“Where are you taking me?”
“For a family reunion,” he growls, not looking at me.
The City Guard Station is just outside the palace gates. Jakob walks me over there in silence, staring straight ahead. His hand around my arm is as tight as a manacle. The guards at the front entrance give us strange looks as they watch Jakob holding me like a prisoner and forcing me inside.
He swipes through several doors, deeper and deeper into the building, and then finally through a door marked Interrogation Room Three. I’m thrust inside and the door is slammed behind me.
My breathing is too loud in the enclosed space. The walls are bare concrete, except for dark glass along one side that reflects my wide, scared eyes. There’s a table bolted to the ground and two metal chairs.
I sink to the floor in the corner and hug my knees against my chest. So, this is how I’m going to be treated for the rest of my life, kissed and petted when I let him have his way and then locked up in cold concrete rooms the minute I put up an ounce of resistance.
I hate him.
I hate him so much.
I gaze around at the hostile room. This is my life now. There’s no escape, and no one to help me.
The door opens, and I scramble to my feet. If Jakob’s going to bully me, then I’m at least going to fight back. Standing in the doorway is a slight, pale girl with fine brown hair and eyes too large for her face. She’s wearing an institutional gray jumpsuit and slippers on her feet. As soon as she sees me, her whole face transforms in delight and she runs into my arms.
“Sachelle!”
For a second I can’t even react because I don’t understand. I touch her hair and then her shoulders, and then stare into her face. “Briar?”
She smiles at me and then hugs me happily. How can she be so cheery when she’s been locked inside this place?
Tears spring into my eyes. “I did everything I could think of to get you and the others out of here, but I just seemed to make things worse. I’m so sorry.”
Briar gives me a puzzled look. “Didn’t he tell you?”
“He who? Tell me what?”
She shakes her and sighs. “You’d better sit down. It’s a long story. I thought at the very least he’d tell you, but I suppose there are rules. Maybe he couldn’t tell you even if he wanted to.”
We sit opposite each other at the metal table, and I’m amazed again at how well Briar looks. I’d been imagining that she’d be interrogated through the night and given barely enough food to survive, at the very least. I’d wondered if she might even be beaten up, but her skin is clear and her hair is washed and in a neat plait. The fluorescent lights aren’t doing much for her complexion, but there aren’t any dark circles under her eyes.
“There are things I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Briar says eagerly. “What’s happening out there? I heard about the smoke bomb at Hotel Ivera, and that you and Mr. Rasmussen were there. Did Tieman—”
I grab her hands and hiss, “They’ll be listening to us. There’s probably someone on the other side of that glass right now.” I turn and look, glaring at my reflection, trying to discern Jakob standing on the other side. He’ll be there, arms folded, ears listening for any trace of treason he can use against us.
“Oh, probably,” Briar says with a shrug. “Have you spoken to Tieman and Louis lately? What are they planning?”
My mouth falls open. It’s not just what she’s saying, it’s how she’s saying it. This is the same person who warned me never, ever to speak carelessly. Now she’s chatting freely in a City Guard station where she’s being held for god knows what crime.
Briar suddenly inhales sharply. “One of the guards mentioned that something happened to you and Mr. Rasmussen last night. Something about nearly being run over. Is that true?”
“We were sitting in his car outside my home when a truck came barreling down the street and nearly ran into us. It was terrifying.”
She grips my hands hard. “I can only imagine. I wish you were safe in here, too.”
I pull my hands from hers and lay them on the tabletop. “That’s it. I’m officially in the twilight zone now. What the hell is going on, Briar? As far as I know, you were arrested for protesting and you were being held without charge. I’ve been expecting you to be dragged into court and sent away for the rest of your life on some stupid charge.”
Briar gives me a sympathetic look.
Me.
When she’s the one dressed in the prison jumpsuit.
“I’m sorry, you must have been so worried about me.” Briar turns and addresses the one-way mirror. “I have to tell her, okay? I know you won’t agree, but it’s better that Sachelle knows. Look how worried she is. You don’t want your fiancée to be worrying herself sick, do you?”