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  The drugged glaze is missing from her fearful eyes, replaced with the warmth of her brown eyes. She nods as Luther speaks to her, and then puts the goblet to her lips and she downs the contents. Then Sloft refills her goblet before she has a chance to refuse. She drinks it in one gulp without questions. She lowers her golden goblet, darkness now filling her eyes.

  Luther leans forward, kisses her on her lips, then leaves to attend to the other Bazis. She stands in the room motionless as if not aware of all of the other people in the room—a beautiful statue frozen in time, locked in a world of sorrow.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Madison’s face is paler than it was when she went into the viewing room. I take her hand and it’s trembling. Each Host before her had the same look on their face, a stark contrast to the Bazi faces, which look happy to be here.

  Well, except for the younger ones, my old classmates from Cueva, who look emotionless. Their minds and bodies have been taken from them.

  “Skylier, you’re up. Stay calm, remember what I told you,” Adohnes tells me.

  I slip my hand from Madison’s and step forward toward the hand scanner. I raise my barcode to the scanner just as all the other girls have done before me. The red beam scans over my hand, and the door opens, revealing a dimly-lit room with only the light from the mirror room reflecting on the walls. Different sections of the wall look different because of the windows. They are watching me and I can’t see them, but I’m already on show. A firm hand pushes me forward into the viewing room—Madam Uri’s.

  She’s smiling at me, reveling in my pain. I’ve never seen her this happy.

  As the door closes behind me, the room darkens, and the platform which I’m meant to glide to has a bright spotlight on it. I made my choice. I have to walk to the platform, even though every part of my body is telling me to go back through the door. There is no way I’m gliding to it. I can’t believe my legs are even walking, since they feel like jelly.

  Please, no, my mind rings out, trying to stop my body from moving forward.

  Skylier, I’m here. Dax’s mind drifts into mine. I look at the different sections that must be the windows, to see if I can see Dax, but it’s pointless. I can’t see anything.

  So am I, Xander’s mind invades mine.

  Leave her alone, Dax adds.

  Dax, it’s okay, I know what I have to do, I tell Dax as I make my way to the bright white platform. I don’t glide as Adohnes taught me. There is no need to glide, and I don’t need to or want to impress anyone—I’ve already been sold.

  I stare out into the darkness of the room. The light catches the dust floating down from the glass dome above me, making it look like falling stars.

  One of the stars catches my eye through the glass window covering the ceiling. It is larger and brighter than any other and stands alone. It stands out as being strong. I’m mesmerized by the clear night sky as I stare at the stars in wonder. If I’m from the sky, which planet am I from? I wonder how different it is from this one. Did the creatures from the other planets create these rules our world has been formed from? Are they worse than we are?

  You’re mine now, bound to me, Xander’s mind transmits to mine.

  I belong to no one, my mind tells him before placing a mental block up.

  I need to be the strong star, stronger than the others.

  As Adohnes said, a blue light glows along the rim of the dome, igniting it. Selection is complete, and my journey has just begun. Which plan will I take?

  Hundreds of Skyliers stare back at me as I step back into the mirrored room. Numbly, I stare back at them, waiting for one to move and tell me the answer I’ve been searching for. Do I try to leave?

  “The worst is over,” Adohnes says warmly.

  There are only Hosts in the room because once the Bazi selections were over, they left the mirror room. They happily informed us that they were off to celebrate that they weren’t Hosts.

  His voice snaps me from my trance. “The worst is over?” I look at him, puzzled. “Over?! It’s just begun. I’m going to be Xander’s Host,” I blurt out.

  The other girls in the room gasp. Adohnes steps in front of me and asks, “How do you know that?”

  “He told me. That’s why I’m here.”

  “I thought we weren’t meant to know the parents?” Madison asks as she walks toward me.

  “Parents,” I laugh.

  Adohnes worriedly shakes his head. “Everyone back to the compound. Madam Uri, take them there now,” he orders, much to Madam Uri’s dislike.

