“Why did you take it out?” Rose demanded.It hurt,I stopped myself from saying. “Why is it so red?” she carried on. “And why are youdamp?”
“It’s sweat, Rose,” Violet twittered. “Why are you sweaty, Fledgling?”
“I ran.”
“Why would you run?”
I hurt. The peering eyes and judgment and indifference from my own birth brother—it hurt and no one cared.
The Elite’s constant scrutiny toward anything that could be seen as a flaw had followed me my entire life. Time hadn’t dulled the cruelty, sharper than any blade. The moment I had opened my eyes, I was damned.
Don’t go there. Do not go there.
The Starlings continued squawking at me. I just let them as I held the vicious thoughts at bay—barricading myself against my earliest memories.
They began their degrading process, tearing me apart to make me acceptable. I let them, tuning them out through the shower, the bath, and the removal of all the hair on my body. It wasn’t until Rose began painting my nails that their hushed twittering dragged me from my numbed state.
“Well, I heard from Eve that it was close this time,” Rose muttered in a hushed voice. “They made it into the Capitol building again. They might have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for the extra measures they put in from their last attempt.”
“Was the one they all whisper about there?” Violet asked quietly, her dark eyes sliding to me. My gaze found my lap as her hands weaved my curls into an intricate braid.
I glanced up in time to see Rose nod.
“They are growing more daring,” Violet muttered, pulling pieces of hair from the braid to frame my face. “Did they get any of them this time?”
“No,” Rose said, her face grave. “But Eve said six Elite were killed. She said the Illum are a mess over it. They blocked all sky travel into the Capitol for now. They’re making the Elite enter the building from the surface.”
My mind churned. Was that why all those Elite had been in the atrium? I had never seen them there before. Did I work in the Capitol building?
“I’m sure the Elite are thrilled about that,” Violet retorted.
“They’re all in a tither over the disrespect,” Rose said, shaking her head. “There’s a big meeting today before the Illum.”
“You seem to have a great deal of intel,” Violet shot toward Rose. “You and Eve have grown rather close as of late. Is that why she summoned you this morning before dawn?”
Rose dropped my left hand, moving to my right. “It is. I’ve been dressing Eve since she left the Academy.”
“She’s an Elite,” Violet told her sternly.
“I know that, as much as I know my own status,” Rose snapped, her face fierce. “I don’t need another lecture, Violet.”
“It isn’t a lecture,” Violet said.
Curiosity got the best of me. “When was the meeting?”
“How long have you been listening, Fledgling? You’ve been unresponsive for over an hour,” Rose cawed, finishing my nails. They were filed into long ovals and painted a pearly white.
“Is the Capitol the tallest building?”
“It is,” Violet confirmed, her eyes gleaming. “What time was the meeting today, Rose?”
“Three,” Rose told us begrudgingly.
I took a deep breath. Thatwaswhy those Elite had all been there.
“They saw you, didn’t they? That’s why you were a mess when you arrived,” Violet stated, watching me closely.
“I saw my Elite birth brother and he didn’t care.” Surely my birth brother had seen the similarities too. Had he known about me? Did he see me like my—our—birth father did?
