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“My name is Lily, not Seven. What’s going to happen to the girls in the processing center?”
For a moment he looks at me incredulously, shocked by my knowledge, and then realization slowly dawns on him. He drags a hand over his face. “I knew Ten was someone that couldn’t keep her mouth shut. They could ruin everything for me.”
“Ruin what?”
Vaughn shifts in his seat. “Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you when you say the Echelon Society is finished.”
“No?” He looks at me, eyes narrowing. “What would you know?”
“I know that we’re not the only ones who escaped. I don’t expect those people behind us, those who were once your peers, are as willing to give up their old ways. Are you?”
“What are you asking, Lily?” The sound of my name on his lips gave me a feeling I wasn’t anticipating.
“I’m not asking you. I’m saying I want in on what you’re planning.”
For the first time since the games started, I start to really see just how painfully handsome Vaughn is.
“I don’t know what makes you think I’m planning anything after we were just raided by the feds,” Vaughn says, visibly angry. Maybe there was some truth to his words, but it still felt like a half truth.
“I got a taste of power, and I’m not ready to let it go.” I turn to look out the window, the sky beyond a vast blue that could swallow me whole.
Vaughn sighs. He’s silent for a long while. “The games have been going on for fifty years,” he eventually says, “and they’ll go on for fifty more.”
“So you are planning something.” I watch as he runs a hand over the grey stubble on his jaw. The same grey peppers the sides of his chestnut brown hair. He glances behind him at the people in the cabin. “Just not with them,” I clarify.
Vaughn gives me a single nod. “There’s another group that already exists. International. Bigger, older money…”
“I want in.”
“I don’t think you understand the risks of—”
“I want in,” I interrupt, forcing my hand.
“Why?”
“I told you. I got a taste, and I want more.”
Vaughn narrows his eyes. “That’s not a good enough reason for me to trust you enough to involve you.”
“What will convince you?”
Vaughn appears to ponder my question. “Being addicted to power does not convince me of your trustworthiness.Respectingpower is what will convince me. These people are more dangerous. They have affiliations with old money that didn’t come from self-made businesses. It came from murder, from drugs.”
This time it’s my turn to narrow my eyes. “How didyoubecome a part of this group?”
“There’s a lot about me that nobody knows.”
“I could say the same thing.”
Vaughn looks at me, curiosity glinting in his eyes. I feel observed beneath his gaze, actuallyseen.
“I’m not as innocent as everyone thinks I am. It’s a façade, a performance, and it nearly helped me win. If you need to play games, Vaughn, I can help you. I can play with you. It’s not power I’m addicted to, it’s money. I was robbed of every last cent I earned here, and I want my opportunity to make more.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“What is there to think about?”
