Page 29 of Silver Elite

The uncertainty of my fate gnaws at my insides. My life is in the hands of strangers, and I don’t like it. Not only that, but this is the first time since I woke up at the crack of dawn that I’m able to reflect on what happened in the South Plaza today.

I controlled eight minds.

Eight.

I almost killed eight people.

Eight.

My stomach twists, sending a rush of bile to my throat that I force myself to choke down. I don’t regret what I did. I was trying to save the most important person in my life.

But thewayI did it…

My body begins to tremble, and I curl over on the mattress to wrap my arms around my knees. I don’t care if they’re watching me. I wasn’t allowed to fall apart during their daylong interrogation, but it’s fair game now.

Some people find power addictive, but I want nothing to do with the one I’ve been cursed with. I don’t want the ability to incite. I don’t fuckingwantit. I can’t erase the looks on their faces when they realized their own weapons were out of their control. The idea of interfering with someone’s autonomy, the thought of someone ever doing that tome,makes me want to vomit.

Yet at the same time, I wish I’d succeeded in killing every member of that firing squad, because then Jim might still be alive. But he’s dead, and now I want nothing more than to seethemdead. The need for vengeance is so strong, I can taste it.

They’ll pay. Every last one of them.

I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but even if I have to use incitement again to do it, I’ll make them pay.

I sit up and lean back against the wall, hugging my knees. When I feel the poke in my mind, I’m overcome with relief.

It’s Tana.

“Wren! Are you okay?”she says the second we link. I feel her concern rippling through my body.

“They killed Jim.”

I want to bury my head in my hands and cry, but I don’t. If there’s a camera on me, I’m willing to show some weakness, but not tears. Never tears.

“I know. I’m sorry. Where are you?”

“Command base. Sitting in a cell.”

“Fuck.”

“I’ve been trying to link with you since the execution. Where were you?”

“Working. Hamlett’s been flooded with soldiers, and the overflow is staying at the inn. I’ve been behind the front desk all day and being watched like a hawk. They’re questioning everyone in the village. Asking about Jim. About you.”

“I know. They’ve been interrogating me all day.”

I gnaw on my bottom lip, debating whether to tell her about my encounter with Jayde Valence. On one hand, it’s the kind of feat that would provide a Mod with boasting rights in perpetuity.

But Tana has no idea how powerful my abilities are. That I’ve got a bloodmark hidden beneath layers of burnt flesh.

“We’ve also been hearing there was an inciter at Jim’s execution,”Tana says, a note of awe in her voice.

Yeah.

She doesn’t know about that, either.

“I honestly don’t know what everyone is talking about,”I tell her.“I was there. I didn’t see anything that looked like incitement. I think the squad was just confused about when they were supposed to fire.”

The lie triggers a jolt of guilt. But I made Jim a promise a long time ago that I would never reveal, not to a single living soul, that I possess the power to incite, and I don’t plan on breaking that promise today.

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