Glass’s mouth fell open as her stomach roiled. There was no way Soren could mean… right there, in the open, with everyone watching. That was how they would all prove themselves invaluable to the community?
No. She couldn’t let this happen. Her heart beat frantically against her rib cage, a trapped bird begging for escape. Luke. He had to be on his way to find her. He’d never let this happen to her. He’d find a way…
“I normally arrange the pairs, of course,” Soren said. “But you’re so special to me, and it’s important to me that you feel comfortable. So I was wondering, would you like to be paired with that friend of yours? The handsome dark-haired one?”
“Wells?” Glass asked hoarsely, her throat suddenly dry.
“Yes, he shows a lot of promise, my men tell me.”
Oh my god. Oh my god. The corridor started to spin as gut-wrenching images flooded her head. Wells’s face burning with shame as he looked away, trying to afford his childhood friend a shred of dignity as she undressed in front of him. The agony in his eyes as he was forced to… whispering, “I’m so sorry, Glass,” while he…
No. It was too terrible to imagine.
Though not nearly as terrible as the image of the girls in the den being shoved into the arms of leering strangers. Lina. Anna. Octavia.
Soren glanced behind her as they neared the sprawling courtyard at the center of the building. “I think we’ll perform the ritual here, Glass. The Heart of the Stone. What better place?”
Glass struggled to breathe. Every time she tried to inhale, the breath caught in her chest. Finally, she managed to wheeze out, “That all sounds great.”
Soren pressed her hands into Glass’s shoulders, pleased. “I’m touched, Glass. I can tell how much this means to you. Would you like to be the one to tell your friends about the honor that awaits them? I’m sure it’ll mean a great deal, coming from you.”
“Yes,” Glass said, taking one last shaky breath.
“Wonderful.” Soren sniffed, her tone returning to all-business briskness. “Now’s as good a time as any. I’ve got something to attend to at the front gates.” Her face clouded. “Something… unpleasant, I’m afraid. I’ll look forward to picking up our chat where we left off when I get back.”
She smiled gratefully, reaching out to clasp Glass’s hand one more time before turning and striding purposefully away down a southern corridor, the word unpleasant seeming to linger in the air behind her like a noxious cloud.
Glass shuddered and turned to walk quickly to the sculleries. As much as she dreaded this, it was much better that they found out as quickly as possible. There had to be a way they could get out of it…
She turned a corner, passing the lines of hung laundry, half of it seemingly abandoned, baskets heaped with wet linens, then poked her head inside the steaming scullery. A quick glance showed Lina scrubbing chamber pots along with a few other girls, cloths tied tight over their disgusted faces, but no one else familiar.
A giggle echoed down the alley behind her. She spun around, following the sound to a little bombed-out niche in the massive wall, where two girls stood tangled up in each other. Octavia’s hands were loosening Anna’s curly braid, Anna’s fingers dancing up Octavia’s spine… and they were kissing like it was the greatest discovery of their lifetimes.
In any other situation, seeing Octavia look so happy would’ve filled Glass’s heart with joy. But right now, all she could see was the upcoming Pairing Ceremony. Anna forced to watch as Octavia was shoved into a strange man’s arms… a man whom Earth had “willed” to do what he liked with her.
Stomach churning, Glass cleared her throat.
Anna and Octavia broke apart with a lurch, terror mirrored on each of their faces until they saw who was standing in front of them, and they doubled over with relief and a wonderfully mundane kind of embarrassment.
“We need to talk,” Glass said. “Quickly.”
Both girls went pale as Glass recited the whole sordid plan: the pairings, the ceremony, officially being inducted as Protectors. She kept her gaze cast down at the rocky floor, too horrified by Soren’s intentions to even look them in the eye as she told them.
When she was done, she glanced up at Octavia, and to her surprise, saw more determination than fear in the younger girl’s face.
“It’s time, Glass,” Octavia said. “You know it is.”
“Wells hasn’t signaled that it’s time yet.”
Octavia gripped Glass’s wrist. “No. You have to kill her. You’re the only one close enough to do it.”
“I…” Glass felt bile rising in her throat. She was disgusted by the Protectors, but kill Soren? She looked to Anna, but Anna was staring at her feet. Glass swallowed. “I think that would raise too many alarms. We just need to get our people out. That’s the only priority.”
Octavia’s hand slid from Glass’s wrist, her face falling.