  “Not you,” Adohnes says, raising his hand and stopping me from following the others.

  “If Skylier’s staying then so am I,” Madison says firmly.

  I can’t let anyone else be hurt because of me. “I will be fine,” I tell her, hoping that’s the truth.

  Madison looks at me, and then reluctantly leaves with the others.

  Adohnes and I are alone with our reflections.

  “Skylier, you can’t speak like that in front of the others,” Adohnes says with a disappointed tone.

  “Xander’s forcing me to do this; he has my mother and sister. He’s holding my loved ones captive.” I look past him at my reflections. They look frail, like weaker, older versions of me. I frown.

  “I can’t do this.” I can see the red rushing up into my cheeks, making me look alive, not a cloned version of myself. “I will not do this,” I say firmly.

  Adohnes shakes his head. “You have to.”

  “I can’t.” I don’t know if I can trust him, but he’s all I have. “I need your help.”

  He steps away from me. Hundreds of his heads shake in unison at me, like a wave of disapproval.

  I take hold of his arm. “Please,” I beg, “all I need is to know where they are holding my mother and sister.”

  Adohnes closes his eyes for a moment. “Skylier, then what will you do? We are all trapped in Purenet. You can’t get out.” His words don’t sound right coming from someone that lives in Purenet. All these years we were taught Purenet is where you aspire to get to. In reality they are as trapped as we were in Cueva, unable to travel freely outside of the Purenet boundary walls.

  The Emperor and his Chancellors have prevented the people living within the Sanctions from trying to leave by instilling in them the fear that they will die if they leave. Only the wealthy can leave for the Games and tours; they are the inner circle of the Chancellors’ advisors. Those are the advisors that help keep the people of Purenet captive in their Sanction.

  I pause for a moment. What will my plan be after I get my loved ones?

  “They can banish me.” I will break just enough rules to get out of here alive and I will have to do it in a public place so they can’t harm us. My reflections stand firm as I stand by my decision.

  “You want to get banished? Skylier, you will not survive a day in the wastelands,” Adohnes says.

  “I have twice, once when I wasn’t even an hour old and this great Sanction threw a baby out on the wasteland,” I say.

  Adohnes’s mouth gapes open, and he steps back in surprise.

  “Please, can you find out where my loved ones are being held?” I beg.

  Adohnes looks around the room as if looking for help from someone else. Instead he’s only staring back at his own face in the mirrors. They are looking just as confused as he does. He pauses for a moment, then looks at me fondly. “I will speak with the staff. They know the inner workings of Purenet better than the Chancellor himself.”

  “And my friend Lowell? Tomorrow he will be sentenced.” My throat dries up at the thought of what will happen tomorrow.

  “That one is easy. He will be in the cells below the stadium; all prisoners are held there before sentencing,” Adohnes says. My stomach churns at the thought of Lowell being held against his will.

  “Go back to the compound now, before they get suspicious. I will speak with you after the evening meal,” he adds.

  “Thank you, Adohnes.” My heart skips a
beat at the thought of him helping me.

  “What did Adohnes say?” Madison asks as I enter the compound. The other girls mutter among themselves and look at me as if they want to ask me a question.

  “Just about watching my tongue,” I say, pretending like it’s nothing as I head to my bed.

  “You’ve spoken to Xander?” Layal asks, to my disappointment.

  “Yes,” I say as I climb up on my bed to see if Rian has returned from training. I haven’t spoken with him since this morning. I desperately need to speak to him now and figure out how the hell we are going to get out of here.

  “What did he say? I thought you were never meant to know who you were being a Host for,” Layal pushes for an answer.

  I see movement in the boys’ compound. Rian, are you there?

  “I asked you a question,” Layal demands.

  “Not now, Layal,” I shake my head.

  Rian, can you hear me?

  Someone grabs hold of my arm, turning me around. “Layal, get off,” I say, shaking her off me.

