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Hera
Sitting in the Warden’s office made me uneasy. No, not just uneasy but downright terrified. The meeting hadn’t been added to my schedule—instead, a guard had shown up to escort me without notice.
In my months at Larkwood, the Warden had never summoned me before. I hadn’t spoken directly to her, even. I’d heard her voice in Medical, and she’d come to the interrogation, but I’d yet to meet her directly.
And as I took a seat across from her, I really wished I still hadn’t. She was beyond intimidating. It wasn’t just her attitude but how she could follow through on it.
It was the difference between a puppy snarling and a wolf doing it. The Warden was the wolf—not only would she bite me, but she had the power to make it hurt if she did.
She pushed a writing pad across the desk toward me, which meant she expected a back and forth. “Thank you for your help with the interrogation.”
That wasn’t what I’d expected, and I had no idea what response she wanted, so I only nodded as if to tell her it was fine.
It wasn’t fine, but I couldn’t say that.
“Since you arrived, I’d been wondering what use you might have. As the only 1A shade we have, I expected great things from you.” Her gaze moved to my throat. “At least, I did before we found out you’d been maimed. Even still, it seems your talent at reading people could serve us well.”
I pulled the writing pad over, but still didn’t write anything. Thanking her seemed wrong, because I didn’t want her praise. It felt dirty, especially with Kit’s story still fresh in my mind.
“I’m going to take you off manual labor. That should have been done before, but it seems Kit let it slide. He should have realized you’d have the skills for information extraction and assigned you there, but he didn’t. I wonder why?” Even though the Warden said that like a question, her tone implied she had an idea of why.
I didn’t want Kit to get in trouble for me, so I scribbled down a response.“He’s been trying to help me hone and control it. He probably didn’t want to say anything until I was better at using it.”
She read the words, a cold smile spreading over her red lips as if she heard the lie. Talking to her felt like a game of chess when I didn’t know the rules. She stayed steps ahead of me and each word I spoke seemed like another win for her.Worse, her voice grated on me, made me want to open myself up to what it could show me. Why did that feel so much stronger than usual? Maybe because of all the secrets she held…
“He isn’t normally so careful. Interesting.” She tapped her nail against her chin as she stared at me. “It doesn’t really matter, though. You are a very useful individual, both due to your skills and your bloodline. I’m happy to see that you’ll be moved to doing more beneficial and lucrative work than just pulling weeds. It can afford you a life more in line with what you were used to before coming here.”
I wanted to tell her I enjoyed doing manual labor, but I had a feeling she didn’t give a damn what I wanted or what I’d prefer, so I kept quiet.
“Now, you did help us with Mr. Hemslock, and I am a woman who likes to reward good work. Do you have any specific requests?”
Kit’s warnings went through my head, the fact that this was how the Warden got people to do as she wanted. She got her claws into them like this, just a little. She pretended to offer a tiny gift that seemed harmless, but before long, she’d gain complete control.
I shook my head, not wanting to risk it. The only things I could want from her would be for the escape, and she was the last person I needed to get near that. She was too smart, too powerful. I couldn’t risk asking her for anything related to our plans.
Her smile widened, as if my refusal didn’t surprise her at all. “I thought you might be rather humble. It’s a strange thing from someone like you, with your background. You grew up getting whatever you wanted, showered in praise and luxuries. I’d thought when you came here you’d use that same arrogance to get what you want here.”
“I don’t need anything.”I held out the writing board for her to read.
“Perhaps, or maybe you’re smarter than I’d thought at first. You sure have gathered quite a collection of pawns around you. Gathering goods can only take a person so far, but people? They are a far more useful resource. Few understand that, but given what I’d heard about you, it seems you do. It makes me feel as if you and I might be somewhat similar.”
I drew my hand into a fist. I didn’t care for her words, for her trying to reduce my relationships and real feelings into nothing more than a plot. It uglied something precious to me, dirtied the only good things I had in my life anymore. Worse, she then acted as if the two of us were similar at all.
“Of course,” she added on, “I think the most surprising is Deacon. He has been here for a long while, and after the fling with that shade years ago, he’s shown no signs of repeating that mistake. For you to sway him, I must have underestimated what you can do.”
I swallowed but didn’t respond. Even she’d noticed that? We’d worked so hard to keep it hidden, but it seemed we’d failed.
Her smile widened, though it struck me as far more of a threat. “If you truly take to the work, if you give it your all and prove yourself indispensable, I wouldn’t mind giving you time with him. In fact, there is the chance that I would offer him to you, should you be useful enough. Though, the opposite also holds true.”
The way she could say that without the slightest hesitation reminded me just how dangerous she was. She’d just told me she’d give me a person as a reward if I wanted, while in the same breath, she threatened him if I didn’t do as she wanted.
I spent so much time worrying about myself, I forgot at times that others could end up on the chopping block because of what I did.
The fear she spawned inside me made it harder to block her voice, and a string of images hit me. I saw the Warden in a large, empty house, eating dinner alone. Next, a young girl surrounded by blood and bodies, tears streaming down her face as she screamed for help. Then perfectly manicured fingers punching a code into a panel. The memories hit me in a torrent, one I couldn’t slow down or stop or control. A first kiss. A dark tunnel. A shady conversation where money was exchanged. They came faster and faster until I closed my hands into fists and let my nails dig into my palms so the pain could focus me. It was all too much information to take in at once, and while I had no doubt I’d try to sort through it later, I needed to pay attention for now. The Warden was too big a threat to let myself fall to distraction.
Which meant I had only one answer for her.“What kind of work do you want me to do?”
“I want you to help with intel gathering. There are people like Mr. Hemslock who are brought here. We have interrogators, people like Kit who can convince people quite well, but you can hear the truth in their words.”
