On the third day, the simulator still wasn’t fixed.

I suspected Vonlowsky had finally opened his eyes and was trying to save us from Anastasia’s games. If he was, though, it would only bite us in the ass when she came knocking.

Breakfast was drawing to a close, and my friends were preparing themselves for the worst. Alexandra had only woken up yesterday, and I’d filled in the gaps as much as I could within the concrete bunker. Johanna had said you never knew what mask the enemy wore, and I wasn’t taking chances. After the fight, the day had gone by slowly, and the night had been restless for everyone. Blair had tossed and turned below me until early morning, when I made a split-second decision and woke her up to train. When I’d pulled my head out of my ass three days ago, I’d taken over Lily’s training again, and though Blair and I had never spoken of it, I suspected the tossing and turning was about more than just the coming elimination. The time for war was drawing near, and everyone needed someone. Even Blair. Even me.

She said nothing as we dressed and headed out, training for the few short hours before dawn. We were back in the barracks before anyone woke. Well, before anyone got up. About half the room was breathing too unsteadily to still be asleep, but I paid them no mind. How they chose to prepare was up to them; my job was to keep my demons in check—even if one of them had taken it upon herself to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid because of my ‘sentimental heart.’

Violet was good at it, making little comments about my team throughout breakfast. Nothing much, but just enough to distract me, until Lucas entered. The veins in his neck stood out too much, as he looked at the only open seat, next to Aaron. Had the shadows under his eyes been so dark last time? Had he even slept in the last few days?

I didn’t know.

We weren’t friends anymore. Friends didn’t hit friends, but I wasn’t going to blame myself when he’d hit me first.

I didn’t leave when he took the seat across from me, and I didn’t balk at his presence, like most of my team. I simply ignored him, letting my shields of iron will and icy wrath keep any and everything from entering my mind.

I drained my cup of black coffee, savoring the bitter aftertaste that fueled my indifference. I’d once said that the only thing worse than hate was never caring at all, but at the time, I hadn’t believed it. I hadn’t believed I’d had it in me not to care what he chose to do, or what he was thinking. I didn’t love him, not the way he wanted me to, and he loved me too much, in a way that had broken him. Broken us.

I shot a look at Aaron, silently asking if he could control himself, and Lucas gave me a pointed stare.

“I’m going upstairs to wait for Anastasia,” I said. My footsteps were quieter than their breathing, and the door clicked shut behind me. I paused for a second, wondering if he’d speak when he thought I couldn’t hear. No one said a word, though, and I continued up the stairs. With each step, my jeans slid more than I liked, and my black shirt was looser than it should’ve been.

“Damned limbo…” I muttered to myself.

It hadn’t even felt like hours, but five days had passed in which I hadn’t eaten a thing, and my body wasn’t happy with me. I needed to eat more if I was going to keep up with Johanna. That girl was a beast, just waiting to be cut loose. I should’ve wondered what hid behind those somber eyes the moment I saw her.

“What do you mean the simulator is not ready?” Anastasia Fortescue’s voice carried, not as a shout, but as a whisper of darkness.

I debated turning back, but when the stairwell door two floors below opened, I knew there was no avoiding this.

“The simulator is still down from the last elimination, Council Member. I have the technopaths working on it around the clock, but the structural damage needs to be repaired before they can work on the rest of it,” Vonlowsky said. It wasn’t quite the groveling he’d done before, and she saw it too.

“They haven’t even started?” she seethed.

“Council Member Fortescue,” I said briskly, interrupting her before she gutted him like a fish. “I’m glad you were able to make it,” I lied, plastering a strained smile on my face. I prayed that saving his ass didn’t get me thrown in prison or, worse, killed. After all, that was what I was here to avoid.

An aloof stare was the only acknowledgement she gave me, before she turned back to him. “When will it be ready?” she asked. Bluntly. Brutally.

“I was told another week. With the modifications you—”

“A week?” she repeated, her voice devoid of any emotion.

“Yes, Council Me—”

“Then I will be back in a week, with something special for the last elimination. Just to make up for lost time,” she declared as the others walked in behind me.

