Page 78 of Silver Elite

I bristle at that. “The opportunity to be forced into a life I never wanted?”

“Sometimes we just have to accept our fate, Dove. Trying to fight against it only leads to headaches.” He shrugs. “You have a chance to prove yourself, to forge a new path. I recommend you don’t squander it.”

I glare at him, anger boiling beneath the surface. “And what if I don’t want to prove myself? What if I just want to be left alone?”

The question earns me a snort of amusement. “That’s not going to happen. Not here.”

He rises to his feet in one fluid motion, moving with grace you wouldn’t expect to see from someone his height.

“You have an hour. If you’re not back in the barracks by then, I’ve given orders to the sentries to drag you there by your hair.”

“You’re such a gentleman.”

“No. I’m really fucking not.”

Once he’s gone, I stare at the execution platform again, and a sparkof resentment ignites inside me, a whisper of defiance against this “fate” that has been chosen for me.

I’ve accepted a lot of fates.

I’ve accepted that my parents are dead.

That Jim is gone.

That my mind is a weapon and if people knew even half of what I could do, they would put a bullet in my brain.

I’ve accepted that I’m never going to trust anyone enough to show them who I am, because it will always be too dangerous.

But I will not acceptthisfate. I wasn’t “destined” to be a Command prisoner. And I’ll be damned before I submit to it.

Chapter 18

Nearly all my fellows leave the base on Sunday. In the hours I spend alone in my bunk, I’m startled to realize I miss Lyddie. I even miss Kaine’s incessant flirting. My old life feels like it’s slipping through my fingers. Tana is barely answering me. She must be sick of me only reaching out to beg her to contact the Uprising on my behalf, to champion my rescue. But I’m trapped and she’s not. No matter what Cross advises, I’ll never accept that this is my life now.

I kill time by searching things on Nexus. I know they’ll be monitoring my searches, but my curiosity has always been a thorn in my side. Unfortunately, the results refuse to sate it. When I say, “Nexus, who is Julian Ash?” all I get are red letters flashing on the screen.

RESTRICTED DATA.

When I search for the phrase “Sun Post Bombing,” which Struck and Ford brought up during my interrogation, I get the same message. When I search the name “Cross Redden,” even the warning doesn’t come up. It simply says:

SUBJECT NOT FOUND.

Annoyed with my dead-end research, I open a path and poke Wolf instead, but he doesn’t let me link. Groaning, I roll onto my side and succumb to the boredom.

The next morning, we start the second section of the Program. I wait until the barracks clear out before grabbing my stuff to go take a shower. Everyone should be at the mess hall right now, so I freeze when I hear noises coming from one of the lavatory stalls.

A soft groan. A female voice gasping Roe’s name.

Kess.

The door rattles on its frame as I tiptoe past the stall toward the showers. Of all the people I would’ve bet on to hook up during training, Kess and Roe wouldn’t have been at the top of my list. She seems like she’d be more Anson’s type. Two sadistic peas in a sociopathic pod.

During morning meal, Hadley announces we’ll be running drills and small mock operations all week, as well as learning about the various technologies utilized in Silver Block and continuing to firm up our shields. Before we start the day, however, there’s another test waiting for us on our sources.

This one is short and sweet.

What are your three biggest weaknesses?

I ponder the question. For once, I opt for honesty. Mainly because I don’t think the truth can hurt me.

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