Chapter 18
THIS GUY AGAIN?
Sleep finally drags me under, only to spit me back out.
I drift between half-baked nightmares of places I’ve never seen and hours of counting the cracks in the ceiling, just to make sure I didn’t miss any the last seventeen times I checked.
Regardless, the world is normal when I awaken. Calm, even. There’s a noticeable lack of screaming.
I creep out of my room a few minutes before the chime. Ryder, our valiant nighttime patrol, is asleep on the floor. Slumped against the wall, boots crossed at the ankles, head tipped back. His jacket is bunched up behind him like some sort of makeshift pillow.
I brush past him, sweeping into the bathroom. The auto-lights hum to life, fluorescents too bright to be pleasant at this hour. I cross to the shower panel and punch in my designation to start the countdown.
If the showers weren’t remotely timed to be exactly five minutes, I would lock myself in the stall and soak until my skin goes raw and the steam erases every memory from last night.
I shake my shoulders in a feeble attempt to loosen the tension pulsating across my back.
The sleeve of my nightgown catches on the counter; I tug it off and toss it into the blinking slot that swallows our laundry.
My shelf folds out from the wall, summoning me with its blinking red light.
I brush my teeth and slip on a waterproof cuff cover.
Only then does my cubby open so I can retrieve my shower caddy.
Everything is measured. Controlled. Precise. It’s a familiar comfort.
Not very comforting today.
By the time I’m finished in the shower, the pod is waking up. Doors click, chimes sound, uniforms rustle. June’s standing in front of the long mirror, plucking pins from my designated bin. She glances up, eyes catching mine through the reflection.
“You’re up early,” she grumbles, sedation hanging heavy on her words. “Everything okay?”
“Fine,” I say, nodding too quickly. June sidesteps so I can use the sink. I gesture vaguely at the pins that continue to disappear into the disaster of a bun she’s constructing. “You eating those?”
“They’re eating me.” One flies out of her fingers, clattering onto the floor. “Help.”
I giggle, handing her a handful more and turning back to my station. The plaque above my head glistens, beckoning.
A little reluctant, I mumble through the mantra.
Poise. Obedience. Purpose.
It doesn’t settle the ache in my chest.
Ivy appears in the common room as I finish up in the bathroom, having clearly just shoved yesterday’s uniform on. She’s dragging a brush through her sleek black hair, dark eyes scanning the room like she knows something’s amiss. Her gaze drifts toward Avery’s door. Still closed. Slate-still.
“Is she—”
“She’s fine,” I say, forcing my voice level. “Probably in diagnostics.”
“Or in hiding.” June jokes.
Brielle elbows her. “Or with Mister M. Maybe he realized she works best in the middle of the night—y’know, like a bat.”
Creature of the night. Nice, though it feels a little too real today.
“Right,” Juniper drawls, rubbing her side. “Or maybe Mister M realized she’s not getting enough compliments and threw a tantrum so loud Carr tranquilized him.” She pretends to flip a coin. “Fifty-fifty.”
Bri’s eyes go wide as she digs through her cubby.
My palms itch until I drag them down my skirt. Colt’s voice from last night clicks into place. If anyone asks tomorrow…you didn’t see that.
I shouldn’t have seen it. I shouldn’t have been awake.
I wasn’t, I tell myself. I’m a good girl. An obedient girl. I was certainly not a witness to my friend being dragged from our pod in the middle of the night when I should’ve been sedated.
I angle my body away from Ivy’s questions and straighten a stack of workbooks that doesn’t need straightening. “The enforcers are running late,” I observe.
“Also tranquilized,” June says, aiming a finger gun my way. I roll my eyes.
Someone knocks on the pod door. My spine snaps straight. No one here has ever had the decency to knock.
Mister V strides across the threshold, taking in the room with cataloging eyes. He stops mid-stride. His gaze flicks down. Then up. Then down again. Right at Ryder.
I expect him to snap. Or freak out. Scoff, at the very least. But he just stares, silent and stiff as marble. He nudges Ryder’s leg with the tip of his dress shoe.
No response.
He nudges harder. Ryder startles with a noise somewhere between a snore and a curse. “Oh. Morning,” he says, clearly unbothered. “Didn’t hear you coming.”
“I gathered,” Mister V says dryly, folding his arms.
Ryder scrubs a hand over his face. “Must’ve nodded off. Happens sometimes.” He flicks his wristband. “Too bad this thing doesn’t have an alarm built in.”
Mister V exhales through his nose. “Get up.”
“On it, boss.”
“I’m not your boss.”
“Noted.” Ryder rises slowly, brushing dust from his uniform and tossing us a hazy grin. He shakes his jacket out and moves for the door. “Daytime crew should be on their way up. I’ll show myself out.”
Mister V shakes his head, then turns to us, eyes landing on me. “Your mentor is unavailable,” he says, even as a level. “In his absence, I’ll be overseeing your schedule for the day.”
June’s face lights up. “Do you prefer ’omnipotent overseer’ or ’benevolent dictator’?”
“Mister V will suffice.”
“Where’s Avery?” I blurt, pressing a fist to my mouth as soon as her name escapes.
He nods like he expected this, pressing his lips together for a moment. “She’s undergoing a specialized review. I wasn’t informed of her return date.”
Specialized review. I can’t help but wonder if they bothered to tell her that. Based on the screams? I bet not.
“Figures,” June says, folding her arms and sticking her tongue out. “I bet they’re using her as a case study.”
Mister V says nothing, but his fingers twitch by his side. “With that out of the way, your schedule will continue as normal. Your enforcers should arrive shortly for vitals and cuffs. Then breakfast and morning lectures. You’ll be informed if anything changes.” He slips out without another word.
June turns to me, grinning wildly. “This just got interesting.”