I couldn’t believe I left home to jump into trouble, trouble and more trouble.
It’s been three days and two nights since the verdict, three days without being allowed any visitors.
The boys hadn’t even tried to see me as far as I knew. Maybe they were too ashamed. Perhaps they didn’t care enough to fight the system for me. Or maybe they were just as shocked by Kael’s betrayal as I was.
I still couldn’t believe he would sell me out like that. Where had I gone wrong? What had I done to make him turn against me like that? Our mate bond was still there, but it was now a constant ache in my chest and still muted from Kael’s end.
If I am transferred to the Justice Department, my real identity as Charis Greye would be exposed. They’d run fingerprints, DNA tests, and background checks. I would be stripped, and when they discovered that Eamon Riggs was a fabrication, I’d face even more serious charges.
Identity fraud, illegal documentation, possibly even terrorism charges if they decided my deception had national security implications.
I cannot take that chance. I cannot allow them to expose who I really am, because that would lead me straight back to my father or to prison, and I’d rather die than be dragged back to that life.
If the boys weren’t going to help me, then I’d have to help myself.
I’ve spent the last two nights trying to convince the duty Sentinels to take a message to Headmistress Vale. I needed to talk to her, to find a way and make a deal, or buy myself time, options, or anything that might get me out of this nightmare.
Both nights, I was told to shut up. But today, I’ve been begging and crying out to any passing Sentinel because today was my last chance. Not just that, I was still thinking of Kael.
I can believe in betrayal. I’ve lived most of my life inside it. But it was the way he did it that won’t stop shocking me.
I was sure something had gone wrong.
I heard footsteps coming towards me, and quickly I crawled to the bars again, grabbing at the legs of a female Sentinel who was passing by. I hook my fingers around her boot, holding on with all the strength I have left in me.
"Please!" I begged; my voice was hoarse from three days of almost no water and food. "Has the message to Headmistress Vale been delivered? I just need to speak with her for five minutes. Please."
"You filthy pig!" the Sentinel cursed as she kicked at me with her free leg, sending pain through me. "How many times do I have to tell you—"
Before she could finish the sentence, the door of the confinement centre opened again, and I heard other Sentinels greeting someone. The footsteps continued towards my corridor and towards the direction of the holding cell.
Since I had a lot of limitations, I couldn’t see who it was until the red heels stopped right in front of me.
I looked up from my position on the floor, and my heart nearly stopped. I pulled my hand into my lap, staring at the person in front of me.
It was a woman dressed in a wide-brimmed hat that covered her face with lips painted black. That was the only thing visible that I could see from her face. She was clad in a red skirt, a matching blazer, and gloves.
Ordinarily, such a colour combination would have made an average person look like a masquerade, but the woman in front of me embodied elegance and grace that I couldn’t explain. She looked so good that all I could do was stare.
"Open it!" the strange woman said.
And the Sentinel that had come with her rushed immediately to open the Holding cell door. The woman remained at the doorway and motioned to the Sentinel to remove the leg chains cuffed around my ankles.
When they were done, the woman entered the cell, paused for a second and muttered.
The Sentinels bowed and hurried away, leaving just me and her. As she came towards me, I moved backwards with my bottom, wondering what she wanted with me. She must have noticed that I was scared because her black lips lifted into a mimicry of a smile, and she stopped moving.
"I won’t hurt you, Charis," she said quietly. "I’m here to help you."
"H-help me?" I stuttered. "Who are you?"
"A friend," she said and then squatted until she was at the same face level as me. I watched as she slowly tugged at the strings from the hat tied under her chin and gently removed the hat, exposing her face.
At first, I was too stunned to speak.
The woman in front of me was beautiful and ugly at the same time. Half of her face was breathtaking—high cheekbones, smooth skin, heart-shaped lips that looked like they belonged to a goddess.
But the other half looked as though a rogue had attacked her, and she barely escaped.
A scar cut from her brow to her jaw in jagged ridges, dragging her skin into an unnatural pull. One eye was clouded and pale, while the other eye was clear and had green pupils.
It was like staring at two different women stitched into one. Her smile, or what I thought was a smile, curved into something enchanting from the beautiful side, while the ugly side made her look monstrous.
"I think you’ve got the wrong person," I said bravely. " I-I’m Eamon Riggs," I stammered.
Her lips curved into another smile. "You’re smarter than that, darling. And I love smart girls. I won’t hurt you, Charis. I already know who you are, and I’m here because I can help you start afresh."
She moved closer to the bars, putting enough distance between us. Only then did I allow myself to breathe. Still, there was something maternal in the way she looked at me, a warmth I hadn’t felt since...well, since before I’d run away from home.
"How did you think you could ever survive under a hidden identity?" she continued in a compassionate tone. "Living as Eamon, hiding yourself every day, living in fear, making stupid bargains that only pushed you deeper into the hole. That’s no life for a young woman."
Tears stung my eyes. "It was the only way," I whispered. "I didn’t have a lot of choice."
"Was it?" She tilted her head, studying me. "What if I told you there was another way? What if I could give you the chance to start again as yourself, as a girl?" Newest update provided by novel·fire·net