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And that’s when I spot her.
Pale golden hair that wisps around her ears. A spot of light in the dark. She’s as bored as the rest of them. She’s also one of the only girls here tonight.
Most of the others were killed.
But she’s been rewoven, I think, to a more deserving family. And my actions placed her here, with a family that deserved a child in exchange for the one Maela’s hook stole.
I don’t even think. I dash towards her. This actually elicits a response from the crowd. Men jump back and mothers snatch up toddlers from the ground. I must look insane, flying through the masses, my hair whipping behind me and my ankles barely keeping me straight up in my heels. All that matters is getting to her, and no one tries to stop me. They’re too surprised.
When I reach her, a woman pulls her close to her side, and I look at her more carefully. Unlike
the others, this surrogate mother regards me with fear. But Amie stares at me with blank curiosity. There’s no hint of recognition in her eyes. The eager greeting, the one she used to give me every day after academy, doesn’t spring from her lips.
She has no idea who I am.
‘Amie,’ I whisper, stretching out my hand, and willing her to remember.
‘Her name is Riya,’ the woman informs me, her voice full of warning. ‘She’s my daughter.’
‘Her name is Amie,’ I challenge her under my breath.
‘My name is Riya,’ Amie repeats, mimicking the woman’s warning. But there’s a sadness in her tone. Not for herself, but for me – for the crazy girl whispering desperate lies in front of her.
A warm hand touches my shoulder gently.
‘Come on,’ Jost says gruffly. ‘We need to go.’
I look at him, barely able to see him through the veil of tears I’m trying to keep from falling. He leads me back to the waiting guard. Cormac is off somewhere, saying his farewells, but I’m sure he caught my little scene. Just like I’m sure he orchestrated this whole evening.
‘Are you okay?’ Jost asks.
‘Fine. It was a mistake,’ I lie to him.
But I can tell from his face that he doesn’t buy it. ‘I have to check on Ambassador Patton. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.’
I try to let his words reassure me, but they don’t, so I open my own door and slide into my seat to wait for Cormac to be finished with his schmoozing. I’m about to shut my eyes to escape this horrible night when Erik slides into the motocarriage next to me.
‘I have to make this quick,’ he says.
‘Sure,’ I say, the surprise distracting me for a moment.
‘Cormac’s sending me back to the hotel alone.’
‘You’re not coming with us?’ I ask, alarmed.
‘No.’ Erik looks me straight in the eyes. ‘Cormac’s a powerful man, and it’s stupid of me to advise it, but if he tries anything, knee him in the crotch.’
My eyes snap open and I have to press my lips shut to hold back laughter. ‘You got it,’ I manage, barely keeping it together. Trust Erik to make me laugh at a time like this.
‘Here.’ He presses a thin microdisk into my hand.
‘What’s this?’ I ask, carefully fingering the disk before tucking it into my handbag.
‘Pop it into the drive on your digifile and it will connect you to me,’ he says. ‘Let me know when you make it back.’
He’s staring intensely at me as he says this, and I feel my breath catch in my throat. ‘Do you really think . . .’ I begin, but I can’t finish the thought.
‘I never know what to think with Cormac,’ Erik says. ‘That’s the problem.’