I was overjoyed that we had another week, and no one had lost a limb this time, but I knew deep down that this was very, very bad.

“What does that mean?”

Oh shit. I’d said that.

Not good. The way she was looking at me was very not good.

“I own you. It means whatever I want it to.” Her heels clicked against the smooth surface as she walked away, but fire raced through me with a heat that made me not care who she was—or if she would make me regret it.

“I work for you, but I’m not your slave. We made a deal, Anastasia, in case you forgot that little detail.” The moment the words were out, all the fire in my veins turned to ash.

She looked back at me with death in her eyes. “Speak to me that way again, and your life is forfeit.”

Anastasia waited a moment, ensuring she had the last word, before leaving. The door swished shut, closing me in. Count to ten, I told myself. Alec had warned me, in his own way, that she was a liar and would abuse our deal. I was an idiot for not recognizing that she and I were the same.

“Selena?” my sister said.

I didn’t turn around, but my body shook with power, barely contained. “What?” I said softly. There was no point snapping. I knew what she was going to ask.

“What was the deal you made?”

I let myself cool for another ten seconds, let the ash settle in my bones. I didn’t want to lie anymore, but the truth had consequences. So, I would settle for another truth.

“I made the best choice out of the options I was given. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.”

“But—”

“When you stepped in front of the fire to save us, did I ask you why you did it?” I said, still staring at the door. I could feel every body in the room as easily as my own. Their energy writhed through my fingers like chords of powers just waiting to be played.

“No.”

“Then trust me when I say that that’s all you need to know. I have my reasons, just like you had yours.” Calm claimed me as Violet settled over me like a blanket of shadows.

“Control. There is peace in control,” Violet whispered.

She didn’t ask me again, and I didn’t bring it up.

* * *

The next two days passed in a blur, and then the invitations arrived.

“Why the bloody hell would she send us invitations to a ball, five days before we’re leaving? Has she gone mad?” Scarlett asked, voicing the question for all of us.

“I don’t think it’s an invitation,” Blair said quietly. She looked at me, as did the others, for some kind of reaction.

I took a tight breath, running a hand through my hair.

“I suppose there’s no way to get out of this?” I asked, looking at Alec and the others who knew her.

“I’m afraid not. She would take it as an act of defiance,” he said, stretching out on the bed with his damaged leg elevated. It may have been a blessing for him that the simulator wasn’t fixed, but something told me these invitations were a bad omen.

“And what doesn’t she consider an act of defiance?” Alexandra asked, rolling her eyes and sending her own invitation up in flames then blowing the scattered remains through the air like a lover’s kiss.

“It’s not so much what you do, as it is your frame of mind. Your actions don’t matter, unless you truly want to serve her—and she knows that. So, she’ll make her demands displeasing, just to see how far she can push before you snap,” Alec said. There was a wicked sharpness to his voice, and I didn’t want to consider how many times he must’ve displeased her for him to understand her motivations so thoroughly. Intimately.

“This is a power play as much as anything. She’s holding it on the last day of the month. I think we should just go and get it over with. She’s not going to pull anything in public,” Oliver said, holding up his own invitation and tapping the perfect script stating the date and time.

Five days from now, right after the last elimination.

“Well, it can’t be that bad if there’s booze,” I muttered, shutting out the other monsters that were having much darker thoughts.

“Lush,” Violet griped at me.

“I haven’t touched a drink in months. Hush you,” I said back.

“And eye candy,” Amber drawled, glancing at Constantine. He cringed slightly, and Johanna snorted. While Amber was a true man-eater, I suspected that half her brazen comments were just for kicks. It clearly made Constantine uncomfortable. Then again, her wolfish grin wasn’t exactly encouraging.

“And who doesn’t love an excuse to blow my mother’s fortune,” Blair said lazily. She eased back onto her bed, cellphone in hand. I wondered if she was looking at dresses already, or, realistically, weapons that could be hidden beneath them.

“Well, I guess it’s settled then. We’re going to a party.”