  “We have a right to know,” she says, and the other girls nod.

  “Look, he told me I was going to be his Host, okay? Simple as that,” I say.

  “You heard her, now go on,” Madison says. She appeared from nowhere to be at my side, protecting me. For the first time in my life I don’t need her to protect me anymore, but I let her anyway.

  “I was speaking to Skylier, not you,” Layal spits.

  “You’re speaking to me now, and you better watch what you say,” Madison replies.

  Madison jolts forward and Layal dives away from Madison. “That’s better.”

  Layal steps forward toward Madison, but the other girls stop her, muttering that she’s not worth it. I know better; Madison is worth ten of them.

  Skylier, are you back? Rian’s voice bounces into my mind just as his head pops up behind the window. His white teeth gleam as he smiles at me.

  Relief floods me.

  Yes, I’m here. I place my hand on the window. Rian does the same.

  We’re getting out of here, I tell him.

  But you said this morning that we couldn’t leave, or they will kill us, his mind blurts out.

  I was wrong. We can’t let Xander hold our family’s lives captive, my mind tells him.

  What’s the plan?

  Break Lowell out, then mother and Callie.

  Frigging hell, Skylier, how the heck are we going to do that?

  My mind goes blank.

  Skylier, are you still here?

  I… I haven’t thought the rest out, I shamefully admit. I know where they are holding Lowell. He will help us, my mind adds.

  Skylier, shouldn’t we have a better plan first? Rian asks.

  I wish we could, but tomorrow Lowell will be sentenced, and— I stop myself, shaking the thought from my mind.

  Tonight it is, then. Tell me when you are ready.

  … I can’t let them down, not again…

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “Skylier, are you not eating anything?” Madison asks, food bulging inside her cheeks, making them look misshapen. “We don’t get any more food other than this tonight. They have put us on a special diet to help our bodies prepare for the babies,” Madison says as she drags her knife through the bio meat—the meat that brought me here in the first place. I scowl at it. The thought of eating it makes me want to throw up. Eat it or you will starve, my inner voice tells me. I’m right. I have to eat it because after tonight I don’t know when I will eat again. Will any of us make it across the wastelands alive?

  At the thought of starving, I start to cut away at the bio meat and force it down. Once my plate is empty, I head over to the table filled with food. This time I think about the food. What will last the longest out in the wasteland?

  Crackers, dry food—they always last. They are very dry; we will dehydrate before we starve. I select the ones without the salt on them, hoping that will help. Then apples, oranges, and a few other fruits that are full of juice. I hope these last. We never had them in Cueva. They are delicious.

  Madison stares at my plate as I place it down next to her. She looks at it and then back to me. “Jeez, never seen you eat so much in our whole lives.” She smiles.

  “Thought I would take some for later,” I whisper.

  “You’re not allowed,” she whispers back.

  I look around the room. Madam Uri is eating with her back hunched over away from us, clearly not interested in what we are doing. She already got her pass out of the Cueva. The Slofts are running back and forth making themselves look busy. Frances's and Adohnes’s teams are happily chatting to one another, I guess pleased with today’s viewing results.

  I open up a white cloth napkin and place it on my lap, then add a selection of the food into it. Then I fold the corners together to create a parcel and slip it into my pocket.

  Madison follows my routine, and within a second my plate is empty and our pockets are full.

  Part one completed. I just hope the rest is as easy.

  I stare at the glass door, waiting for Adohnes to walk toward it, but he doesn’t.

  Madam Uri’s overgrown body rises from the table, and I know my time is up. I was wrong to think he would help me. Why would anyone in Purenet help someone like me?

  “Girls,” Madam Uri yells, and we all stand. Adohnes’s team looks at Madam Uri, startled; unlike us, they’re not used to the way that Madam Uri likes things to be done, which is within the second she asks. Any later and she will make your life hell. Can it be any worse than it already is? I think as we swiftly and silently leave the eating area.

