New York City was unlike D.C. in so many ways that at first I wondered if we were still in the same country.
Buildings as tall as the sky rose around us, and there were so many people that the sidewalks seemed to overflow.
The streets were blocked off to other traffic, and as we passed by in a limousine with tinted windows, everyone stared at us.
“How big is this place?” I said as we turned yet another corner. I craned my neck to try to see the top of the skyscrapers, but it was impossible. I’d never known anything that tall existed.
“It’s the biggest city in the country,” said Knox. We’d barely spoken for the rest of the flight, but once we stepped off the plane, I hadn’t been able to contain my excitement. Other than my brief stay at the Stronghold, I’d never been outside the District of Columbia before.
Was this what the rest of the country looked like?
“How many people live here?” I said, my eyes glued to the skyline.
“Now? Ten million. Before the population laws were put into effect, there were over twelve million people living here.”
“And they have the rank system, too?”
“The entire country uses it.”
“Oh. Right.” My cheeks grew warm. I tried to distract myself by figuring out how many floors there were in one of the buildings, but we drove by too quickly.
“You’re pretty when you blush,” he said, which only made my face grow hotter. “Lila rarely ever got embarrassed.” He shifted closer to me, and the leather squeaked underneath him. “I have to admit, I’m curious what you’re going to do about Benjy. Seems he’s quite in love with you.”
“What do you mean?” I said, fighting the urge to move away. There wasn’t anywhere to go anyway.
Knox’s lips twisted into an amused smirk. “I mean, how do you expect to still be his girlfriend when you’re sleeping in my bed?”
I dug my nails into the gauzy fabric of my dress. “Benjy knows what’s at stake,” I muttered, turning away from him to stare out the window again. “Unlike some people, he doesn’t get jealous.”
“Are you sure?”
Knox’s lips were so close to my ear that I felt his warm breath on my cheek, and his fingertips danced across the back of my neck, tracing the three ridges underneath my skin. From anyone else, it would’ve been a warning, but from Knox it felt like a promise.
I shivered. If it weren’t for the fact that I needed him to get back to D.C., I would’ve murdered him right then and there.
Seconds passed like hours, and by the time I found the words to tell him off, he was halfway back to his seat, looking bored and distant, not tempting and warm and— I really was going to kill him.
“Do you have your earpiece?” said Knox, and I nodded, forcing myself to focus on the passing buildings.
If he was going to play these kinds of games, I’d play them, too.
“I don’t need it, though.”
“Oh?” he said. “Do you have the entire thing memorized?”
“Yes,” I said flatly, silently daring him to challenge me.
“Which speech will we have the privilege of hearing this afternoon?”
“I already told you, Celia and I had a deal. She didn’t hold up her end, so I won’t hold up mine. I’m not your puppet.”
“Yes, I realize that,” said Knox, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his jaw twitch. Good.
Ten minutes later, the car pulled to a stop in front of a huge stadium, and through the door I heard a strange murmur. I pressed my ear against the window, and my eyes widened.
Lila, Lila, Lila—
The audience was chanting her name.
“Take your earpiece out so you don’t get confused,” said Knox, not seeming the least bit fazed. “Wouldn’t want you to start rattling off both speeches, would we?”
My mouth went dry. “How many people are going to be there?”
As the chauffer opened the door for us, Knox slid out first and offered me his hand. I didn’t take it. “It’s an open event, so anyone who wanted to come and could afford to take a day off will be there. Mostly IVs and above, but I suspect there will be some IIs and IIIs in the audience, too. Many of them are Blackcoat supporters, but the majority will be everyday citizens who’ve come to see you, and every last one of them already loves you. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”
I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress. Easy for him to say.
Together we walked into the building, where we were met by a guide who bowed but said little else. As he led us through the maze of concrete hallways, the sound of Lila’s name grew louder, and the very walls seemed to shake. The audience began to stomp their feet, and by the time we reached the platform that would lift me up onto the stage, I could barely hear myself think.
“You can do this,” shouted Knox. He set his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye, dead serious now. Whatever he’d tried to do in the car, those thoughts were gone now. “Those people are here for you.
Remember who you are and what you’re here to do. If you want to give Augusta’s speech, I won’t stop you, but do me and all twenty thousand people out there a favor and remember what it was like when you were a III.
Then decide what you’re going to say.”
My heart nearly stopped. “Twenty thousand people?”
“If I’d told you ahead of time, you would never have left the car.”
Now I had no choice. I yanked my earpiece out.
“Here.” I closed his fist around it and stepped backward onto the platform. “This isn’t a game, and I’m not your damn pawn.”
“I know. Everything’s in your hands, Kitty. You’re in control. This is your chance to prove what kind of person you really are underneath that face.”
The platform began to rise, and Knox and I locked eyes until the lights onstage blinded me. The cheering turned into a wall of sound, and the bright lights wound up being a good thing—because even though I could hear them, I couldn’t see how large a crowd of twenty thousand people really was.
All of them had come to see Lila, not me. To hear her words, to cheer as she encouraged them to keep fighting. I wasn’t her, though. I was a nobody trapped in the body of a Hart, and if they knew the truth— I inhaled sharply. Lila would never have won me over because she hadn’t known what it was like to be a III.
She’d lived with her cushy mansions and private jets, and even though being a Hart couldn’t have been easy, especially after what Daxton had done to her father, she’d never known what it was like to want for basic human rights and necessities. The entire world laid itself out before her, ripe for the picking. These people didn’t know what that was like, and she had no idea what it was like to be them.
I did. And I knew what I was going to say.
Pushing my worries about Greyson from my mind, I took a breath, opened my mouth, and began.
