drops. “What? What did you say?”
He looks straight into my eyes. “I love you, Evie.”
“This is your chance, Evelyn. You won’t get another one like it today. Failure will not be tolerated,” my mentor says. We’re standing in the Square, waiting for Sorting. The water is dark blue over our heads and I can hear the low moaning of the whales in the distance. The Square is decorated in black and purple.