*
Back in my cabin, my hands are trembling as I throw my few possessions into my backpack. I throw it over one shoulder and reach out to the door handle. Instead of turning it, I lock the door and huddle down in the corner of the room. Head down on my knees, I cry as it all sinks in.
Art is a Whistleblower. Mary May is training him. He came here to capture me. My head pounds with all the thoughts racing through my mind. There could be no greater betrayal. Carrick knew about Art being a Whistleblower the entire time. That’s what he’d meant when he suggested using Art to get to Crevan, after what Art had done to me. He wasn’t trying to use me; if anything, he kept the truth from me so I wouldn’t be hurt.
“How did you do that?” Carrick asked me over and over after Evelyn’s release. They were all looking at me like I was some kind of god, and some kind of freak. I didn’t tell him how. I will when we are alone. I think the shrouded mystery is on my side at the moment, when inside I feel like a bag of rattling bones.
The truth is, I was terrified when I made the phone call that led to Evelyn’s release.
The truth is, I’m still shaking with nerves now.
THIRTY
ONE HOUR EARLIER
“HELLO?” I PACE the small cabin. “Judge Sanchez?”
Sanchez is one of the three judges who sit alongside Judge Crevan in the Guild. She was responsible for my Flawed verdict, too, but spent the entire trial trying to undermine Crevan. I just happened to get caught in the middle. Sanchez caught me on the run and tried to make a deal with me to help her bring down Crevan. I didn’t trust her, but she let me go, to prove that I could. I told Granddad about her and he told me to tread carefully. Getting involved with her could get me in more trouble.
“Sanchez speaking.”
“Celestine North.”
Pause. “Well, well, well. She surfaces. I hear you escaped him again. I must say I’m enjoying this little game of cat and mouse. Can’t say the same for Crevan.”
“You told me two weeks ago that you’d help me.”
“In return for something else, I recall.”
She has no idea what exactly I have against Crevan, she just knows that he is panicking about something and is sending Whistleblowers out left, right, and center to find me. She drew her own conclusions.
“I’ll work with you on that. But first do something to show that I can trust you.”
“I believe I already did. I let you go, don’t you remember?”
“But things have changed. You’re holding my granddad in your cells. That doesn’t seem very trustworthy to me.”
“My, you’ve learned fast. What can I do for you?”
“A little F.A.B. girl was taken from the CCU facility an hour ago. They need her back.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Then so is my helping you. Good-bye.”
“Wait.” She pauses. “Give me an hour.”
THIRTY-ONE
NOW, AFTER MY magic trick, they all await my next move, believing in me, trusting me. I can’t tell any of them that the weapon Carrick thinks I have, which is the footage of Crevan losing control and in a psychotic episode illegally branding me for the sixth time, is not in my possession. Nobody can know that I don’t have it. It’s the only power I have. It’s the only thing that any of us Flawed have—without it we have nothing.
For now, people believing in me is all I have to go on. And I’m lying to them all.
But what else can you expect from a Flawed?
THIRTY-TWO
MY NEXT MOVE is to search for an angel. Naturally.
Raphael Angelo.
The only defense lawyer to ever have a Flawed verdict overturned.
The first time I heard that name was when my granddad mentioned him during the trial when he visited me in Highland Castle. I dismissed his ramblings as nothing but hopeless conspiracy theories. At that time I thought it was all a big misunderstanding, that Crevan would get me out of the mess. I didn’t know that I would now be basing my only hope on that conversation.
After hunkering down in the corner of my cabin feeling like the world is too great for me, that everything is too large, overbearing, and overwhelming for me, I refocus, wipe my eyes roughly, and formulate my plan. I have people waiting for me.
I call Judge Sanchez again.
“Thank you,” I say as soon as she answers.
“Pound for a pound, Celestine. Now let’s meet.”
“Not yet. I need an address from you.”
“Another favor?”
“I’m helping you, remember?” I say, trying to keep the tremor from my voice. “The next time we meet will be in the Guild courtroom, and you’ll know exactly what to do. I intend to get my conviction overturned. I intend for everything to be undone so that I can return to my life, return to my school, return to my family, and everything can be as it once was.” My voice cracks.
“Oh, Celestine.” She sighs. “I was hoping for so much more from you. You know the odds are not on your side. A Flawed verdict has never been overturned.”
“That’s not true,” I say. “Jessica Taylor.”
She goes quiet.
“How did you know about her? That information wasn’t made public.”
“I know lots of things that you don’t think I know.” I find my confidence again, almost to the point of cockiness. “I also know lots of things that you don’t know. Why do you think Crevan is so worried?”
“Who will be your representative in court?” she asks.
“Not Mr. Berry, considering he’s missing. Along with all the guards who were present in the Branding Chamber, and Pia Wang, who started asking questions.”
She’s silent for a moment. She knows this already. “Yes. What did happen in that Branding Chamber, Celestine? I’m eager to know.”
“Maybe they’re all on a team-building trip. Feel bad you were left out?”
“Crevan can never know that we’re talking. It can’t look like we’ve planned anything. I’m protecting you, but you need to protect me, too.”
“We haven’t planned anything. You’ll know when it happens, and I’ll need you on my side.”
“Whose address do you need?”
“Raphael Angelo.”
She chuckles. “Now this just got interesting. But unfortunately I can’t help you, Celestine. That would be aiding a Flawed, which, as a leading judge in the Guild, would be an unspeakable act. You’ll have to do the next part on your own. Call me when you’ve got something for me to work with.”
Considering she has just helped me to release an F.A.B. child, the hypocrisy drips from her every word.