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“I wake up every morning thinking that I’m there,” Wells went on, his heart pounding. “And when I remember what happened to the place I love, the people I love, the only thing that gets me out of that”—he pointed to his empty cage—“is revenge.”
Several of the men were nodding now. Eric glanced at Kit, their eyes shining with quiet hope.
“Your minds are your own,” Wells said, his voice rising as he paced up and down the row. “But I’m going to tell you what I think. I think that river washed nothing away. I think you’re still there, all of you, strong and angry as ever.” He pointed to the closed door. “I don’t know if they’re human anymore. But we are. Our memories matter. Our homes matter. Our people matter.”
The men stood up now, one after another, their faces bright as torches, burning with rage.
“I think I’m not going to live another second as one of them,” Wells shouted, the others roaring back in agreement. “When they take us to the Heart of the Stone, we will fight back. Our captivity ends today. Who’s—?”
A colossal, deafening bang echoed through the walls, the floor, into his very bones. Wells careened to the side. Plaster fell from the ceiling. The rest of the rebels rose slowly from where they’d fallen, getting their balance as they looked frantically around.
“What’s happening?” Eric shouted.
Someone’s blowing down the freaking walls, Wells thought, but before he could voice that theory, there came another boom, this one closer. It felt as if the walls around them were going to crumble. Wells struggled upward and staggered to the door.
“Let’s move!” he shouted to the others, waiting to wave them through the doorway.
“Where are we going?” asked Cob, grabbing Wells’s arm as he passed.
Another explosion rocked the floor, the sound of screams joining with the clattering din, so loud that Wells had to shout to be heard.
“How does home sound?” he yelled.
Cob shot him a wild grin. “It sounds just about perfect!”
CHAPTER 28
Glass
It was the darkest hour before the sunrise, and it was about to happen.
The Pairing Ceremony.
Margot had shaken Glass awake a few minutes ago, and instructed her to go get the other female recruits. To lead them to their fates. Glass’s knees trembled as she got out of her bed and pulled on her white dress, braiding her hair back.
This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Wells was supposed to have figured out an escape plan by now. Was it possible that Octavia hadn’t been able to find him? Or maybe her friends left without her. Her stomach felt leaden, filled with dread.
Half in a daze, Glass moved throughout the dark corridors of the Stone, Margot trailing behind her. When they reached the women’s den, Margot unlocked the door. Glass stepped in, hands shaking.
All the girls were awake already, sitting on their mats, tidily made up for the Ceremony. Glass caught Octavia’s eye, but Octavia kept her face schooled, giving away nothing.
“It’s time,” Glass told them. The girls filed past her and out the door, Octavia quickly squeezing her hand.
Margot led the front of the line, Glass following in the back. She kept her step steady, but her eyes darted everywhere—the crumbling alley to the left, the jagged path past a heap of rubble to the right, searching frantically for a way out of here, away from this.
It wasn’t too late. Instead of continuing to walk to the Heart of the Stone, she could grab her friends and lead them in the opposite direction. She could keep them going until they reached the outer gates. But then what?
Could they possibly fight their way past the Protectors posted at every exit? And even if they did make it out, was she strong enough to make sure they could all escape and survive out there, with winter looming and god knew what other dangers lying in wait?
Glass stopped walking, closing her eyes. She drew a determined breath, ready to warn the white-clad young women about what lay ahead. But before she could speak a single word, Octavia darted back to her and gripped her arm, her eyes flashing a warning. Far ahead at the front of the line, Margot was oblivious.
“Not yet,” Octavia hissed into Glass’s ear. “Wells has a plan. It’s happening soon. We just need to be ready to run.”
Octavia slunk forward to take her place in the tidy line. Stunned, Glass scanned the rest of them and saw a grim line to their mouths, a fearful but steely glint in their eyes. They all knew.
Glass blinked at Octavia. Octavia nodded once, then lifted her chin and stared blankly ahead.
Onward, then.
Glass kept them moving, her own heart flailing in her chest, all the way to the Heart of the Stone.
It wasn’t until they walked in that her step faltered. This couldn’t be it. She must have made a wrong turn. Glass knew every inch of this place by now, mapped in her mind as if etched there permanently, so she was sure she’d taken them to the right place. But no… this was impossible.
In the center of the orchard was a grotesque construction: a carefully erected gazebo made of bones—human bones. And on it stood the High Protector, looking beatific, like a priestess waiting to bless her flock.
Peering down at the line of girls, Soren’s eyes landed on Glass and she gave her that loving smile, the one that had previously made Glass feel warm, like she belonged, like she was special. But now Glass saw the truth behind that smile: Her sweet, maternal nature hid the fact that she was brainwashing all her people. Convincing them with her gentleness that something as awful as this Pairing Ceremony was good and natural.
Glass turned, searching desperately for Wells, as Soren began to speak. So far, only the female recruits had been brought into the Heart of the Stone.
“My children. Welcome. Today, I stand upon bones that were once buried in the Earth, bones of the selfish takers whose greed brought on the Cataclysm. As Protectors, it is our duty to take pollutants like this out of our beloved Earth. The Pairing Ceremony is our promise to Earth, so we perform it standing on these bones as a reminder that we have formed a better, more thoughtful society. As Earth has brought you to us, now we must give back to Earth, planting seeds that will…”
Glass could hardly hear her through the pounding of her own heart. She glanced right to see Octavia perched on the balls of her feet, ready to run.
Glass closed her eyes, picturing the best way out of here. West and then south and then straight through the narrow, jagged alley and out to the fields… she just needed to wait for the—
