Creators(53)

“Isn’t that what the council has been afraid of all this time?” he asked with a wry smile.

I thought back to all the propaganda videos that spoke about our wantonness, and our ability to rule men, muddle their minds so they couldn’t think straight. I thought about the words of Abrams—how her own father had feared her, and how that fear had created a monster. The council did fear us.

And it was about time I gave them a good reason to.

…

“Let me get this straight. You want us to just let ourselves get caught? Does anyone else think this is a bit crazy?”

A few others murmured in agreement with Henry. Apparently, he was past the point of trying to impress my father. Of course, Henry had been invited to the meeting, so my father apparently didn’t need to be impressed.

Like me, my father wanted Henry involved in his plan. Also included in his secret meeting were Stephanie and two of my father’s younger male solders, Thomas and Daniel

“Charlie knows what he’s doing,” Stephanie told Henry, breaking her stance to do so. At the sight of her small breach in protocol, my father clucked his tongue. Stephanie lowered her head.

“Tell that to Sharon,” Henry said.

It took everything in me not to agree with him. Nothing about my father’s plan back at the community would qualify as smart. There was no way of knowing how many people his bombs were responsible for killing. But I gritted my teeth and bore it. If I wanted inside the council’s headquarters, if I wanted to see James, I would have to play my part. Besides, I believed Abrams had given me the code to the fail-safe—not that I knew what that meant—so I had something to protect myself with. Why else mention a series of numbers and the fail-safe? They had to be connected.

While sending me to the heart of the council itself seemed insane, I remembered what Abrams had told me. I didn’t trust the council or my father, so if something was going to go down, something that would affect the world and everyone I loved, then I wasn’t just going to sit back and wait for it to happen.

I would never do that again.

“You’re alive, aren’t you?” my father argued. “So I guess my plan wasn’t too terrible. Now, unless you don’t want to be on this team, I suggest you shut your mouth.”

Henry, always quick to react, opened his mouth to speak. His eyes met mine, though, and I shook my head. He would have to understand that when it came to war, my father would always sacrifice the individual for the group.

The innocent, good people of the world could die as long as the naturals lived on.

“You will leave in a week. You’ll take nothing with you. Thomas, here, will lead you back to the outskirts of your old compound. When caught, you’ll tell them you met these three Isolationists from the community. You won’t have to lie about much. Tell them what happened here. Tell them you ran.”

“And when we’re caught? What then?” Henry asked.

“You’ll do what you’re told and wait for further instructions.”

“That’s it? That’s all you want us to do? Let them take us and do God knows what and wait?” I asked in disbelief.

My father took a step toward me. “You’ll be safe. You’re valuable to them. I have a contact on the inside. He will approach you and Stephanie once he knows it’s safe. You’ll work within the council headquarters themselves because of the three marks.”

I reached up and touched the marks on the back of my neck. I was finally going to see what getting those three marks meant.

“Once our man finds you, you both will help him in securing information,” my father continued.

“The man who sent me James’s letters?” I asked.

“No, a different man,” my father replied quickly. Too quickly. He was being evasive, but I wouldn’t let him know I was onto his game.

“If you already have a man on the inside, why do you need us?” I asked.

“Because as women, you will be allowed into places he won’t. There is a map I need you to locate, a map of the council’s headquarters. There are rooms and labs that only the highest of officials know about, and we need that information.”

“How do we find this map?” Stephanie asked.

“I’ve worked it out with my man that you will be assigned to the highest-ranking families. While in their service, I need you to spy, snoop, anything you can to find it. They won’t think you’re capable of treachery.”

“Why do we need this map?” I asked.

“I can’t tell you yet. Not till we have it in our hands. Look, I know I’m not giving you very much, but the less you know, the less you’ll have to lie about if they somehow discover you.”