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“Jolie. Psst. Wake up.”

With a tired yawn, I opened my eyes. Lauren was leaning over my bed in the darkness. “What’s wrong?” I asked groggily. “Is it already morning?”

I felt like I’d only been asleep for a couple of hours, but I could be wrong. It was hard to guess the approximate time in the shelter because of the complete lack of natural light. Still, I usually felt rested enough when I woke up in the mornings.

“It’s around twelve-thirty,” she whispered.

“Why are you waking me up, then?”

“Elena tried to a few minutes ago, but you wouldn’t stir. She told me to keep trying while she went around and woke all the others.”

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Why? Is something happening?”

“She wants us all to meet her in the church at one o’clock. We have to be quiet. The boys and men aren’t supposed to know about this.”

I frowned. The enormous underground chapel with its stone walls and matching carved stone pews was right near the entrance to the men’s section of the shelter. If a hundred young women marched in there in the middle of the night, it would wake the men almost immediately.

Before I could open my mouth to say it, Lauren held up a palm. “Not the shelter church. The old one above.”

My eyes widened. “She wants us to go up there?” I shook my head. “We can’t. It is forbidden for us to leave the shelter unless there is a wedding, a festival, or an execution.”

“Elena said the church is technically part of the shelter,” Lauren said. “So He will surely forgive us.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. She had a good point. The decrepit old building was part of the shelter in a sense, as it contained the entrance.

I couldn’t imagine why Elena wanted us to meet her there, but at the same time, it had to be for something worthy. Everyone knew Elena was a genius. Compared to the other women, that is. Obviously, her intellect could never compare to that of a man.

“Let me get my shoes on,” I murmured, smothering a yawn. I was still half asleep.

I slid my shoes on and wrapped a shawl around my shoulders before creeping out of my room and up the hall which led to the main shelter door. I always assumed it was locked at night, but I’d never actually checked. It simply hadn’t occurred to me or any of the other girls before now.

Elena had apparently checked, though, and it was unlocked. She was standing at the foot of the stairs which led up to the door, holding a candle. “Come on,” she said, beckoning with her free hand. “It’s okay.”

I followed her up the stairs. She pushed on the metal door above our heads, slowly and carefully so that it didn’t make any loud clanging sounds when it opened and fell against the church floor. When it was wide open, she stepped up into the church.

I peered hesitantly into the darkness, and she whispered for me to hurry up. I did as she said. Behind me, I could hear the quiet footfall of the other girls and women as they crept up the stairs as well.

I shivered. Empty and shadowed, the church looked terrifyingly large, like it might swallow me right up if I stayed too long. I still couldn’t believe I was in here without permission from the men.

There was a faint glow coming from the back of the old chapel now. Elena was lighting candles. They lent a little warmth to the room along with the light, and soon the old chapel didn’t seem so frightening.

“Is everyone here?” Elena finally said, her voice loud and clear.

I looked around at the gathered women. There were a lot of faces. It certainly seemed as if we were all present.

“Yes. Why did you call us here?” Martha asked sharply.

“I wanted to talk about important things, and I wanted to do it without the men. This was the only way I could think of doing it without them finding out.”

Martha folded her arms. “What important things?”

“Things that only concern us women,” Elena replied. “Hence the lack of men invited here tonight.”

“Well, speak.” Martha narrowed her eyes.

“Okay. I want to begin by talking about the outsiders,” Elena said. “We know they are out there. Lots of them. Our men trade with them all the time. So we know for sure that New Eden isn’t the only place in the world that our God spared.”

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