Rise Read Free Page A

out. So I slam my mouth shut and press my lips together.
    “Have you lost all of your senses?” Eli demands. I don’t answer him, but that doesn’t seem to matter because he goes on. “She may be flesh and blood, but she’s not like us. She’ll never be like us. And if the roles were reversed, don’t think for one second that she’d care about you. You’d just be a means to an end. That’s what she was taught. That’s what they all were taught. She’s been made to think that way and you’re a fool if you think that you can change that.”
    I shove to my feet, knocking the chair over in my anger. “You don’t know her like I do,” I shout. “She’s not what you’ve made her out to be. She’s not just a…a thing you can move and manipulate however you want, like a chess piece. And if you think differently, then you’re no better than Mother.”
    “Timothy, maybe you should sit down,” my mom says with a tug, and a hard pinch on my arm, when she sees the look on Eli’s face, but I shake her off.
    “You are a fool,” he says and pushes back from the table to stand. He walks to the door—past me—but stops just behind me. “You will not tell that girl anything. You will continue along the path that we’ve planned. And I will hear nothing more of this moronic idea to tell her anything. If you can’t follow my directions, I will remove you from your position and replace you with someone else.” He continues to the door, pausing just before opening it. “I will know if you’ve said anything to her.”
    The door shuts behind him; a sharp click stands as the punctuation to his remark.
    Evangeline follows his path, stopping next to me, and places her hand on my shoulder. “Your actions are admirable, Timothy. Evie is lucky to have you as her champion.” She follows Eli without saying anything else, but I know what she didn’t say. Don’t muck it up, because she needs someone like you.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    I flip open my pocket watch and wince. I'm late! Damn! Even though I only think the curse, I glance around to make sure no Enforcers are around. I've never trusted that they can't read minds. Their uncanny ability to appear out of nowhere at the worst moments almost begs the fact that they can.
    I pick up my pace. I don't run, per se, because it's frowned upon , but I'm as close to running as you can get without actually doing it. My fellow Citizens move out of the way when they see me, but it's not because they don't want to keep me from whatever I'm rushing to—or away from. It's because they don't want to be caught near me if an Enforcer sees me rushing.
    I know, because I'd do the same.
    As I pass the last booth in the Bazaar, I slow my pace. No matter how late I am, it’ s not wise to run into the Palace Wing. There is entirely too much security blocking the tube between Sector Two and the Palace Wing, and any infraction, even one so minor as running, is a sure way to end up one of the missing.
    The Guard standing at the podium merely glances at me before signaling me to go past him. Another reminder that I’ve come too far, worked too hard, to stop now. I walk quickly through the tube that separates the Palace Wing from Sector Two. Today the water outside the tube glows a brilliant blue and the fish are like jewels. It never fails to remind me how lucky we are to be living in such a beautiful place , even so dark as it is.
    I hurry out of the tube and down the hallway to the elevator.
    Inside I use the shiny metal walls to double-check my appearance to be sure my rush through Sector Two didn't wreak havoc on my hair or clothes. Mother expects a certain presentation and showing up even slightly disheveled would be akin to social suicide. A fter the exchange with Eli this morning, that’s the last thing I want to do. I'm pleased to see there's not so much as a speck of dust on me or a hair out of place.
    As soon as the doors open, I rush out and follow the corridor to the sitting room where