Aimee Carter - Pawn

“You lied to me,” I said. “You told me you had nothing to do with this before Lila died.”

“You did?” said Lila, eyebrow raised.

Knox opened and shut his mouth. “I—”

Without warning, the door burst open, and Augusta marched into the suite. I paled. Had she been listening?

If she had, her expression didn’t show it. Instead she clasped her hands together and looked down her nose at the three of us. “Good, you’re all up. Get dressed. We’ve received word from Celia, and we’re making the trade at dawn.”

Lila swore under her breath and stormed back into the bedroom. I stood motionless, and Augusta raised one perfectly arched eyebrow.

“You, too, Kitty.”

My insides clenched uncomfortably. “I thought you were trading Lila for Greyson,” I said, my throat like sandpaper.

“We are.”

“Then I’m not going,” I said. “You have Lila. You don’t need me.”

Augusta took a step toward me, and with monumental effort, I stood my ground. “I thought you might be difficult, which is why I have another deal for you. You can take it or leave it, but know that I do not bluff.”

“What, going to offer me my freedom if I do this one last thing for you? I know what freedom means, and I’m not interested in being sent Elsewhere.”

“What about your dear friend?” said Augusta. “Benjy, is it?”

My blood turned to ice. “You can’t.”

“I already have. Benjy has been taken to a secure location, and he will be released following the exchange. Whether he continues to work for Lennox or is sent Elsewhere all depends on your willingness to participate.”

Cold rage spilled through me, spreading from the tips of my fingers to my toes until I was numb with fury. I’d let them get away with destroying my life and stripping me of my identity, but if Augusta sent Benjy Elsewhere—

No. It wasn’t going to happen. Even if it meant stepping in front of whatever bullet was coming my way and smiling when it hit me, if it gave Benjy the life he deserved, I would do it.

“Do we have an accord?” said Augusta, and I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. “Very good. Now do as I say and meet us downstairs in five minutes. Knox, I trust you will see they make it on time.”

“Of course,” he said, and with that Augusta left. As soon as the door closed behind her, Knox touched my arm. “Whatever this is, Kitty, I won’t let anything happen to him.”

I shrugged his hand off and walked away. “You already have.”

Knox wasn’t allowed to come with us. The helicopter waiting behind the mansion only seated five passengers: Augusta, Lila, me, and two guards. As we lifted off the ground, I pressed my forehead against the window and watched Knox grow smaller as he raised his hand in a silent goodbye.

I didn’t return it. It wasn’t his fault that Benjy was in danger, but he was the one who’d come up with this stupid plan in the first place, and if anything happened to Benjy, I would never forgive him.

The helicopter soared over the city, and I stared down at the unfamiliar buildings. From the street I was sure I would have recognized them, but from the sky, they looked foreign. For a moment I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what my life would have been like if I’d gotten a IV. I wouldn’t have stolen that orange or had to leave the city and Benjy behind; I would never have followed Tabs to the brothel; and Daxton would never have gotten his slimy hands on me. If only I’d done better on the test, my life would have been unrecognizable, and Benjy would have been safe as a VI in a government building somewhere far away from Augusta.

I spent most of the trip trying to figure out what she was planning. Five passengers meant one of us wouldn’t be returning, and somehow I didn’t think it would be a guard. Maybe she intended to keep her bargain with Celia, and I would be the one sitting next to Greyson on the way back. Or maybe she was going to kill me and blame it on Celia so Lila would be on the flight home. I bit my lip and pictured a reporter talking about the heroic death of Lila’s body double, protecting her from harm. Maybe they would make up an elaborate story about how I’d jumped in front of Celia’s bullet. Maybe I would even get a funeral.

The helicopter touched down in a clearing surrounded by mountains. The sky was the kind of gray that announced the approaching dawn, and this high up, there was already a swirl of snow in the wind. I drew my coat tighter around my body, but it didn’t help keep out the biting cold.

“You’re sure this is it?” said Lila as we stood together beside the helicopter. It blocked out the wind from one side, but it was still freezing. I shivered and slipped my hands inside my sleeves, but when I glanced at Lila, the cold didn’t seem to bother her.

“Yes, I am sure,” said Augusta, checking her watch. “It is not quite dawn. Give them a moment.”

I searched for any sign of Celia or Greyson, but I only saw bare trees and frozen ground. “How could they survive out here?” I said, trying to keep my teeth from chattering.

“The family has a cabin a few miles from here,” said Lila. “There are hiking trails all along the mountain. I don’t get why you didn’t send guards to flush them out, Grandmother.”

“Because I don’t trust your mother not to kill Greyson,” said Augusta. “Now hush.”

My feet grew numb while we waited, and I had to stamp them against the ground to get the blood flowing again. It smelled like winter up here, crisp and cold and dry, and I breathed deeply in an effort to keep myself from panicking.

At last, when we’d waited so long I thought my fingers would fall off, one of the guards pointed to something in the distance. “There,” he said. “I see them.”

Augusta motioned toward us. “Girls, on either side of me.”

I moved next to her, and this time the numbness that washed over me had nothing to do with the cold. I squinted at the tree line, and finally I saw them: two figures arm in arm trudging over the hard ground, one with dark hair and the other with a knit cap. Celia and Greyson.

“Hello, Mother,” called Celia. She and Greyson stopped twenty feet away from us, both wearing thick winter coats, scarves, and gloves. At least Celia hadn’t made him freeze to death getting here. A gun holster hung at Celia’s hip. “I see you brought both of them.”

“So I did,” said Augusta frigidly. “And now you have a choice, my darling. You get to pick the one you keep. Isn’t that exciting?”

Celia’s expression hardened. “I want my daughter.”

“I know that, dear,” said Augusta. “But which one is she?”

I frowned. The only differences between us were so minor that there was no possible way Celia could see them from a distance. I couldn’t even see them when Lila and I were both looking into the same mirror.

The solution was simple. I glanced at Lila, hoping she would tell Celia the truth, but she was strangely silent. I opened my mouth to do it for her, but before I could make a sound, Augusta cut me off.

“Choose wisely,” she said, her voice echoing as it carried through the clearing. “Because whichever one you leave behind will die.”

My confession that I wasn’t Lila died on my lips.

The moment Augusta announced one of us wouldn’t be leaving the clearing alive, I understood why Lila had chosen to run rather than risk death. No matter how much I’d prepared myself for dying at the hands of this twisted family, the thought of it happening now made the world spin and the edge of my vision go dark.

With Augusta between us, I couldn’t see Lila’s reaction, but I did feel Augusta’s hand wrap tightly around my shoulder.