The Girl Who Dared to Endure (The Girl Who Dared #6)

Maybe I was wrong about Sage—maybe he was involved. The DNA test would certainly help determine it, but the ration card thing was concerning.

Not to mention, he was the only authority on pre-End medical procedures, thanks to his obsession with collecting medical journals from that era. And we were almost certain the legacies were avoiding detection by using plastic surgery to change their facial structures. Could he be performing them? It was possible. Come to think of it, the Medica was also the only department responsible for uploading DNA profiles to the servers.

If legacies were hiding in plain sight, courtesy of faked DNA profiles, Sage was the most likely to be helping them.

A chill ran through me as I once again considered how I might have misjudged the man. More and more signs were pointing to him, and though I knew I should be impartial, my mind was already spinning out counterpoints. There were legacies embedded in his department, and I had to imagine they had some medical training, which meant they might also be the ones performing the plastic surgery. Not to mention, the journals we found in the Attic numbered in the hundreds and weren’t being cared for in the best way—something I knew for a fact drove Sage insane.

And it was just as possible that Sadie was responsible for faking the DNA profiles in the server. IT had its hooks in everything. And the ration cards, as well! After all, they were scanned into a system that IT controlled, so I couldn’t imagine it would be difficult for her. And it would be a clever move on her part, as it would be easy to shift blame to the Medica if anyone discovered illegal ration cards or found a discrepancy in the DNA profiles. Those were Sage’s jurisdiction, and ultimately, he would be the one held responsible. I thought about his words the other day in the Medica, about him doubting his own ability to lead, and remembered thinking then that maybe the legacies were targeting him for removal. Maybe I had been right, and this was how they were planning to do it. By setting him up.

I sighed and pressed my hand to my head, trying to figure out whether I was coming up with these ideas to defend him because I liked him, or whether it was an actual possibility. The legacies didn’t think in a straightforward fashion; they always came at us sideways. And that meant I couldn’t put anything past them.

Scipio help me, I was going to be so happy when I could stop thinking myself into knots. Ultimately, I would have to withhold any judgment until we had all three men’s DNA tested. Still, I hoped Sage was innocent. I liked the old man.

“I wouldn’t take ration cards, not for anything,” Dylan declared, crossing her arms over her chest. “And any Knight who does is a traitor.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s a little extreme, Dylan,” I said. “Besides, Maddox is right—we can’t trust anyone at this point. I will go up to my quarters and find someone from my inner circle to help you watch Plancett and Dreyfuss tonight, and then we’ll figure something out tomorrow. Maybe by then we’ll have uncovered a list of all the other people Sadie might have paid off, and finally have a way to start trusting our people.”

Dylan’s mouth pressed into a line, but she nodded once. “I’ll wait for them here. Hopefully no one will leave before someone gets here.”

“You won’t be alone,” I said. “Maddox will wait with you until someone can come and replace her.”

“What about you?” Maddox asked, her brows drawing together in alarm. “You know you shouldn’t be walking alone through the halls. If we’re being followed…”

“Then they are super worried about how close we came to one of their people,” I interjected. “Either way, we can’t afford to let Dreyfuss or Plancett out of our sight now that we suspect them, because there’s a chance they can lead us to the undocs’ hiding place. It’s just a short ride down on a very public elevator, and a quick walk across a heavily trafficked bridge. I’ll be fine.”

“Or you could net Zoe, tell her to send someone down, and then we leave together,” she insisted, and I sighed.

I had wanted to get away from both of them, to be honest, because I was hoping to sneak off to call my brother. But thanks to Baldy cutting my throat just one measly time, they had instituted a firm rule that they followed to the letter: I never went anywhere by myself, and especially not first.

“I can handle it on my own for a while, guys,” Dylan added, and I narrowed my eyes at her unhelpfulness. “Plancett isn’t likely to leave until the harvest is finished, and Dreyfuss isn’t scheduled to work. I think I’ll be all right for an hour. I’ll just sit down for some dinner at one of the stalls.”

I didn’t like the idea of leaving Dylan alone, because I still wasn’t entirely sure I could trust her, but I relented, eager to just get moving. “Fine,” I said. “Be careful, and don’t let anyone see you.”

She smiled crookedly. “I will be like a ghost in the night,” she assured me, already pulling her short bob into a high ponytail on her head. That simple move did a lot to change her appearance, but she went even further, pulling a microfiber cloth out and carefully wiping off some of the makeup she had been wearing. In a few moments, her face had transformed to a slightly less beautiful version of itself, and without her hair around her face, I wouldn’t have recognized her on the first or even the second glance.

I gave a slow nod of approval as she looked at us both expectantly, smiled, offered me a two-fingered salute, and said, “Wish me luck,” before disappearing into the crowd of people moving steadily by us.

I snorted under my breath. “She asks for luck, when what we really need is a miracle.”

Beside me, Maddox chuckled. “True story. Let’s get out of here. I don’t want her to be by herself for any longer than necessary.”

I agreed, and followed her into the sea of people.



We were in the elevator when Maddox finally asked, “So why did you want to go up alone?”

My mouth pressed into a thin line before I could stop it, and Maddox’s gaze dropped to it, a satisfied smile growing on her lips. “I was right, then. You wanted to be alone. Why?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. There was no point in lying to her. “I want to call my brother.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she frowned. “You don’t have to be alone for that,” she pointed out.

I licked my lips. She was right. I didn’t have to be, but I wanted to be. Maybe it was selfish; I was sure the others wanted to hear all about Patrus, but I didn’t care. They could talk to him another night. I’d spent the entire day trying not to think about him, about Patrus, about how everything was about to change—and now that the action was over, all I wanted to do was talk about it. Zoe was the only one who knew that I was planning to leave. Everyone else still thought I would be going with them. Leo and I were in a strange place, and Grey needed to fully remember who he was before he made the decision to leave. I didn’t want to influence him on that front. And that didn’t leave anyone else to talk to except Alex.

“I know,” I replied. “But I wanted to.”

Maddox sucked in a breath and then sighed. “I understand,” she said. “Everything that happened yesterday was such chaos that neither of you had time to process what you went through. Besides, I can only imagine how anxious you must be to make sure he made it all right.”

Those were also on my list of concerns. “Exactly,” I told her.

She considered it, and then nodded. “I’ll go with you. We’ll stop by your quarters first, to see who can help Dylan, and then I’ll accompany you to the roof, and wait on the other side of the door so you can talk to him alone.”

“Really?” I asked. “You don’t want to hear what he has to say?”