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Instantly, my mouth dries. I have come to learn that the white-haired man is always associated with pain. I don’t know his name, and he has never offered it, but his demeanor and the way the guards defer to him tell me he is high up in this terrible organization.
“We meet again, Thirteen.”
I want to laugh. They use numbers here for everyone. It’s meant to degrade us, to reduce us to nothing more than animals who remember nothing about themselves.
Tell people it’s the number of hunters you’ve killed.
I remember telling someone that once, but I don’t know who.
I blink away the half-baked memory. I need to concentrate, and my brain already feels foggy. I don’t remember a lot, but I do know that letting my guard down around this man is dangerous.
He reaches out, pressing a hand against my forehead. I slam my spine against the back of the chair, turning my head away from him. I don’t want his disgusting fingers anywhere near me.
He clucks his tongue, clearly annoyed at my lack of respect. “You still have a fever, Thirteen.”
He says it as if I’m to blame for it, as if I have brought it upon myself to feel unwell. My bare feet burn against the coldness of the tile under my soles. In fact, every exposed inch of my skin is starting to pebble.
“I don’t feel so good.”
“I know. I’m afraid that is my fault. The magic I’ve had you perform is not for the fainthearted, but I need to know. All our lives depend on the answers you can find for us.”
It seems like a big ask for someone who spends the majority of her time locked in a room away from everyone. I also don’t remember what magic he’s had me do before, and that doesn’t seem like a positive thing. “Please, I just want to sleep.”
His fingers fist into my hair, dragging my head back so hard that it feels as if something snaps in my neck. I can’t stop the pained whimper that spills from my mouth.
“Would you prefer to be in the breeding rooms? Because I seem to remember you begging me not to leave you down there, Thirteen. The only way I don’t fill your belly with hundreds of hybrid soldiers is if you do this for me.”
He releases me with a shove so hard that I tumble off the chair, crying out as I slam against the tile floor. I sob, unable to control the emotions rolling through me. I feel so unwell; I just want to rest.
“Is that what you would prefer? To be rutted over and over until your belly swells? Because that can be arranged.”
I shake my head vigorously, ignoring the dizziness it brings. I don’t want to be raped. I sure as hell don’t want to be impregnated by somebody I don’t know.
My hands cover my stomach as if that can protect me from the fate he is threatening. “What do you need me to do?”
He grabs my bicep, dragging me up off the floor and shoving me back onto the chair. “You need to look into the future.”
I blink at him. “What?”
His jaw tightens. “Spare me the disbelief. You do it every time. You say it can’t be done, I tell you it can, and we do it anyway.”
His words confuse me. Every time? I don’t remember ever doing this before. Surely I’d remember seeing the future.
He places his hands on either side of my head, and I try not to flinch at his disgusting touch. “Dig deep, Thirteen. You need to see what’s coming.”
I don’t have the first clue what I’m doing, but I feel warmth spread from his hands, and something unlocks inside me. That warmth is now inside my chest, a small nugget of heat.
Power.
The word floats through my mind. I have power. I can get out of here.
As I reach inside for my magic, his hands tighten over the sides of my face until it feels as if my bones are being crushed. I scream out in pain.
“I know what you’re thinking of doing. Try it, and what I’ll do to you will make you wish you were dead.”
He releases his hold, and the pain subsides enough for me to draw in a breath. Dragging a wheeze, I hear the door behind me open.
I try to look over my shoulder, but I don’t need to because the woman comes to stand in front of me. She is the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on. Her amber-colored irises take me in as she plays absently with the dark braid resting over her shoulder. There is a hoop through her nose, and she has a pendant around her neck of a tree with thick branches.