  Without realizing, we all fall into the numerical order which we had in the Cueva—the numbers are tattooed to the back of our hands. Luther is right: we are just cattle, some which they try to slaughter at the end.

  The thought fills me with dread. I never thought of what would happen once I Hosted the three children my brother wants. Xander will banish my family and me just as his father did to my mother and me. Either way I will be banished, but if I go now I will be stronger and it will be my own choice.

  The girls are silent as we walk along the corridor to our compound. All of the frigging corridors here look identical, just like us. White walls, with blue lights along the ground and windows facing up to the darkening sky. Night is nearly upon us. We can use this to our advantage when we leave. The darkness holds no threat to us. Oh, except for the things that come out at night, the mutated animals. I shake the image my mind has created out of my head; I need to focus on getting out of here.

  Adohnes glides next to me without my noticing. “A word, Skylier.” His face is emotionless, as if I’m in trouble or something happened to my loved ones.

  I follow Adohnes as he enters a room. A few of the girls get a glance of the room before the door closes on us.

  “I thought you weren’t coming. Are they okay?” I say, trying to read Adohnes’s face.

  Adohnes places his hands on my bare arms. “Skylier, are you sure you want to know where they are?” he asks.

  “Yes, I’m surer than anything in my life.”

  Adohnes sighs. “They are being held in the Chancellor’s private labs.”

  White flashing lights flicker in front of my eyes as the room becomes black. “Skylier, are you okay?” Adohnes’s voice echoes in my mind.

  “They’re in the labs?” I say breathlessly.

  “Yes.”

  “I have to get them out. Please, can you help me?” I beg.

  Adohnes pauses for a second. “Do you really want to do this? They will punish you if they catch you.”

  “I have to.” They are here because of me. The horrific image of Callie sitting on a chair with the frozen, soulless look in her eyes keeps replaying in my mind. I can’t let her become the girl Dax and I saw in the Chancellor’s private labs.

  Adohnes nods. “I will open the exit door for you. Be there at twelve a.m. That is when the guards change. Normally the next shift is
late, and the door will be unattended.”

  I fling my arms around him. He pulls me into a hug and holds me tightly for a moment.

  “You have to go now,” he says as I reluctantly pull away from his embrace.

  Adohnes shakes his head as we leave the room. “Surely there is another way?”

  “I wish there was.”

  “That door there,” he says, pointing to the end of the corridor.

  “Tonight it is. Thank you.”

  With that he leaves, heading toward the exit I will be going through tonight.

  “What are you up to?” Madam Uri startles me as she steps into the corridor. Has she been listening to us?

  “Nothing, Madam Uri.”

  She steps forward. Her greasy forehead presses against mine. “Nothing? Always nothing with you.” She draws her eyes inwards. “I know you are lying. I’m going to tell Xander,” she says, leaving her rotten scent.

  Uneasy, I step back.

  “What are you going to tell Xander?” My heart bounces as I try not to show my fear.

  Her arm grips around mine before I can move. She squeezes tightly. I can feel my flesh around my bullet wound separating. “Let go of me,” I squirm.

  “You think you are special, don’t you? But you’re not. Xander’s going to throw you out once he’s done with you,” she smiles, “and then what’s going to happen to your precious family? They will die, just as Madam Enid did, because of you.”

  I kick Madam Uri between the legs. She releases her grip and doubles over.

  “How dare you?” she groans as she darts forward.

  I turn to run, but before I can move away, a burning sensation runs through my scalp as she grips hold of my hair.

  “Arh,” I scream as she pulls me back.

  “Madam Uri, what are you doing?” Frances yells as she runs down the corridor.

  “She was trying to leave; she attacked me,” Madam Uri says as she tugs at my hair.

  “I wasn’t, she attacked me,” I plead.

  “Madam Uri, I’m not sure how you treated the girls in Cueva, but we don’t allow this behavior in Purenet. If you continue this way, I will have no choice but to recommend that you no longer stay in Purenet,” Frances says firmly.