The applause was deafening. The stage shook underneath me, and security guards fought to keep the audience from spilling onto it. Even if they did, I didn’t care.
Lila had always spoken about the founding fathers of the country and wars none of us had ever heard of. She treated everyone in the audience like an equal, and that was her charm, but she had access to information that we would never have the chance to learn.
So instead I spoke about things everyone who wasn’t privileged lived with day in and day out. Hunger, discrimination, looking in the eyes of our so-called betters and knowing their lives were worth more than ours simply because of the tattoo on the back of their necks. Having to give up children they loved because they couldn’t afford the fines, and what those children went through— what I’d gone through, abandoned and growing up never knowing who I really was. I couldn’t tell them I knew firsthand what it was like, but I could paint a picture so vivid that they all understood exactly what kind of shame and worthlessness Extras experienced every single day.
I talked about change; real change, not just returning to what the United States had been like before the ranking system. Lila thought a complete overhaul of the country’s political structure would lead to utopia. I thought a world where I could walk into a market and buy an orange without risking my life would be a good start. And as I relayed the news of the attempt on Daxton’s life and how he lay in the infirmary in a coma, I dared to hope that it was time for our country to be placed in the hands of someone who valued every life, not simply the ones who could make his better. Someone like Greyson, if he wanted the job. And if he didn’t, then someone who had everyone’s best interests at heart, not just the Vs and VIs.
The platform lowered me beneath the stage amid the roaring applause, and I could barely breathe. For the first time, having Lila’s face felt right. If this was the kind of work I could do as her, then losing my identity was worth it. I was just one person, but there were thousands counting on her to spread the word—counting on me.
I’d never been needed before, not like this, and it was exhilarating.
Beneath the stage, Knox met me with a warm embrace and congratulations, and I hugged him back. “Did I do all right?” I said once we were winding through the hallways underneath the stadium. His arm was still around my shoulders, and for once I didn’t mind.
“More than all right. That was the best speech Lila has ever given.” Despite his enthusiasm, there was something behind his smile that I didn’t understand.
“What?” I said, but he shook his head.
“Later.”
My mood dampened, but I still felt like I was glowing. As we wound our way through the corridors, the crowd’s cheers didn’t fade, and I clung to them as if they were my lifeline. These were people who knew what it felt like to be considered less than someone else. They understood, and they wanted change as badly as I did.
It wasn’t until we were safely tucked back inside the limousine that Knox’s good mood seemed to deflate, and when I looked at him, he refused to meet my eye.
“What is it?” I said. “Did something happen?”
Knox grimaced. “I got a message from Somerset while you were talking. Greyson’s gone missing.”
Chapter 15
The sun hung low in the sky by the time we returned to Somerset, but within the brick walls the day showed no signs of ending. Guards f locked to me and Knox when we stepped out of the car, and we were ushered inside, where Augusta stood rigidly in the center of the sitting room. A servant was sweeping up the remnants of a shattered vase.
“Celia did this,” I said the moment we entered the room. I half expected Knox to elbow me, but he didn’t say a word in her defense.
“Yes, I realize that,” snapped Augusta, and she sat down stiffly in an armchair. Knox set his hand on my back and led me to the nearest couch. “Do tell me how you can be so certain.”
“I—” I stopped, and instead of looking at Knox and giving him away, I focused on the intricately patterned carpet. “I overheard her talking to someone about hurting him last night.”
“And you didn’t think to come to me about it?” said Augusta, her voice like venom. I winced.
“I told Greyson. He said that Celia wouldn’t hurt him or try to take him or anything crazy like that.”
“Greyson has always thought the best of his family, despite significant evidence to the contrary,” said Augusta. “The Shields are investigating, but she has already fled the city.”
“So now what?” I said. “How are we going to get him back?”
“We are not going to do a thing. I will find my grandson, and in the meantime, you will remain here in Somerset. Until Greyson is found, you are the heir apparent, and I will not have anything happening to you, as well.”
My mouth dropped open, and I turned to Knox for confirmation. His mouth was set in a frown, and he nodded.
With Daxton incapacitated, it was Greyson. After Greyson, it would have been Celia. And after Celia— Lila.
Me.
“I can’t do that,” I blurted. “I can’t—”
“You won’t,” said Augusta sharply. “Greyson will be found, and Daxton will wake up. Now, I have no more time for this. Go to your suite and stay there. There will be guards posted outside, and if you need to go somewhere, they will accompany you. You are not to go anywhere without them, do you understand?”
Her entire body trembled, as if she were moments away from exploding, and I nodded numbly. Even if I wanted to, I had no idea where Celia and Greyson could possibly be. And it would only be a matter of time before Augusta discovered I hadn’t given her speech in New York. When that happened, I needed as much goodwill as I could get.
Knox led me out of the room, and we were joined by half a dozen guards. We walked silently to my suite, and when we reached it, Knox bent down to kiss me on the cheek. As he did, he whispered, “Come see me.” Before I could ask why, he shut the door, and I was alone.
I scurried into the vent so fast that I almost beat him to his room. As soon as he sat on the couch, I dropped from the ceiling, and his eyebrows shot up.
“You weren’t kidding,” he said. “You really fit up there?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I crossed my arms. “Why did you want to see me?”
Before he answered, Benjy came out of the room adjacent, and relief washed over his face. “Oh God, you’re all right. I heard about Greyson.” He pulled me into a tight hug and buried his face in my hair. I wrapped my arms around him, too scared and worried and a dozen other emotions to speak. Benjy was warm and real and solid, and I needed that. I needed him to remind me that this wasn’t all some crazy nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.