Chapter 44
chapter
forty-four
Ender
The interrogation was a mess.
Haven went in there, questioned the rebel quite aggressively, and then the boy killed himself. It wasn’t the failsafe that concerns me; that is a common tactic among the rebels if they are caught or tortured. It is the time when it happened.
Haven is no match for Ansel, who has been torturing rebels since before I was born.
The boy should not have spent five minutes with her, and decided that enough was enough.
All she did was punch him a few times, which was odd because Haven doesn’t swing unnecessarily.
Not unless someone is truly deserving of her fists.
Clover is waiting in the surveillance room, sitting in her usual chair. It is her duty to assess the footage of sessions and report back to me on anything she finds that we might have missed when we watched from the viewing room. Knox is already there when I enter.
The footage is paused on the screen. Idris Malek’s face is frozen. His mouth gapes open, eyes dull and faint, while Haven stands before him, horrified.
“We found something,” Clover says.
Knox looks uneasy as he glances my way. He must have already seen the footage.
“You should take a seat,” Knox says.
“Show me,” I say, ignoring his advice.
“Run it for him,” Knox says.
The footage plays. Haven’s fist collides with his cheek, and when the video resumes, she’s speaking with him again.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
Clover points to the timestamp.
“She punches him. Left foot forward, right back.”
Clover reruns the video so I can see.
“But then look here.” Clover points to the screen with a red-painted fingernail. “Right foot forward, left back.”
“The time is still 2:31,” Knox says. “But look at his expression. It shifts.”
The rebel was flinching after the first punch in the first clip. But in the second clip, he appears normal, as if he had time to recover.
I tap my finger on Clover’s chair. Something is off.
“What are his powers?” Knox asks.
“He is a Class One,” I say. “His power is Command; he can make people do as he pleases. He got the Bind after he was captured, and his powers were destabilized.”
“Play it again.”
Clover rewinds the video and freezes the frame.
“Again,” I say.
We rewind. Frame by frame. Each time Haven is in a different position, the rebel is wearing an inconsistent impression. It’s like the video is missing a clip.
Clover leans forward slightly.
“What the hell happened in there?” Knox asks. “How did they do that?”
Clover tilts her head.
“They communicated. Right under our noses.”
“Idris isn’t the only person in the room,” Knox says slowly. “Haven is right there.”
“And?” I ask. “How could she have possibly interfered with the cameras?”
“Maybe she’s a Gifted.”
Knox’s words settle in with a terrifying calm. It is the only thing that makes sense. Last night, I asked her how neither she nor her sister has powers when Warrick does. Our conversation from the other night plays in my mind.
“I was afraid too. Powers are scary.”
“What?” I ask.
“The day I was tested,” she says. “My mother was so worried.”
It explains everything. All the odd happenings. When she was kidnapped, the leader, Prue, missed my bullet. The rebels who escaped in the tunnel that she claimed were whisked away by a Speedster. Anytime Haven was around, weird things started happening.
I glance at Clover. I don’t want her to stick around for the rest of this conversation. Until I have proof, I can’t trust her around sensitive information. She could leak this to her father.
“Give us the room,” I say.
“But—”
“Now, Ashford,” I bark.
“She should be detained immediately,” Clover says. “And tested.”
“And after she is tested?” Knox asks. “What then?”
Haven had cheated her way out of her testing. That is a capital offense.
Clover doesn’t hesitate. “She is executed.”
There is a cruel glint in her eye, as if she relishes the idea of watching her die.
“You do not breathe a word of this to anyone,” I warn. “I will execute you if you tell a soul. Is that clear, Ashford?”
Her dark blue eyes widen. She seems upset by my words.
“Ender, she is—”
“Sir,” I correct. “You will address me as your unit lead. As the Commandant of the Forge. As the future leader of New Foundry.”
I step forward, looking her dead in the eye.
“If you defy me, I will kill you and everyone you have ever loved,” I promise. “Haven Warrick is my duty, mine, not yours.”
Clover swallows, fear darkening her eyes.
“Understood, sir.”
The door clicks shut behind her.
I lean against the table, the world reeling around me.
Haven is a Gifted.
Knox watches me carefully as if he’s afraid to speak. I don’t blame him. I just went ballistic on Clover.
Knox shifts. “Ender?”
Clover is right about one thing. Haven Warrick is a traitor. A liar who evaded the Bind. She is no different than the Untamed. Lawless, defiant, and untrustworthy.
“I think she stopped time,” Knox continues, “which means she is most likely a Timebender. A Class One.”
Everything always works in her favor because she controls time.
The rebels escaping at every turn, the boy dying before he could reveal the truth.
It was her all along. Haven Warrick was always the puppet master.
I feel like an idiot for trusting her, for bringing her into the fold when she was working against me this entire time.
A small part of me knew she could not be trusted.
“They rigged her test,” I say. “Her mother hid her from the system, and now Haven is following in her footsteps.”
“She is a danger to you, to us,” Knox adds. “If your father ever learns about this—”
“He won’t,” I say sharply.
“You can’t protect her,” Knox says gently. “Not without risking everything you’ve ever worked for.”
“She’s mine,” I say finally. “My soldier. My responsibility.”
My future wife.
I will handle Haven. I will ensure she gets in line and that she serves us loyally.
And the first step is to convince her to accept the Bind.
We will classify her as a Speedster. It makes the most sense.
She can move places in the blink of an eye, because she stops time. It will be a convincing lie.
A Timebender is a Class One, and all Class One powers are forbidden. But a Speedster is a Class Three power.
Once she has the Bind, she will get in line, because the alternative is death.
And I refuse to live in a world without Haven Warrick.