Page 154 of Silver Elite

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The hours and days blur into one another. I lose all sense of time. The hunger becomes a constant companion. I’m so thirsty. I could lick the floor, but the sprinklers have turned the dirt into mud, and I refuse to drink mud water. Besides, Roe tried it already and we heard him puking in our bucket the following morning. Or night. Time doesn’t exist in this railway car.

I’m soaking wet because the sprinklers just went off again. My teeth chatter loud enough to echo off the metal walls. Loud enough that Roe lets out an angry curse and orders me to shut up. He’s beenvery quiet today. Ivy, too. There’s no camaraderie among our trio. We’re not bonding. Swapping stories. We’re wet, cold, hungry, tired, thirsty, and pissed off.

When our captors return Ivy to us, and I hear her defeated whimpering as she crawls back to her corner, I realize I can take advantage of this moment.

With their defenses stripped bare, their minds are mine for the taking.

I start with Ivy, whose mind is wide open. Not even a pretense of a shield. Guilt pokes at my gut, but I ignore it.

People have misconceptions about mind reading. They think it means a Mod can see their entire life. Their memories. But we can only hear what they’re thinking in the moment. I’m not worried about lurid memories of Ivy in bed with Cross playing in color behind my eyelids. I do worry her thoughts will be consumed by him, though, which evokes a twinge of jealousy that annoys me.

But Ivy isn’t thinking about Cross.

You can do this. You have to.

For Delia.

Ivy wants to join Silver Block for her older sister.

Delia. Died of a rare bone cancer that the regen chambers in the Point couldn’t quite eradicate.

I retreat, the guilt intensifying as Ivy’s grief surrounds my senses. I shouldn’t have invaded her privacy. Yet even knowing I’m doing something wrong, I still shift my attention to Roe.

His shield is intact. Strong, too. I could try to prod at it, search for a crack, but I don’t have the mental bandwidth right now, so I hug my knees tighter and close my eyes.

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Ivy starts moaning sometime on Day 4. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m so tired. My stomach is cramping.”

Roe jeers at her from his corner. “Sack up, Eversea. You’re tired and hungry. Big fucking deal.”

He’s such a prickhole that I feel the need to be the encouragingone. “Ignore him. You got this, Ivy. You were able to survive RTI before. Just gotta do it again.”

“No,” she mutters.

“No what?”

“I wasn’t able to do it before. Why do you think I’m not in Silver Block, you dumb quat?”

I’m taken aback. Not by the verbal attack, but by her revelation. “You failed RTI?”

“I lasted three days.”

I pause for a moment. “Okay. Well. I’m pretty sure it’s been more than three days, so you’re doing better than last time. You just need to power through.”

Easier said than done, though. For me, too. I lie there shivering for hours. Sleep eludes me, those sprinklers ensuring I won’t have any sort of respite.

The next time our captors come for me, my teeth can’t stop rattling as I say, “Wren Darlington. Recruit 56. Silver Block.”

I wonder how Lyddie is handling this. She’s so delicate. Kaine, he could do this in his sleep. But not Lyddie. As the bearded man wrenches my head back by my hair so he can punch me in the face, I realize I desperately want Lyddie to make it. She might not be the best soldier, but she’s smart. She could even be brilliant. I think she can excel in Intelligence.

When I’m thrown like a rag doll into the darkness, Ivy is still moaning in her corner.

“Eversea,” I call toward her. “What’s it like in K? I heard you telling Bryce that’s where you grew up, right?”

“What?” She sounds dazed.

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