Page 38 of Stormbreaker

“What’s going on?” I ask, rushing over and dropping to my knees. “Trinity!”

She looks up, and then she throws her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder.

“Poet,” she gasps. She’s shaking and crying so hard that she can barely breathe, wet, choking sobs hiccupping from her throat. I hug her so tightly that it feels like her ribs might crack, but she clings to me as the wind whips around us.

After a few moments, she ever so slowly stops trembling. Edward watches us, a guarded wariness in his eyes. When Trinity finally catches her breath, she pulls away, and I grip her by the shoulders.

“Trinity, what happened?” I ask.

She slumps against the railing.

“I tried to fight him,” she says, clearly referring to the man she was asked to battle with. Plenty of people have passed their Fiama initiation by now, which means several people have died. I stop. Not died. They were murdered. Taken and caged and then used as an example. No matter their crimes, this can’t be what justice truly looks like.

My stomach churns, bile threatening to climb up my throat.

“But he was too strong. I tripped, and then he was on me . . .” She chokes on another sob. “I fought him off as long as I could, any way I could.”

She looks so defeated, but she’s also too pale with sweaty curls of red hair clinging to her temples. A warning fires in my head.

“But you passed, Trin,” I say, trying to soothe her. “It’s over. Only one trial left. You can do this.”

“I didn’t pass,” she moans. “I couldn’t kill him . . . but he couldn’t kill me, either. They called it a tie. So, by the rules of initiation, they’re letting me try again, but I have to finish both of the next tests. This one didn’t count.”

It’s not an ideal outcome, but it isn’t hopeless. Really, we’re sort of in the same situation. My gaze holds hers, tears trickling down her cheeks, eyes wide in desperation.

“Trin, is something else the matter?” I scan her from head to toe as she reaches up and pulls away the lapel of her coat, revealing a long, festering wound slashed across her collarbone. I’m no expert, but it’s already oozing and looks infected.

“Skies!” I say, sitting up and holding out my hands without touching her, worried I’ll make it worse. “We have to get that looked at immediately.”

“What’s the point?” she asks, tears filling her eyes. “I’m about to be cast from Society. I’d rather be dead. Anything is better than this humiliation.”

She inhales a shuddering breath, her eyes sliding closed as her head lists to the side. I think she might be on the verge of passing out.

“Trinity,” Edward says, shaking her gently.

He stares up at me, his hair falling in his eyes, as if I have any idea how to fix this.

“Does anyone know?” Trinity asks, her voice hoarse and cracking.

When I don’t answer, her eyes open.

“I’m not sure,” I say.

Even within Society, there are hierarchies, and the Robinses aren’t a family with much significance. It means Trinity has always enjoyed the luxury of flying under the radar, and her every move doesn’t incite a flurry of gossip. Nevertheless, failing to pledge is a stain on anyone’s family.

This is really what Amery is all about . . . deciding who is worthy of Society’s resources and who is not. That we’re all just a liability, and like a diseased plant, we’re pruned to keep the entire vine from dying.

I always knew this on some level, but witnessing Trinity’s desperation, having just felt my father’s wrath, the truth lances me through the chest.

My mouth presses together in frustration as I wonder about the utter futility of this system. What’s the point of it all? I shake my head. These aren’t thoughts I should be having. We’re reminded every single morning of the point. Without it, order inside New Manhattan would break down. Everyone’s lives would be in jeopardy, from Society to cogs to Hollows.

“No,” I say firmly. “We’re getting you to the med wing.” I gesture to Edward, who moves like he’s working through hardened concrete.

“Help her up,” I say, trying not to snap at him. He’s obviously in shock.

Trinity’s head lolls again, her consciousness ebbing, and I’m going to kill whoever let her walk out of her test injured like this. But this is what Society does. They take care of their own until you’re not.

But Trinity’s still Society, and I refuse to let anyone be done with her yet.