Aimee Carter - Pawn

“Why?” I said, not entirely sure where this conversation was going. “If they’re weak, then what’s the point?”

“They may be weak when the game begins, but their potential is remarkable. Most of the time, they’ll be taken by the other side and held captive until the end of the game. But if you’re careful—if you keep your eyes open and pay attention to what your opponent is doing, if you protect your pawns and they reach the other side of the board, do you know what happens then?”

I shook my head, and she smiled.

“Your pawn becomes a queen.” She touched my cheek, her fingers cold as ice. “Because they kept moving forward and triumphed against impossible odds, they become the most powerful piece in the game. Never forget that, all right? Never forget the potential one solitary pawn has to change the entire game.”

I toyed with the zipper on my coat. I understood what she meant, of course, but I couldn’t play the game she wanted me to no matter how many promises she made. I wasn’t her pawn. I was Daxton’s. And she didn’t want me to reach her side of the board.

“What’s going to happen today?” I said, and she pressed her lips together.

“I don’t know, not for sure. Just keep your head down and your mouth shut, and you’ll be all right.”

She did know. She just didn’t want to tell me. “I will. Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me,” she said, and for a moment she turned away. When she faced me again, her eyes were rimmed with red. “Right. I’ll take you to the jet, and I’ll be back in Washington by the time you arrive tonight.”

Waiting for my answer, no doubt, but I already knew what it was going to be. I wasn’t impersonating Lila to do the same things she’d done and die the same way she had. Daxton was in charge, and as long as I followed his lead, as long as I played his game, I’d be safe. As long as he still needed me, I would be alive. That was what mattered, not Lila’s speeches or Celia’s need for revenge. No matter what good they were trying to do, the Harts had ruined enough of my life already. I wasn’t going to get involved in some twisted game between them regardless of what I believed. Because above all, I was one person, and all I had was my life. I wasn’t going to do anything to give that up again.

We reached the elevator a few minutes later, and as it rose, I watched Celia in the mirrored wall. What if it was a trap? What if Celia or Daxton saw my not giving an answer as a sign that I could turn?

I already knew what it was going to be anyway. There was no point in waiting to tell her.

“Celia?” I said, steeling myself against her anger. “What happened to your daughter is terrible, and I don’t blame you for wanting to do—whatever it is you want to do to Daxton. But I can’t help you. I’m sorry.”

Instead of getting upset, Celia met my gaze in the mirror, her expression impassive. “All right. If you change your mind, you know where I’ll be.”

“I’m not going to,” I said. No matter how bad I felt for her, staying alive for Benjy was much more important. “Can I ask you something?”

“If you must.”

I hesitated. “Why didn’t you kill Daxton when you found out what he’d done to Lila?”

For a long moment, she said nothing. At last she met my eyes, and to my surprise, she wore a small smile. “Who says I didn’t try?”

I didn’t respond. Whether she’d tried or not, I didn’t see how she could sit across a table from the people who had murdered her daughter and act like nothing had happened. I had a hard enough time looking Daxton in the eye, knowing he’d had Tabs killed.

The elevator door opened to reveal the rooftop, and a blast of cold air hit my face. It was still so early that the sky was painted a warm rainbow of colors, and something tugged inside me. On clear mornings, Benjy and I would climb onto the roof of our group home to watch the sunrise, and it made each day a little more bearable. Now all it did was remind me of what I would never have again.

Daxton was waiting for us in front of the jet, wearing his usual winning smile. “I’ll have her back by sunset,” he promised, taking my arm from Celia. She scowled, and before I could say goodbye, Daxton ushered me up a narrow flight of steps and into the interior of the jet.

I’d never been on a plane before, and my stomach flip-flopped nervously. It was larger than I’d imagined from the outside. White leather armchairs were scattered throughout the cabin, and three of them faced a fireplace dancing with colorful flames that almost looked real. Other seats surrounded a table firmly attached to the floor, and a huge television screen covered a wall halfway down the length of the plane. Beside it was a narrow passageway that led to another door.

“What’s that?” I said, peering down the corridor.

“A bedroom,” said Daxton offhandedly, as if having a place to sleep in the middle of the sky was no big deal. It probably wasn’t to him, since he’d grown up with this kind of luxury. Never mind the fact that it could undoubtedly have kept the entire population of the Heights in food and clothing meant for VIs for the rest of their lives.

No, I couldn’t think like that—the way Celia wanted me to, the way Lila had before she’d been killed. I wasn’t them. I hadn’t been born into endless privilege, and I was making the right decision. Sticking with Daxton would buy me enough time to contact Benjy and come up with a plan to get out of this mess. At the first hint that Daxton was done with me, I would disappear, and all of this would be nothing more than a bad memory.

Daxton settled into an armchair and focused on a glowing screen embedded into the table, pointedly ignoring me. As the jet took off, I gazed out the window, enchanted. I’d never seen this kind of sky before—endless and blue, stretching on for miles over mountaintops. For a moment, I couldn’t wait to tell Benjy about it. Until I remembered I’d be lucky if I ever spoke to him again.

I fell asleep an hour into the flight, and by the time I woke up, we’d landed. I refused Daxton’s arm as we descended the stairs and stepped out onto the runway, and after my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, I saw red and orange trees in every direction.

“Where are we?” I said. There was a small cluster of buildings nearby, but otherwise it looked like we’d landed in the middle of a clearing in the woods.

Daxton beamed and spread his arms open wide. “Welcome to the best hunting grounds in the entire country.”

What made hunting grounds good or bad, I had no idea, but I didn’t ask. Beckoning for me to follow, Daxton stepped forward to meet a group of uniformed guards heading our way. Each carried a pistol, and my pulse quickened.

This place was different from the market, I reminded myself. I was Lila now, and none of the guards would dare point one of those at a Hart. The only person I had to worry about was the one standing beside me.

“Your Excellency. Miss Hart,” said the man I assumed was the head guard. He wore a white uniform to the others’ black, and he bowed deeply when he reached me and Daxton. “We have arranged for your visit, and your usual vehicle is ready. Your requested game has been herded into Zone Four, as well.”

“Fantastic, Mercer,” said Daxton, clapping the head guard on the back. “Is there anyone else here today?”

“Minister Bradley, sir,” he said. “He is in the lodge.”

The name Bradley stirred up a memory, and it took me a few seconds to remember he was the mustached man who’d lost the auction. No doubt I wouldn’t have wound up a Hart if he’d won.

“Come, Lila,” said Daxton, taking me by the elbow. Instead of heading to the nearest building, we walked through the crisp autumn air toward a smaller structure across the asphalt.